DOHA: Max Verstappen avenged his overnight demotion from pole position by clinching his ninth win of the season and 63rd of his career with a dominant triumph for Red Bull in Sunday’s crash-hit and controversial Qatar Grand Prix.
In a race shaped by a litany of stewards’ decisions and penalties, including a harsh late 10-second ‘stop-go’ for Lando Norris of McLaren, the newly-crowned four-time world champion was flawless as he came home six seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
That result meant McLaren, even with Oscar Piastri finishing third, were unable to clinch a first constructors title since 1998 and have to try again in the final race in Abu Dhabi next weekend.
George Russell finished fourth for Mercedes, despite being handed a late time penalty, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari, two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Zhou Guanyu of Sauber, who scored his and the team’s first points of the season.
Kevin Magnussen was ninth for Haas and Norris, after a ferocious finale following his penalty, was 10th for McLaren.
Verstappen’s success was not enough to keep alive Red Bull’s challenge for the teams’ title which left McLaren top with 640, 21 points clear of Ferrari with one race to go.
“I am very happy with that,” said Verstappen, who has recovered his form in the last three races. “It’s been a long time since we had victory in the dry and it’s great for the team to be so competitive again.”
Leclerc said he was happy with second and forecast a “very tight” finish in the championship next weekend. “But 21 points is still a big margin,” he added.
The Dutchman’s overnight loss of pole, for driving too slowly and causing Russell to take evasive action, had gifted the Mercedes’ driver his career fifth pole and second in succession.
Fired up by that stewards’ decision, Verstappen made an excellent start to power by Russell and lead into Turn One with Norris squeezing through to take second before the opening lap was red-flagged for a Safety Car.
A crash involving Nico Hulkenberg, who lost the rear of his Haas and spun into Ocon’s Alpine, the pair taking the innocent Franco Colapinto with them in his Williams, caused the pause. It was the luckless Williams team’s 16th crash of the season.
Racing resumed on lap five with the top three unchanged ahead of Leclerc and Piastri, who swiftly jumped back to fourth, a move that kept both McLarens ahead of the two Ferraris.
For McLaren, it was going to plan, a description not claimed by Hamilton. After a false start, he was eighth with a five-second penalty.
His Mercedes team-mate Russell also suffered misfortunes, pitting after 24 laps in a slow seven seconds — due to a recalcitrant right rear wheel — and dropping from third to rejoin 12th on hards.
Russell’s problems lifted Piastri to third, 8.7 behind Norris, the two McLarens sitting ahead of Leclerc and Sainz, in fourth and fifth, with Verstappen on top before an errant mirror, from Magnussen’s Haas car, fell on the main straight, bringing double waved yellows.
Valtteri Bottas ran over the mirror on the lap 34, sending debris across the circuit. Hamilton and Sainz collected punctures and pitted before a belated Safety Car was deployed as Piastri and then the rest came in.
Leclerc profited by moving up to third, ahead of Piastri, who stopped before the SC interval, while Hamilton fell to 16th and Russell, angry after taking another set of hards, was seventh. “Why have we put hards on?” he screamed.