F1 GP Qatar: Verstappen immense, will be World Championship sprint with Norris and Piastri. Ferrari spectator
The 2026 Formula 1 World Championship will come to a close in a sprint: Max Verstappen scored a resounding victory in the Qatar Grand Prix, the penultimate round of the season, and moved to within just 12 lengths of World Championship leader Lando Norris. Thanks to a perfect strategy, guessed after the safety car entered in the first laps of the Lusail race, the Red Bull driver preceded Oscar Piatri’s McLaren and the surprising Carlos Sainz in a Williams at the finish line.
Norris finished in fourth position, getting a valuable overtake on Antonelli just on the last lap, which allowed him to gain some points ahead of the last, decisive round in the UAE. Indeed, everything will be decided in Abu Dhabi in a week’s final race of the F1 season: the standings now see Norris leading with 408 points, Verstappen second at 396, Piastri third at 392.
To be forgotten was the race of the Ferraris, who were always at the back of the field: Charles Leclerc finished in eighth position, while Lewis Hamilton was 12th.
Qatar GP finishing order (top 10)
.
Verstappen
Piastri
Sainz
Norris
Antonelli
Russell
Alonso
Leclerc
Lawson
Tsunoda
