F1 Qatar GP: Oscar Piastri wins hectic sprint race as Max Verstappen crowned F1 champion for third time
The McLaren drౠiver had to fightback against a fast-starting George Russell, who made early progress with extra grip on his soft tyres, to claim ▨his first victory in F1.
Verstappen recovered from a slow-start that saw him drop as low as fifth to claim se🍨cond place and be crowned a three-time world champiꦇon.
Lando Norris picked off Russell - whose 🌄soft tyres fell off a cliff - on the final lap to make it a McLaren 1-3 on the ♓podium.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton recovered from a poor spri🦂nt shootout that left him 12th on the grid as he took fifth.
Like Russell, the soft-running Ferrari’s of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc faded in the closing stages as theyඣ dramatically slipped to sixth and seventh.
Alex Albon cl🌸aimed the final point on offer in his Williams, ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
The 19-lap race was punctuated by thr🎀ee Safety Car periods.
The first was caused when Liam Lawson spun off on the openi🐷ng lap, before the same fate befall the under-pressure Logan Sargeant three lapꩲs later.
A three-way collision that took out Sergio Perez, Nico Hulkenberg aꦕnd Esteban Ocon💞 resulted in the third and final Safety Car on Lap 11.
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