Oscar Piastri dominated the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint to reduce his deficit to championship leader Lando Norris to 22 points after the British driver finished third.
Pole-sitter Piastri led every moment of the 19-lap sprint on Saturday from George Russell, while Norris fended off an early charge from Max Verstappen, who made ground from sixth on the opening lap but falls to 25 points behind Norris with just two races remaining in Qatar on Sunday and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 7.
The result still means Norris will be world champion if he is at least 26 points ahead of Piastri and Verstappen after Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix.
The simplest way he can do that is by winning the race or by finishing second with Verstappen behind him and Piastri off the podium.
Verstappen and Piastri must stay within 25 points of Norris to remain in the title race for next weekend’s season finale in Abu Dhabi.
“It’s been a good weekend so far. Everything went smoothly in the sprint there so I’m happy with how it’s been so far and just need to keep it going,” said Piastri.
Yuki Tsunoda produced his best Red Bull result of the season with fifth place, despite a five-second time penalty for track limits, and Kimi Antonelli made the only pass in the top 10 during the Sprint to finish seventh, also incurring a track limits penalty.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was seventh, while Williams’ Carlos Sainz scored the final point in eighth.
Ferrari had a difficult sprint with Charles Leclerc in 13th and Lewis Hamilton saying “I don’t know how we made the car worse” on his way from the pitlane to 17th.
Piastri back on form as the climax of the season title race
Piastri has lost points to Norris in the past seven race weekends, seeing a 34-point lead over his teammate at the end of August turn into a 24-point deficit entering Qatar.
However, the smoother track layout and high-speed corners suited Piastri’s driving style and he steered the Sprint to score his first win of any kind since the Dutch Grand Prix three months ago.
“Obviously it’s a very different circuit to where we’ve been, much higher speed, much higher grip, but I think the last couple of weekends it’s just been something that’s gone wrong rather than a lack of pace,” Piastri said.
“Here everything has gone smoothly so far and the pace has been strong. It’s a track I’ve enjoyed in the past and I’m enjoying it again, for sure.”
Please use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Join Sky Sports News’ Craig Slater for a flyover of the Qatar GP ahead of Saturday’s sprint race
Piastri was never threatened by Russell, who aggressively moved on Norris on the tense run down to the first lap as the Mercedes driver knew he had less to lose to the championship leader.
This left Norris vulnerable to Tsunoda, but the McLaren driver fended him off through the first sector as Verstappen also passed Alonso and was let through by teammate Tsunoda at turn four.
Verstappen stayed within a second of Norris for the first five laps but was unable to overtake despite having DRS as overtaking proved very difficult on the high-speed Lusail International Circuit, so the top five remained in the same positions after the first lap until the checkered flag.
Please use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen warns jumping is a major problem after finishing fourth in the sprint, hampering his ability to keep up with the McLaren drivers
Norris said: “I never actually saw him (Max), I just saw George in front. I tried to go forward. We got quite close at the start but it was good.
“I didn’t see what was happening behind. Long stay, it felt like a lot of pushing, so it will be a tough race tomorrow.”
Sky Sports F1’s Qatar GP schedule
Please use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Look back at some of the most dramatic moments that have taken place at the Qatar Grand Prix
Saturday 29 November
17.15: Qatar GP qualifying build-up
18:00: QATAR GP QUALIFYING
20:00: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Sunday, November 30
11.55: F2 Feature
14.30: Grand Prix Sunday: Qatar GP build-up
16:00: QATAR GRAND PRIX
18:00: Checkered flag: Qatar GP reaction
19.00: Ted’s notebook
*also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1’s season-ending triple header continues with the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint weekend live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime