Lusail, Qatar – The World Champion didn’t let an overnight penalty for “driving unnecessarily slowly” affect his race. It may have cost him pole position to George Russell, however, after the lights went out it wasn’t long until Max snatched the lead back.
Russell had a good start, but Max’s second phase was better and on the inside. He outdragged the Mercedes into Turn 1 and got his nose in front, but as the pair drifted towards the outside of the corner, Lando Norris tried to sneak through further inside.
The McLaren driver was briefly ahead as they went towards Turn 2 but Max stuck to the racing line and as they exited Turn 3, he held the lead. Further back, Checo also made a good start, rising to seventh as Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton slipped back.
At the rear of the field, Hülkenberg lost control in Turn 1 and slid into the Alpine of Ocon and the Williams of Colaptino. The latter two bounced into the gravel trap and the race was neutralised.
Max controlled the restart in his typical fashion and settled into an uneventful first stint. Russell was the first to make a pit stop on lap 24 but sticky rear tyre meant he rejoined in 11th after a 7-second stop.
On lap 32 Alex Albon’s Williams lost a mirror on the pit straight. Two laps later, though, Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas ran over the mirror, scattering debris across the track. Both Sainz and Hamilton picked up punctures and were forced to limp around the track to pit and the Safety car was deployed.
That allowed Max to pit for Hard tyres and he emerged in the lead behind the SC. The champion’s front running rivals also made their pit stops, with Norris slotting back into second.
At the end of lap 39, Norris managed to stick with the World Champion on the restart. Aided by a slip stream up the pit straight, the McLaren driver attached around the outside. Max defended hard and he was able to hold the lead.
Further behind, disaster struck for Checo. Just ahead of the SC leaving the track the Mexican seemed to lose power and then suddenly spun in the final corner. He limped his RB20 into the run-off area and frustratingly retired from the race.
At the back of the field, Hülkenberg spun off and the SC was released yet again. And this time Max made no mistake with the restart, holding his lead comfortably as Norris was forced to resist pressure from Leclerc.
Norris’ challenge then soon evaporated. Hit with a 10 second stop/go penalty for failing to slow for the yellow flags ahead of the first Safety Car, he pitted on lap 45 and dropped to last place.
At the front, Max was now comfortable and with no further incidents he was able to cruise home six seconds ahead of Leclerc and Piastri, who were separated by less than a tenth of a second.
Max Verstappen, after securing another victory, said “I enjoyed the race quite a lot overall, especially at the beginning with Lando and I pushing each other quite hard. We were leading by Turn 1 after starting P2 and were able to maximise and get the tyres in the right window. The car felt much better and I enjoyed it a lot out there today. It was nice to win in the dry as well, it has been quite a few races since we’ve achieved that.”
After a disappointing result, Sergio Pérez, said “Things were looking good at the time for me, I was sitting in P5 and we were in the mix for the podium. Then as I was warming up the tyre, getting ready for the restart, I had a massive over delivery as I was picking up the throttle out of turn 12. With cold tyres I couldn’t control it, it basically meant I lost the car and then lost drive from that point onwards. It is quite disappointing to end up like this.”