Max Verstappen keeps title fight alive with victory in Qatar: 'Incredible'

Published on 30 November 2025 by Kees-Jan Koster

Max Verstappen has won the Qatar Grand Prix, keeping his hopes of securing the world championship alive. Starting from P3 on the grid, the Oracle Red Bull Racing driver moved up to second at the start, behind Oscar Piastri. Max took advantage of a safety-car period on lap seven to make a pit stop, while the McLarens stayed out. This proved the key to victory, as after the two mandatory pit stops Verstappen emerged in the lead and went on to claim his seventh Grand Prix win of the season. Oscar Piastri finished in P2, with Carlos Sainz taking third for Williams. Lando Norris came home fourth, meaning the championship will be decided next week at the season finale in Abu Dhabi. Norris heads into the final round with a twelve-point lead over Verstappen, and a sixteen-point lead over McLaren teammate Piastri.

After the race, a delighted Verstappen said: “This was an incredible race for us. On pure pace, we would not have been able to win it. As a team we made the right call to box during the safety car, that was smart. There was a little offset because of it all, but for us it was a very strong race in a weekend where it was a little bit though. But we won the race, and that was the most important. Of course I am really happy to win here, we are still in the championship fight right to the end, so it is truly amazing.”

The fact that the McLarens did not pit under the safety car also surprised Max: “That was an interesting move. Then I knew as long as they did not pull too far ahead over the two stints, we would have a good chance of winning, but you still need to keep the tyres alive for 25 laps. The wear is very high here, but luckily it all worked out. After the safety car, they went flat out at the start and I had to manage my tyres, so they immediately opened a gap. But after that, we were able to keep the gap stable, which was positive. Later, on the hard tyres, you could see they still had a bit more pace than us, but the gap was too big.”

The championship will be decided in Abu Dhabi, but as always Max remained cool when asked if he could take the title: “It is all possible now. On pure pace, we will not win in Abu Dhabi, so we will need something like today or a bit more luck. We have to be realistic about that, but we will see, it keeps things exciting. I am not worrying too much about it.”

The penultimate Grand Prix of the season was held under floodlights at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit. For Lando Norris it was match point: a win would have crowned him world champion. During the 57-lap race, drivers were required to make at least two pit stops. Out of fear of punctures, no more than 25 laps could be completed on a single set of tyres. The entire top ten started on medium-compound tyres, with Nico Hülkenberg in P11 the first driver on softs, while Franco Colapinto started from the pit lane.

Max got away well from P3 on the grid, slipping straight into the slipstream of polesitter Piastri. Into the first corner Max was already past second-placed starter Norris, while Piastri led the field. Behind the leading trio were Kimi Antonelli in P4 and Carlos Sainz in P5.

On lap seven, Nico Hülkenberg attempted a move around the outside of Pierre Gasly into Turn 1. The two touched, sending Hülkenberg spinning backwards into the gravel with a punctured right-rear tyre. He was unable to get his Sauber moving again and became the first retirement of the race. Gasly suffered a left-front puncture and had to pit. The safety car was deployed, giving drivers a perfect opportunity to pit. Everyone except the two McLarens chose to change tyres. Max switched to a fresh set of mediums and rejoined in third. The race resumed on lap eleven with Piastri leading, followed by teammate Norris and Verstappen in P3. The order remained unchanged after the restart, and the McLarens quickly pulled away from Max, though they still owed a stop.

McLaren called race leader Piastri in on lap 24, and the Australian rejoined in P5. Norris stopped a lap later, emerging just ahead of Alonso in P5 and around three seconds behind teammate Piastri. Verstappen now inherited the race lead. Piastri began his pursuit of Antonelli and passed the Mercedes driver on his fresher tyres on lap 30 to take P3.

 
On lap 32 Verstappen hit the 25-lap limit for his stint and, like many others, pitted for his second mandatory stop. He switched to hard tyres and rejoined in P3, behind the two McLarens who still had to pit. After his stop, Max was about three seconds behind Norris and further behind leader Piastri. Sainz ran P4, with Antonelli in fifth.

Lando Norris made an error on lap 37 at Turn 14 and reported possible damage over the radio. This allowed Max to close in and even get within DRS range. Leader Piastri made his second stop on lap 43 and rejoined in P3, about seventeen seconds behind Verstappen. Norris stopped on lap 44 and dropped to fifth, behind Sainz and Antonelli. Verstappen thus retook the race lead. Meanwhile Alonso spun, dropping from P6 to P8, promoting Isack Hadjar and George Russell.

Norris caught up to Antonelli but got stuck behind him. Antonelli in turn closed in on Sainz in the final phase. With two laps to go, Hadjar suffered a puncture and lost what would have been a sixth-place finish for the Racing Bulls team. In the same lap Norris finally passed Antonelli for P4 after the Italian made a mistake at Turn 10.

At the front, Max won the race by nearly eight seconds over Piastri. It was his seventh Grand Prix victory of the season and the 70th of his Formula 1 career. Behind Piastri, Carlos Sainz secured his second podium of the season with third place. Norris finished just behind Sainz in P4 and saw his championship lead shrink. Verstappen is now only twelve points behind, with Piastri sixteen back. Mercedes drivers Antonelli and George Russell finished fifth and sixth, with Fernando Alonso in seventh. Charles Leclerc, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda completed the top ten.

Results Grand Prix Qatar: