McLaren moved one step closer to securing the constructors championship today after gained a valuable points advantage on Ferrari and Mercedes. Lando Norris started the sprint race from pole and held it until the final 50 feet of the race where he gave the win to his teammate Oscar Piastri to assist in the points race. McLaren still finished 1-2 and took home maximum points in the sprint.
Pisatri said “It was about defense for the whole race to be honest. I had a good start and a good Turn 1 obviously, and then just didn’t quite have the pace. I think I killed the front a little bit early on and then I was struggling a bit for the rest of the Sprint. Some great teamwork, I think without that help it would have been a much more difficult Sprint. Nice to have a McLaren one-two.”
Unfortunately for Mercedes and Ferrari the points loss to McLaren only further extended McLarens lead in the constructors championship race. It was a frustrating race for George Russell. The McLarens kept him at bay and nothing seemed to word to get by the pair to improve his position.
Next up is the qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix.
Qatar Sprint Race Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Laps | Time/retired | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 19 | 27:03.010 | 8 |
| 2 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 19 | +0.136s | 7 |
| 3 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 19 | +0.410s | 6 |
| 4 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 19 | +1.326s | 5 |
| 5 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 19 | +5.073s | 4 |
| 6 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 19 | +5.650s | 3 |
| 7 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | 19 | +8.508s | 2 |
| 8 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 19 | +10.368s | 1 |
| 9 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 19 | +14.513s | 0 |
| 10 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 19 | +15.485s | 0 |
| 11 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 19 | +19.204s | 0 |
| 12 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 19 | +23.351s | 0 |
| 13 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 19 | +24.421s | 0 |
| 14 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 19 | +30.379s | 0 |
| 15 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 19 | +33.062s | 0 |
| 16 | 30 | Liam Lawson | RB Honda RBPT | 19 | +34.356s | 0 |
| 17 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT | 19 | +35.102s | 0 |
| 18 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Williams Mercedes | 19 | +35.639s | 0 |
| 19 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 19 | +71.436s | 0 |
| 20 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 19 | +74.371s | 0 |