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Motorsport

Winners and losers from F1's strategic 2025 Qatar Grand Prix

Max Verstappen Carlos Sainz McLaren Qatar Lando Norris Charles Leclerc Fernando Alonso Williams Racing Alex Albon Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Winner: Max Verstappen

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has likened Max Verstappen to a horror movie villain. You're never quite done with him even when you think you're safe, only for the four-time world champion to return from the dead.

Verstappen is surely wondering himself how he's still in the title fight - thank McLaren, mostly - but even after going 104 points behind the 28-year-old has kept his foot in the door and has kept delivering one mesmerising performance after the other.

Give him a finger and he'll take your arm. McLaren has already given him an entire hand's worth at this point.

And yet, Verstappen shouldn't win this championship. If he wins in Abu Dhabi, a podium for Norris will be enough. But like in a classic John Carpenter flick, as long as the killer's final demise isn't shown on camera, it's not over yet. And that lingering tension in the air just won't go away. They can feel it in Woking too. At Yas Marina it will be stifling.

Lando Norris, McLaren (Photo by: Jayce Illman / Getty Images)

Loser: McLaren

McLaren may be worried about being beaten by Verstappen, but it should be more concerned about being beaten by itself. For the second consecutive week the team has scored a major own goal with dire consequences. What should have been a formality - a 1-2 in the drivers' championship - has now led to a nervy season finale in which Norris must finish third if Verstappen wins. As Las Vegas and Qatar have shown, that is not a given. It must deliver a faultless weekend, but the pressure will be higher than ever.

You especially have to feel for Piastri who felt like the man to beat all weekend in Qatar and has now slipped behind Verstappen, while Norris could have helped his cause with a clean final qualifying lap. He was not to blame for losing a position at the start to Verstappen, however, as starting from the dirty side of the grid was clearly a huge disadvantage. But again, if you qualify on pole, you don't have that problem.

Carlos Sainz, Williams (Photo by: James Sutton / Formula 1 / Formula Motorsport Ltd via Getty Images)

Winner: Carlos Sainz

If you had suggested Williams could score a podium on the high-downforce Losail circuit, they would have had a good chuckle back in Grove. Or perhaps you'd make a good pundit for a gambling website.

Nothing about the Doha track should have suited the Williams FW47, and even the sprint, which yielded eighth for Sainz and 10th for Albon, you felt that was already a solid outing for Williams.

But Williams form man Sainz had other ideas and qualified seventh, this time ahead of a strong Fernando Alonso and then got ahead of both Mercedes drivers with a combination of strong driving, quick pitstops and sheer pace.

"We came into this weekend thinking it was going to be the most difficult weekend of the year and suddenly, we came out with a podium out of it," Sainz said. "I cannot be more proud."

The net result is that Williams is now guaranteed to move from ninth last year to fifth. A big part of the credit goes to Alex Albon, who got them there, but as Albon suffered a poor run Sainz took over the baton to bring it home.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (Photo by: Dom Gibbons / LAT Images via Getty Images)

Loser: Ferrari

Ferrari chairman John Elkann said he wanted drivers who talk less and drive more after Brazil, but perhaps he should study the onboards from Qatar and see exactly how Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton are supposed to drive this hopeless SF-25.

The Prancing Horse has become a bucking bronco, with Leclerc doing well to not crash out on his way to making Q3. Leclerc took eighth, but only after the Sauber (!) of Nico Hulkenberg and the Alpine (!) of Pierre Gasly collided, and Isack Hadjar dropped out at the end.

Hamilton's situation is even worse with back-to-back Q1 eliminations, which eventually led to 12th-place finish. His emotional reaction after qualifying shows he really is facing the lowest ebb in his storied career. Here's hoping both he and the squad can turn things around with the 2026 machine it has been focused on since April. These ground-effect cars have been nothing short of traumatic for Hamilton, despite the odd Mercedes highlight.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing (Photo by: Ahmad AlShehab / NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Winner: Fernando Alonso

While his Canadian team-mate keeps flailing, Fernando Alonso keeps delivering vintage performances at the age of 44, qualifying fourth for the sprint and taking points in both races this weekend.

It further proves that sheer hunger and passion trumps the date of birth indicated on your passport. It will be exciting to see what the two-time world champion can do in a Newey-led car. Finally. That's certainly the carrot that keeps him going too.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes (Photo by: Lars Baron / LAT Images via Getty Images)

Loser: Mercedes

Mercedes will be quite frustrated with fifth and sixth after it briefly looked like McLaren's closest threat earlier in the weekend. The 0.011s Russell shipped to Verstappen for third on the grid was probably the biggest factor, as from the dirty side of the grid Russell slid down, snowballing into a three-position loss on the opening lap.

Meanwhile, Antonelli lost a position to Sainz at the first pitstop and given the lack of passing that was pretty much it, with Sainz hanging on until Antonelli's late slip-up that cost him fourth to Norris.

The good news is that Ferrari is so lost, and Red Bull so reliant on one driver, that second in the championship is pretty much secured.