Martin Brundle pinpoints the moment Lando Norris’s head ‘dropped’ during the Qatar Grand Prix

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Lando Norris could have wrapped up the 2025 Formula 1 title with victory at the Qatar Grand Prix, but instead, he finished off the podium.

Oscar Piastri had the better of his McLaren teammate throughout the weekend, with the Australian grabbing pole position and the win in the Sprint.

He kept up his form in qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix as Piastri took pole over Norris. The Brit knew that beating his teammate would secure him the championship, holding a 22-point lead before the race.

Piastri got a great start off the line, while Norris lost P2 to Max Verstappen. But McLaren’s race was derailed after Nico Hulkenberg brought out the safety car on lap seven, and the team did not pit Norris or Piastri.

The pair went 25 laps before coming in for their first of two mandatory pit stops. Their second stops came earlier as they tried to chase down Verstappen, but Norris could only manage fourth.

Martin Brundle saw Lando Norris’ head drop at the Qatar Grand Prix

Piastri and Norris pushed hard on their second stint to try and close the gap to Verstappen in front. However, the former failed to clear Carlos Sainz and Kimi Antonelli before his second stop and came back onto the track in fifth.

Norris looked set to finish in P5, but Antonelli made a mistake on the penultimate lap and handed fourth to the McLaren star. He lacked the pace of the cars in front and ultimately could not make up further ground.

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Speaking on Sky Sports F1’s coverage of the race, Martin Brundle noticed that Norris’ head ‘dropped’ when he realised he could not catch his rivals: “Sainz and Antonelli, at this stage in the Grand Prix, are faster than Norris, and not that far off Piastri and Verstappen, as it happens.

“So, Norris really has got to find… it sounds like his chin had dropped, didn’t it? He’s like: ‘Help me through turn seven’, and the stopwatch is not showing anything much better than that either, sadly.”

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration

How did key figures react to McLaren’s strategy blunder at the Qatar Grand Prix?

Piastri offered his instant thoughts on McLaren’s strategy after the race. It was ‘pretty obvious’, according to the Aussie, that the team had made the wrong decision.

Andrea Stella and Zak Brown were ‘shellshocked’ after the race, as they did not understand how they had lost the race. They would not speak to the media until after the podium, with a lengthy debrief certain to take place.

Verstappen felt McLaren’s strategy was ‘interesting’ as he assessed his Qatar GP. The Dutchman is now 12 points behind Norris heading into the season finale, while Piastri is a further four points behind.

F1 fans were stunned by McLaren’s strategy blunder, with an earlier pit stop almost certain to have secured the team the win. They will not have long to lick their wounds from Qatar as they head straight to the title decider in Abu Dhabi.