Martin Brundle saw Max Verstappen suffer from a confidence-sapping issue during the Qatar Sprint

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Red Bull racer Max Verstappen lost further ground in the 2025 F1 title fight during the Sprint at the Qatar Grand Prix, as Oscar Piastri won and Lando Norris finished in third.

The fight for the victory during the final F1 Sprint of 2025 was ultimately decided at the start on Saturday, as McLaren ace Piastri produced the perfect launch to drop Mercedes’ George Russell. Norris also utilised the grip levels around the outside at Turn 1 to stay in third place.

Red Bull racer Yuki Tsunoda briefly threatened to steal P3 from Norris, yet got tucked behind Russell at T1. Tsunoda outqualified Verstappen for the first time as Red Bull teammates with P5 and P6 for the Qatar Sprint and both passed Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso at the start.

Tsunoda let Verstappen through for P4 at Turn 4 on the first lap of the Sprint at the Qatar GP, with the latter needing to outscore Norris and Piastri for their F1 drivers’ championship fight. But Verstappen has fallen to a 25-point deficit to Norris, while Piastri is now 22 points adrift.

Martin Brundle saw ‘bad news’ from Max Verstappen’s wild Red Bull in the Qatar Sprint

Verstappen stayed within DRS range of Norris through the opening laps of the Sprint at the Qatar GP. But he was never able to get close enough to attempt a genuine overtake for P3, with the Dutchman only briefly faking a move at Turn 1 before he fell to a deficit of 2.775s.

READ MORE: Everything to know about the F1 Qatar Grand Prix, including past winners

Red Bull chief Helmut Marko admitted Verstappen made a mistake with his set-up for Sprint Qualifying in Qatar, having struggled with understeer. And Martin Brundle noticed worrying signs of Verstappen struggling to keep his Red Bull under control through the Sprint in Qatar.

Brundle said on Sky Sports F1 (29/11, 14:15): “This is bad news for Verstappen. He obviously had decent pace, but the car is starting to move around a lot. That overheats the tyres quite quickly, and the driver loses a little bit of confidence, as well.”

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Max Verstappen struggled to stay with Lando Norris as the Qatar Sprint progressed

Verstappen was at his most competitive during the F1 Sprint at the Qatar GP throughout the early laps on Saturday, as he hung onto Norris’ exhaust with the aid of DRS. But the 28-year-old could not stay with Norris as the Sprint progressed, and then had to settle for a P4 finish.

The Dutchman’s Red Bull RB21 seemed to handle better than it had during Sprint Qualifying when it was at its heaviest in the early laps. But, as the fuel levels came down, Verstappen’s pace fell away from Norris’ and the four-time champion lost one more point to his title rival.

Norris can win the 2025 F1 drivers’ title in Sunday’s Qatar GP if he ends the race with a lead of at least 26 points over Piastri and Verstappen heading into next week’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In the simplest of terms, the 2025 F1 title race will be over if Norris wins the Qatar GP.