Oscar Piastri wins Qatar Sprint race as George Russell fends off Lando Norris threat

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Oscar Piastri has won the Qatar Sprint race after starting from pole position, despite complaining of vibrations with his car in the closing stages.

Four drivers started the final sprint race of the season from the pit lane, including both Alpines, Lance Stroll and Lewis Hamilton. The Ferrari driver faced further disappointment in qualifying yesterday, finding himself in P18 after starting from the back of the grid in Las Vegas

It’s a crucial weekend for the world championship with eight points up for grabs for the race winner. There are 24 points between Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri in the joint runner-up position behind Lando Norris.

It was a clean start with both Red Bull cars leapfrogging Fernando Alonso. Yuki Tsunoda was quick to allow his teammate Verstappen past him and up into fourth place behind Norris.

Piastri made a strong push off the start line, leading by over a second after the first lap, with a similar gap between George Russell and Norris behind.

Verstappen was quick to catch the Brit in the opening stages of the race, fighting for third place by just the third lap. The Dutchman stayed in touch with the McLaren on Lap 4, but Norris had dropped into the DRS range of Russell, helping him keep position along the main straight.

Carlos Sainz lost a big chunk of carbon fibre from his Williams on Lap 8, but his pace didn’t appear to be affected, as he remained in the final points position.

The Ferrari drivers struggled with massive understeer again through the Sprint race after a difficult Friday. Charles Leclerc was fighting his car, which saw him off track and through the gravel traps.

Liam Lawson made it past Leclerc after running wide, but the Racing Bull driver was quick to hand the position back to avoid a penalty.

Tsunoda was shown a black and white flag on Lap 12 before being handed a five-second penalty for track limits just a lap later.

Tyres degraded faster than expected during the closing stages of the race, which saw a lot more drivers sliding around the corners.

Alonso ran wide in the final corner, with Kimi Antonelli to get past the Aston Martin and up into sixth place.

In the last few laps, Piastri began to report that he was “getting a bit of vibration”, but just needed to survive a couple more laps.

Antonelli was noted for track limits in the closing stages, before stewards quickly decided on ‘no further action’. However, just before the drivers had finished the in lap, the Mercedes driver was given a 5-second penalty, meaning that Tsunoda stayed ahead of Antonelli.