Six unforgettable Qatar Grand Prix moments including Max Verstappen catching Lando Norris’ race infringement

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The Qatar Grand Prix is one of five night races on the Formula 1 calendar and has delivered some unforgettable moments, so F1 Oversteer dives into six of its best.

F1 first visited the Lusail International Circuit amid its Covid-19-disrupted 2021 season, after seeking an additional race to replace the cancelled round in Australia. But the success of the race amid Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton’s 2021 title fight helped ensure F1 returned.

Lusail’s lights did not illuminate F1 cars in 2022 due to Qatar staging the FIFA World Cup and the pause also allowed the circuit to upgrade its facilities. So, Formula 1 agreed a multi-year contract for the Qatar Grand Prix to become a permanent round on the calendar from 2023.

Hamilton with Mercedes and Verstappen with Red Bull respectively won the first two Qatar Grand Prix in 2021 and 2023. But winning the inaugural running was ultimately not enough for the former to also win the 2021 title, as Hamilton lost out to Verstappen by eight points.

So, with that in mind, F1 Oversteer takes a look into six of the most unforgettable moments from the Qatar Grand Prix that Formula 1 has witnessed over the race’s brief history to date.

Christian Horner slammed a ‘rogue marshal’ for Max Verstappen’s 2021 Qatar GP grid penalty

Hamilton converted pole position into the race victory to win the debut Qatar Grand Prix for Mercedes in 2021. The Briton humbled his rivals in qualifying by setting a 1:20.827 in Q3, an incredible 0.597 seconds faster than Verstappen, and went on to win with a lead of 25.743s.

But Verstappen receiving a grid penalty also helped Hamilton win the 2021 Qatar GP by such a big margin. The Dutchman’s 1:21.424 was quick enough to claim P2 in qualifying but fell to P7 after Verstappen received a five-place grid penalty for not respecting double yellow flags.

Verstappen did not slow as a marshal waved double yellow flags when AlphaTauri ace Pierre Gasly stopped on the pit straight with a front-right puncture. It was a slam-dunk penalty, but Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was irate that Verstappen merited any punishment.

As Verstappen’s steering wheel did not light up to show the yellow flags as he pushed to the finish line, Horner blamed a “rogue marshal” after hearing of his driver’s grid penalty for the 2021 Qatar GP. The matter would see the stewards summon Horner to explain his comment.

“I think it’s just a rogue marshal that’s stuck a flag out,” he told Sky Sports. “He has not been instructed to by the FIA. They’ve got to have control of their marshals, it’s as simple as that.”

Horner offering to apologise to the marshal concerned in Verstappen’s grid penalty, and also agreeing to participate in the 2022 FIA International Stewards Programme, saw the Red Bull chief get just an official warning for his controversial comment at the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix.

Oscar Piastri won his first F1 Sprint as a rookie with McLaren at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix

Red Bull had a new rival in McLaren as Formula 1 returned to the Lusail International Circuit for the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, which also became an F1 Sprint round. The Woking crew also locked out the front row of the Sprint grid as Oscar Piastri beat Lando Norris by only 0.082s.

Norris had looked the most likely McLaren driver to secure pole position for the F1 Sprint at the 2023 Qatar GP after leading Piastri by 0.039s following their provisional SQ3 runs. But it slipped through the Briton’s fingers just after Piastri improved as Norris ran wide exiting T16.

His mistake through the last corner proved extremely costly as Norris struggled to pull away off the dirty side of the grid. It let George Russell and Carlos Sainz overtake Norris by Turn 1, where Charles Leclerc also shuffled through and Verstappen even got ahead through Turn 2.

Russell running the soft compound Pirelli tyres compared to Piastri on mediums even let the Mercedes pilot chase the Australian for the lead. And, whilst Fernando Alonso battled Norris for P6, Russell made his move on Piastri into Turn 6 on Lap 3 of 19 and quickly scuttled away.

Logan Sargeant spinning into the gravel hastily removed Russell’s advantage, though, as the safety car came out. But Russell was wise to drop the throttle early for the restart, as Piastri also found Sainz with softs on his heels. Yet the mediums were soon then the tyres to be on.

Piastri had to bide his time and get his elbows out to hold back Sainz but flew once their soft tyres began to fade. His medium-shod McLaren was too fast for Mercedes’ Russell to thwart any longer, and Piastri breezed by with the help of DRS to start Lap 11 down the pit straight.

Yet Sergio Perez threw a spanner into Piastri’s plans soon after as the Red Bull pilot got stuck in the gravel at T2 to necessitate the safety car again. Piastri could not ace the restart as well as Russell had earlier in the Sprint, but he had the grip to hold on around the outside of T1.

Russell’s soft tyres also left him as easy prey for Verstappen on Lap 16. But Piastri had built a big enough lead and kept up his pace long enough for the Red Bull star to never get in range for an overtake. It capped a dream weekend for Piastri, who was still in his rookie campaign.

The 2023 Qatar Grand Prix was only Piastri’s 17th round as a Formula 1 driver after debuting with McLaren. Yet the F1 Sprint at the 2023 Qatar GP delivered the Melbourne native’s first pole position in Formula 1 plus first Sprint win, and he also finished second in the main race.

Max Verstappen won the 2023 drivers’ title after Sergio Perez crashed in the F1 Sprint at the Qatar GP

The F1 Sprint at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix proved to be the decider in the drivers’ title fight between Red Bull duo Verstappen and Perez. Yet it was almost a foregone conclusion as the Dutchman led the Mexican by 177 points and only needed to leave Lusail 146 points ahead.

Even if Perez won the Sprint and Verstappen finished sixth, a third successive championship would be the latter’s. In the end, the title was decided when Perez crashed out of the Sprint at the 2023 Qatar GP on Lap 11 whilst fighting Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon over P8.

Perez called the 2023 Qatar GP his ‘worst weekend ever’ in F1 after seeing his title bid finish by crashing with Hulkenberg and Ocon in the Sprint. He also only took P10 in the Grand Prix from the pit lane rather than P13 after needing a new chassis and new power unit elements.

Red Bull were forced to do extensive repairs to his car after Perez tried an ambitious double overtake. The Guadalajara native sought to capitalise on Ocon and Hulkenberg both running wide out of T1. But being on the outside left Perez with nowhere to go as his rivals touched.

Hulkenberg backed off on the entry to T2 after realising the Haas driver was about to be the filling in an Ocon-Perez sandwich. But, in doing so, the German’s front-left tyre tagged Ocon and pitched the Alpine driver into a spin which collected Perez and forced the trio to retire.

Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and George Russell crashed in the 2023 Qatar GP

Track limits cost McLaren heavily in qualifying for the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, as Norris failed to record a valid time in Q3 and Piastri had to settle for P6. Instead, Mercedes were the best of the rest with Russell in P2, 0.441s off Verstappen’s pole position time, and Hamilton in P3.

Yet the Silver Arrows’ sliver of hope for what could have been their only Grand Prix win in 2023 was short-lived. Russell and Hamilton crashed at the start of the 2023 Qatar GP as the pair tried to overtake Verstappen, with the contact leaving the latter beached in the gravel.

Hamilton got an incredible launch from third on the grid to edge alongside Russell just as his teammate pulled alongside Verstappen for Turn 1. But Hamilton turned in a split second too early and left Russell with nowhere to move, causing contact between the Mercedes drivers.

Russell inadvertently sent Hamilton into a spin and out of the 2023 Qatar GP, with his rear-right tyre breaking free. Mercedes also had to pit Russell for a new front wing but he would recover to finish in fourth place. Hamilton took responsibility for the crash with Russell, too.

“Obviously gutting,” a reflective Hamilton, who initially blamed Russell, said after the 2023 Qatar GP. “Massive apologies to everyone back at the factory. I think it was probably just a racing incident. I take full responsibility for it. I don’t think George had anywhere to go.”

Lando Norris lost a podium in the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix after Max Verstappen spotted an infringement

Norris had Verstappen to partly thank after seeing his podium chances slip away during a rather dramatic 2024 Qatar Grand Prix, which featured three separate safety car periods.

The McLaren driver was running in second behind Verstappen when double waved yellow flags were waved along the pit straight for a detached wing mirror. Alex Albon had lost a part from his Williams moments earlier, before his mirror came to a rest just off the racing line.

Race control initially called for a yellow flag for the section, as Verstappen and Norris were heading round the final corners. But the Red Bull racer ahead noticed in his mirrors that his McLaren rival did not lift out of the throttle as much as he had through the yellow flag zone.

Verstappen was quick to report Norris’ infringement over Red Bull’s radio, which ultimately then saw the stewards slap the latter with a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for the offence.

The drama was not over, either, as Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas hit Albon’s mirror moments after the yellow flags were called back in, which scattered debris across the track. Hamilton and Sainz both suffered punctures, which necessitated a safety car that further cost Norris.

McLaren cost Oscar Piastri victory in the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix with a strategic blunder

The 2023 Qatar Grand Prix was a somewhat farcical affair for Formula 1 as Pirelli enforced a mandated 18-lap maximum stint for any new set of tyres. Pirelli had detected a microscopic separation in the sidewall between the topping compound and the carcass cords in practice.

Multiple drivers suffered from heatstroke in the 2023 Qatar GP, as they could not get enough cool air into their cockpits amid air temperatures of 35°C in up to 74% humidity. Ocon noted after the race that the Alpine ace had been sick inside his helmet after just 15 of the 57 laps.

Aston Martin ace Lance Stroll also shared after the race that he had felt faint. Williams racer Sargeant also withdrew from the 2023 Qatar GP with heatstroke and dehydration on Lap 40, which all helped to convince F1 to schedule future editions of the race later into the season.

Yet Pirelli had to mandate a maximum tyre stint of 25 laps for the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix, as safety concerns emerged based on the data collected in Lusail in 2024. The 2025 event thus became a two-stop race, and an early safety car effectively removed any strategic decisions.

But McLaren opted against pitting Piastri from the lead of the 2025 Qatar GP or Norris from P3 when Sauber’s Hulkenberg crashed with Alpine’s Gasly to bring the safety car out on Lap 7 of 57. Every other team pitted at least one of their drivers on Lap 7 and the other on Lap 8.

McLaren decided against pitting Piastri and Norris under the safety car in the 2025 Qatar GP, as they felt it would give them a strategic advantage as their rivals were locked into stopping again on Lap 32. But all it did was give Red Bull racer Verstappen a win that Piastri deserved.

Piastri could not build enough of a lead over Verstappen before he had to make his first pit stop on Lap 24 or his second stop on Lap 42, and he ultimately finished second by 7.995s. Norris only finished P4 after he struggled to get by Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli.