Race Series Authentics Store Tickets Hospitality Experiences
Previous
Current
Upcoming
2025 SeasonDriver Standings Team StandingsArchive 1950-2024F1 AwardsNewsChevron DropdownWhat is F1? What is F1 TV?F1 The MovieGet involvedNewsVideos1 / 2
LUSAIL CITY, QATAR - NOVEMBER 30: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates on arrival in parc ferme during the F1 Grand Prix of Qatar at Lusail International Circuit on November 30, 2025 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Mark Sutton - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Piastri made a great start from pole, leading on the first lap. Norris yielded to Verstappen into Turn 1, opting not to defend too hard from the dirty, inside line. Running first and third, McLaren were the only team not to pit under the Lap 7 Safety Car. While that promoted Norris back to second, it left Verstappen in third just a few seconds behind having already served one of the two mandatory pit stops. Piastri did everything he could to build a lead, but could not make up that time deficit and wound up coming home second when the pit stops did shake out. As for Norris, he could not even build enough of a gap to stay ahead of Sainz and Antonelli. After his second stop, he was fifth and stuck behind the Mercedes for lap after lap, only making it through on the penultimate lap when Antonelli made a mistake.
As such, Norris saw his Championship lead reduced to just 12 points over Verstappen, while Piastri dropped to third in the Championship, 16 points behind his team mate.
Lando Norris, 4th
"Frustrating result, we didn't get it right today, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. There was obviously the opportunity to finish higher, but we'll debrief as a team and come back stronger next week. We'll now ensure our focus switches to Abu Dhabi and do what we can to deliver the best possible result next weekend."
Oscar Piastri, 2nd
"We had the pace for the win today, we just didn't make the right call. I tried my best to catch Max, and we left it all out there, so it's painful not to get the win. Final push next week, I'll try and drive like I did this weekend and see what comes."
Andrea Stella, Team Principal
"Today's race result is a huge disappointment; there's no point hiding it. We had the potential to win and to have both drivers on the podium, but we made an error of judgment during the Safety Car period and paid dearly for it. Today we had the fastest car, and the drivers did a great job, but as a team we didn't deliver for them. We will react to this setback as we always have, learning from our mistakes and working as a united and cohesive group. This is a team based on important values, and we will prove it once again.
"Now we must prepare ourselves in the best possible way for the final race. We still have every chance of achieving our goals. Let's not forget that we are still leading the Championship and both our drivers have a chance to win the title. It won't be easy, but we are channelling our disappointment into total determination."
2LUSAIL CITY, QATAR - NOVEMBER 30: Second placed Oscar Piastri of Australia and McLaren is interviewed during the F1 Grand Prix of Qatar at Lusail International Circuit on November 30, 2025 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)Close image gallery1 / 3
LUSAIL CITY, QATAR - NOVEMBER 30: Third placed Carlos Sainz of Spain and Williams celebrates with his team in parc ferme during the F1 Grand Prix of Qatar at Lusail International Circuit on November 30, 2025 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images)
Antonelli made the better start of the two Mercedes cars, finding himself fourth in the early stages. Russell dropped to seventh though, behind Sainz and Alonso. The team pitted both cars together, Antonelli losing out to Sainz in the first round of pit stops, while Russell likewise was held up by pit lane traffic. From there, Antonelli looked on for fourth, absorbing plenty of pressure from a fresher shod Norris behind but he made one late mistake which allowed the McLaren to slip through. As for Russell, he had a quieter race but inherited a place when Hadjar retired late on.
George Russell, 6th
"I lost several positions on the opening lap unfortunately and that compromised my race. The inside of the track, where I was starting from, is lower grip and that hurt me in the first few corners. I got caught out at turn two as I lost the rear and then I dropped another position at our first stop as we had to wait for the fast lane to clear. We battled back where we could, but we saw on Saturday just how difficult it is to overtake here. We had to be patient and, whilst P6 is not a result we came into the day hoping for, we’ve put a few more points on our tally in the battle for P2 in the Constructors’ Championship.
"We are well positioned to claim that P2 next weekend in Abu Dhabi. It is only between us and Red Bull Racing now so hopefully we can get the job done. We won’t just be looking to play it safe though. We want to end the season, and this era in our sport, on a high so we will be aiming to get ourselves on the podium."
Kimi Antonelli, 5th
"P5 is solid points today but we could have had much more. We were slightly unlucky at the first pitstop where we lost a position to the Williams of Carlos Sainz; we had a slower stop and had to hold as traffic passed us in the fast lane. That delayed us leaving the pit box and ultimately, that is what changed our race and denied us the chance to fight for the podium. We were stuck behind him for the rest of the afternoon, and it was impossible to attempt an overtake.
"I was pushing hard to stay ahead of Norris in the closing stages and unfortunately just pushed a little bit too hard. I got out of shape through turn nine and then had a massive snap of oversteer. I was lucky to save the car but sadly dropped the position to the McLaren. It was a frustrating and disappointing way to end what had been a good race up to that point. We will focus on Abu Dhabi now though and look to secure P2 in the Constructors’ with a strong performance to end my rookie season."
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
"We are frustrated with how our race played out today. It was a difficult evening where we could have brought home a podium at the very least, along with good points, but mistakes meant we didn’t take advantage of the situation.
"George had a tricky first lap, losing positions as he suffered from running on the lower grip side of the track. From there, the lap seven safety car meant we, along with almost the entire field, boxed and we were locked in strategically. It was the right call to box both cars but a slow stop with Kimi cost us a position to Sainz and that in turn held up George.
"It was almost impossible to follow closely and set up an overtake so we knew it would be a long race from there. Both drivers maintained pressure on those ahead though and were driving on the limit. We are fighting for P2 in the Constructors’ Championship and that is very important to us. Kimi was also pushing for his third podium in a row. Any view that he ‘let’ Norris past is hard to understand. It was a simple mistake and a frustrating one for both him and the team.
"We turn our attentions to Abu Dhabi and the final race of the season. We have a 33-point advantage over Red Bull so P2 is very much in our hands. We want to end the year and this era in F1 on a high and will be looking to do so in what is likely to be a spectacular championship-finale."
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
"A really frustrating result for us today but we at least scored a decent number of points. We go into the last race 33 points ahead in P2 in the constructors’ championship and although we didn't have much clear air to show it, the car has good pace.
"George lost a bit of ground on the start but that seemed to be the case for all cars on the inside row. He then ended up off line following a snap at turn 2, lost grip with dirt on the tyres and unfortunately dropped places to Sainz and Alonso. Kimi's start was better and he was just settling into the stint behind Norris when the safety car came out at the exact lap that allowed the race to be completed with two 25-lap stints. As expected, almost all cars stopped; we ended up holding Kimi for slightly longer than necessary which cost him a place to Sainz and ultimately that is what cost him a shot at the podium. With George there was always going to be some loss from having to stack and that allowed Hadjar to also get in front. The rest of the race was fairly unspectacular. George gained a place to Hadjar when he had a puncture and also realised he could go a full second quicker once in clear air. Kimi lost a spot to Norris when he was pushing to stay ahead.
"Not the result we wanted but we will regroup over the next two days and hopefully finish the year strongly in Abu Dhabi."
2LUSAIL CITY, QATAR - NOVEMBER 30: Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy driving the (12) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W16 leads Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Qatar at Lusail International Circuit on November 30, 2025 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)Close image gallery1 / 2
LUSAIL CITY, QATAR - NOVEMBER 30: Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR25 Mercedes on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Qatar at Lusail International Circuit on November 30, 2025 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Leclerc dropped places off the line again as he did in the Sprint, finding himself running in 11th in the early stages. Hamilton gained off the line by comparison, after opting for the aggressive strategy of a soft tyre start. The Monegasque driver then inherited a few places when Hulkenberg and Gasly clashed, and again when Hadjar dropped out late on. But eighth is scant reward from a difficult weekend. As for Hamilton, he climbed up to 12th but could go no further after finding himself stuck in a long DRS train.
Charles Leclerc, 8th
"It’s been a really difficult weekend for us. We just didn’t have the pace we needed and none of the changes we made improved our outlook.
"On a positive note, I look forward to Abu Dhabi and want to finish the season on a high. We will do everything to extract the maximum from our car and I hope to jump on the podium one last time this year, to give the whole team a positive feeling before the holidays."
Lewis Hamilton, 12th
"We made a positive start and gained a few positions in the first stint, but the Safety Car didn’t play to our advantage and I lost two positions after the double stack. From that point I found myself in a DRS train, which made progress difficult on a circuit where overtaking is limited. The focus in now on Abu Dhabi, and hopefully we can end the season on a stronger note."
Fred Vasseur, Team Principal
"We knew this circuit would be more difficult than the previous one for us and all weekend long, we were unable to find the right set-up. We struggled to run the cars with the very high tyre pressures mandated here and we clearly took a step backwards. A couple of races ago we were on the podium and today we were fighting for P10. For sure, it’s been tough. Next week in Abu Dhabi we can expect to be back to the more normal pressures, so we can hope for a better weekend. I can perfectly understand the frustration that everyone, the drivers, the mechanics, the engineers, is feeling tonight and we are sorry for our fans. But right from tomorrow morning, we will react as a team, we will be back at work trying to prepare as well as we can for Abu Dhabi."
2LUSAIL CITY, QATAR - NOVEMBER 30: Sparks fly behind Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving the (16) Scuderia Ferrari SF-25 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Qatar at Lusail International Circuit on November 30, 2025 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Clive Rose - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)Close image gallery1 / 2
LUSAIL CITY, QATAR - NOVEMBER 30: Liam Lawson of New Zealand driving the (30) Visa Cash App Racing Bulls VCARB 02 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Qatar at Lusail International Circuit on November 30, 2025 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)
Hulkenberg started on the soft tyre from P11 on the grid. He soon found himself passing Leclerc, and starting to hunt down Gasly before attempting to make a move on the Frenchman around the outside, but the two made contact and Hulkenberg spun off into retirement with a rear tyre puncture. As for Bortoleto, he had to serve his five-place grid drop here but managed to recover to P13 on a night where there were not too many opportunities with the majority of the field pitting at the same time.
Nico Hulkenberg, DNF
"It’s such a big shame to have a promising race end so early, after being hit by Pierre [Gasly], as I genuinely think we could have scored points today. I felt confident with the car yesterday and the pace was there in the first seven laps. Overtaking opportunities here are very limited, so I went for a manoeuvre around the outside, which is always a bit riskier, but I gave Pierre plenty of space. It’s very unfortunate, as there were definitely opportunities for us today. For now it’s only disappointment, but we’ll take a couple of days to refocus and try to finish our season in Abu Dhabi in the best possible way.”
Gabriel Bortoleto, 13th
“It wasn’t the most exciting race for me: there weren’t many overtakes, and I spent most of it being stuck behind Lewis [Hamilton]. Once he pulled a gap, I couldn’t really close it again, so my race just kind of stayed there from that point on. I had some battles at the start, but after that not much happened. There’s still something we can take from the weekend, and a few things we could’ve improved. The penalty from Las Vegas obviously affected my race today, but our pace itself was encouraging. If we’d started around P14, we might have had a shot at the top ten. Overall, there are definitely some good learnings to carry forward into the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi next week.”
Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal
“Unfortunately, it was a tough day in the office for the team. After strong opening laps, Nico was caught in a racing incident at Turn 1, which ended his race early. Gabi delivered an impressive performance, starting from P19 and fighting through to P13 with strong pace throughout. The pit crew were outstanding once again, delivering two very quick and clean stops.
“Given our speed and where our competitors finished, a strong points result was within reach, so it is disappointing not to have converted that potential. Now we turn our focus to Abu Dhabi, the final race of an exciting season, determined to finish strong.”
2LUSAIL CITY, QATAR - NOVEMBER 30: Nico Hulkenberg of Germany and Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber walks away from his damaged car after a crash during the F1 Grand Prix of Qatar at Lusail International Circuit on November 30, 2025 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)Close image gallery1 / 2
LUSAIL CITY, QATAR - NOVEMBER 30: Nico Hulkenberg of Germany driving the (27) Kick Sauber C45 Ferrari and Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Alpine F1 A525 Renault battle for track position during the F1 Grand Prix of Qatar at Lusail International Circuit on November 30, 2025 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Clive Rose - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Bearman made a great start and was running in the points until the first pit stops. But something went wrong down at Haas, with Bearman seemingly released early with the rear jack still attached. As well as damaging his car and costing him time, that earned him a 10-second stop/go penalty for the car being released in an unsafe condition. After serving the penalty, Bearman retired from the race. As for Ocon, he was the third car not to pit immediately under the Safety Car. The team brought him in next time around, which dropped him from third to last. And from there, he could not recover - especially given he picked up a time penalty for a false start to boot.
Esteban Ocon, 15th
“I don’t really have words for the penalty, I don’t know where that’s come from. I’ve done over 100 starts and have always done the same procedure. It killed our whole race, and then we had to serve a double penalty, and then being on the wrong tyre, that was the end of our race really. The next race will be an important one, last year the team had a lot of pace, so we’ll see what we get.”
Oliver Bearman, DNF
“It’s a shame, as we were on for a good result, getting lucky with the incident ahead of us. We had the pace to be there though, and we were fighting in the top 10. Now we’ve lost some points against competitors, which is a shame, but we have one more race to go to do our best and claw it all back. I’ve got to look at the positives, and although the car was tough to drive, we found ourselves in a point-scoring position. I’m looking forward to resetting and ending the season on a high.”
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal
“It’s been an extremely tough day. It had good potential, the pace in the car was good, and both drivers were much happier with the car. It’s a shame with Esteban, there was the smallest of movements from his car on the start grid, which we need to understand more about. We made a couple of big errors on the pit stops, we’re not proud of it, but when doing 24 races and however many pit stops we do – we all make mistakes. What’s important is that we stick together and support each other. We have one more race, an important one, next weekend, and it’s a good thing as we’ll get back up from this one and put on our best performance from FP1 through to the race. We’re determined to finish the season on a high, that’s our focus.”
2LUSAIL CITY, QATAR - NOVEMBER 30: Oliver Bearman of Great Britain driving the (87) Haas F1 VF-25 Ferrari makes a pitstop during the F1 Grand Prix of Qatar at Lusail International Circuit on November 30, 2025 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images)Close image gallery1 / 2
LUSAIL CITY, QATAR - NOVEMBER 30: Oliver Bearman of Great Britain driving the (87) Haas F1 VF-25 Ferrari makes a pitstop during the F1 Grand Prix of Qatar at Lusail International Circuit on November 30, 2025 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images)
Mario Isola, Motorsport Director
“All the strategic choices in today’s race were conditioned by the arrival of the safety car. The compound considered to be the best compromise between getting good grip right from the start, and also maintaining an adequate performance level throughout the duration of the stint, was the medium.
Although nearly every driver only used the hard for the final stint to the flag, the C1 compound would also have been competitive halfway through the race. The lap times showed that in some cases it offered better performance than the C2 medium in the final laps. All the compounds displayed very limited wear, allowing drivers to push to the maximum.
There was a lot less graining compared to previous days, which reduced cases of extreme wear but did not eliminate them entirely. As a result, the 25-lap limit was shown to be appropriate to avoid any issues.
The fascinating twists and turns of this race, with unprecedented levels of performance and new circuit records set throughout the weekend, reflect an entire season with closer competition than ever. So it’s perhaps no surprise that the championship now gets decided at the last race, with three very worthy contenders going into battle for the final time next weekend.”
Next Up
F1FacebookXInstagramYouTube© 2003-2025 Formula One World Championship Limited