Oscar Piastri Returns to Top Step in Qatar Sprint Race, Makes Minor Cut into Norris' Points Buffer

Oscar Piastri protected his first pole position since the Dutch Grand Prix at Lusail to sail to victory in the Qatar Sprint Race, beating George Russell and his championship rivals, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, to the line Saturday evening.

Piastri bounces back after an abysmal six races off the podium, in which he lost the championship lead to his teammate Norris. When asked about the improved performance, Piastri answered that it was equally, if not more, about things not going wrong in a weekend as it was about his historical strength at the track.

"It’s obviously a very different circuit to where we have been, much higher speed, much higher grip," Piastri told F1TV. "I think the last couple of weekends have been things going wrong instead of a lack of pace, so to speak. I think here everything has gone smoothly, and the pace has been strong. It’s a track that I’ve enjoyed in the past, and I’m enjoying it again clearly."

At the start, both the inside and outside lanes were off cleanly, with the closest call being Norris and Russell as they both went for the slipstream behind Oscar Piastri.

Russell held on to second with Norris settling into third, where they would run until the finish. The Merceres driver radioed after the race that if there had been a couple more laps in the sprint race, the right front tire would've given them issues in preparation for tomorrow's longer stints.

Shortly behind, Fernando Alonso in fourth, his best start of the season was quickly passed by Yuki Tsunoda and his Red Bull teammate Verstappen, a turn later Tsunoda didn’t defend, allowing his teammate by on the outside line.

With Verstappen up to fourth early and within DRS of Norris, he loomed large but never had a clean enough chance at the podium.

Tsunoda was given a five-second penalty after crossing the white lines, having been black-and-white flagged for too many track limit violations.

Kimi Antoneilli passed Alonso around the halfway point to move up to sixth. Alonso and Carlos Sainz completed the points-paying positions.

Piastri is now 22 points behind Norris, with Verstappen three points behind Piastri and 25 points out of the lead.

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