Max Verstappen won a controversial and incident-filled Qatar Grand Prix as Lando Norris lost second place after a stop/go penalty.
Norris was penalised by the stewards for failing to slow under a yellow flag. That promoted Charles Leclerc up to second, with Oscar Piastri completing the podium.
At the start, Verstappen took advantage of the inside line to get ahead of pole sitter George Russell at the start, then fended off Lando Norris on his outside into turn two to take the lead. The Safety Car was deployed on the opening lap, following a three-car clash between Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto which saw the latter two retire with damaged cars.
The race restarted at the start of the fifth lap, with Verstappen leading away Norris, Russell and Piastri. Verstappen pulled quickly out of DRS range from the McLaren behind, helped by Norris running into the gravel in between turns four and five.
Verstappen led through the opening stint, but Norris never let the race leader escape more than three seconds away. There was a yellow flag along the pit straight when a loose wing mirror ended up on the circuit. Verstappen asked Red Bull to report Norris for failing to back off under yellow flags, which the team responded they would.
The yellow flag was rescinded despite the debris still remaining on track. Eventually, Valtteri Bottas ran over the mirror littering the circuit with more debris. Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz Jnr both suffered punctures and the Safety Car was deployed.
Verstappen and Norris both pitted for hard tyres, but confusion over the restart allowed Norris to challenge Verstappen for the lead. Norris was repelled and the Safety Car was deployed before the end of the restart lap after Sergio Perez pulled off track and Nico Hulkenberg spun out.
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Verstappen’s second restart was better than his first and allowed him to stay in the lead. But the stewards announced that Norris had been handed a ten second stop-go penalty for speeding under yellow flags, dropping him out of contention for the victory.
Norris immediately pitted to serve his penalty, with Verstappen simply checking off the final laps to secure his ninth win of the season. Charles Leclerc finished in second place, with Oscar Piastri completing the podium in third.
George Russell finished fourth and held the position despite being handed a five second time penalty post-race for a Safety Car infringement….
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