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2025 Qatar Grand Prix
Formula One motor race From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 2025 Qatar Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2025) was a Formula One motor race held on 30 November 2025 at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar. It was the twenty-third and penultimate race of the 2025 Formula One World Championship, and the sixth and final Grand Prix weekend of the season to utilise the sprint format. Tyre supplier Pirelli elected to enforce a 25-lap limit on tyres across the weekend, similar to the limit placed at the 2023 edition of the race.
Championship leader Lando Norris (McLaren) came into the round with an opportunity to secure his maiden title, his team's first Drivers' title since 2008. Teammate Oscar Piastri (McLaren) converted pole position for the sprint to a win, and also took pole position for the main race. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) won the main race from third on the grid, followed by Piastri and Carlos Sainz Jr. (Williams), the latter becoming the first Williams driver to score multiple podiums in a season since 2015. Norris finished in second in the sprint and fourth in the Grand Prix.
The result meant that Norris maintained his lead in the Drivers' Standings. Being outscored by his championship rivals, Norris could not secure the title in this event, so he went into the final round with a points advantage of twelve and sixteen points over Verstappen and Piastri, respectively. The latter dropped down to third in the standings following Verstappen's second consecutive Grand Prix victory, that elevated the Dutchman to second in the championship. As a consequence, it was the first time in 15 years that at least three drivers went into the final round of the season with a realisitic chance of winning the World Drivers' Championship. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren remained on top with 800 points. Mercedes retained second place in the standings with 459 points, 33 clear from Red Bull in third. Mercedes would only need eleven points at the final race in Abu Dhabi to secure second in the Constructors' Championship.
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Background
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The event was held at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail for the fourth time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 28–30 November.[3] The Grand Prix was the twenty-third round of the 2025 Formula One World Championship and the fourth running of the Qatar Grand Prix.[4] It was also the sixth and final Grand Prix in the season to utilise the sprint format and the third time overall that the Qatar Grand Prix featured it.[5]
Championship standings before the race
Going into the weekend, Lando Norris led the Drivers' Championship with 390 points, 24 points ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen, who were second and third, respectively. McLaren, who won the Constructors' Championship at the Singapore Grand Prix, led with 756 points ahead of Mercedes and Red Bull Racing, who were second and third with 431 and 391 points, respectively.[6]
Championship permutations
World Drivers' Championship leader Lando Norris had an opportunity to secure his first title at this event, and McLaren's first Drivers' title since 2008. Norris could have become World Drivers' Champion if he outscored both Piastri and Verstappen by two points over the weekend; the title could not be decided after the sprint.[7]
Entrants
The drivers and teams were the same as published in the season entry list with two exceptions;[8] Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull Racing held the seat originally held by Liam Lawson before Lawson was demoted back to Racing Bulls from the Japanese Grand Prix onward,[9] and Franco Colapinto replaced Jack Doohan at Alpine from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix onward on a race-by-race basis.[10] The Grand Prix marked Lando Norris' 151st race with McLaren, becoming the driver with the most races with the team.[11]
Tyre choices and limits
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C1, C2, and C3 tyre compounds (the three hardest in their range) designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at the event.[12]
A limit of 25 laps over the course of the race weekend for each set of tyres was introduced. As the Grand Prix was run for 57 laps, each driver was required to change tyres at least twice. Unlike the 2023 race, laps run under the safety car or virtual safety car counted towards the limit.[13][14]
Penalties
Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) carried a five-place grid penalty for the main race for causing a collision with Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) at the preceding Las Vegas Grand Prix.[15]
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Practice
The only free practice session was held on 28 November 2025, at 16:30 local time (UTC+3), and was topped by Oscar Piastri ahead of his teammate Lando Norris (both McLaren) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin).[1]
Sprint qualifying
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Sprint qualifying was held on 28 November 2025, at 20:30 local time (UTC+3), and determined the starting grid order for the sprint.[1]
Sprint qualifying report
As with regular qualifying, the sprint qualifying consisted of three sessions, with the five drivers with the worst lap times being eliminated following each of the first two sessions. For the first two sessions, new medium tyres were mandated, while the third and final session allowed teams to use any set of soft tyres.[16]
During the twelve-minute long first session (SQ1), Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto (both Alpine) were eliminated, in addition to Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls), and Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari).[16][17][18] The second session (SQ2), which lasted for ten minutes, saw the eliminations of Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon (both Haas), Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hülkenberg (both Sauber), and Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls).[16][17][18]
The third session (SQ3) lasted for eight minutes, and determined the final order of the remaining ten drivers. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) took pole position ahead of George Russell (Mercedes) in second, and Piastri's teammate Lando Norris in third. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) finished in fourth and fifth, respectively, both recording their highest starting positions of the season. Max Verstappen, who found himself behind a teammate in any competitive session for the first time since the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Kimi Antonelli, Carlos Sainz Jr., Charles Leclerc, and Alexander Albon completed the rest of the top ten.[16][17][18]
Sprint qualifying classification
Notes
- ^1 – Lance Stroll, Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto qualified 16th, 18th, 19th and 20th, respectively, but were required to start the sprint from the pit lane as their cars were modified under parc fermé conditions.[20]
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Sprint
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The sprint was held on 29 November 2025, at 17:00 local time (UTC+3), and was run for 19 laps.[1][21]
Sprint classification
Notes
- ^1 – Yuki Tsunoda and Kimi Antonelli received a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits. Their final positions were not affected by the penalty.[22]
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Qualifying
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Qualifying was held on 29 November 2025, at 21:00 local time (UTC+3), and determined the starting grid order for the main race.[1]
Qualifying classification
Notes
- ^1 – Gabriel Bortoleto received a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Lance Stroll at the preceding Las Vegas Grand Prix.[15]
- ^2 – Franco Colapinto qualified 20th, but was required to start the race from the pit lane as his car was modified under parc fermé conditions.[24]
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Race
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The race was held on 30 November 2025, at 19:00 local time (UTC+3), and was run for 57 laps.[1]
Race report
Both McLarens started on the front row, with polesitter Oscar Piastri having a good start to cover his teammate Lando Norris going into turn 1. Max Verstappen, who started third, immediately overtook Norris in the first turn. Both George Russell and Isack Hadjar had poor starts and dropped to seventh and eighth, respectively, with Kimi Antonelli, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Fernando Alonso taking over fourth, fifth and sixth in that order. Several drivers were caught with black and white flag for exceeding track limits, including Pierre Gasly who went off track, damaging his Alpine. Nico Hülkenberg attempted to overtake Gasly around the outside of turn 1 in lap 7. Gasly ran into the side of Hülkenberg, causing Hülkenberg to lose his right rear tyre, suffering a tyre puncture on his own and triggering a safety car intervention. With the safety car deployed, every car bar the McLarens and Esteban Ocon made their first pit stops immediately, with Ocon pitting a lap later. The timing of this first pit stop would force these sixteen drivers to pit on lap 32 if they intended to run a two-stop strategy, as the tyres were only allowed to run for a maximum of 25 laps.[25]
During the first pit stop, a slow stop for Antonelli caused himself and teammate Russell to lose track positions to Sainz and Hadjar, respectively. Meanwhile, Ocon received a five-second time penalty due to moving before signal at the start of the race, and had to serve the penalty in the following lap. The three championship contenders (Piastri, Norris and Verstappen) all lined up in the top three in that order as of lap 11 when the safety car ended, with Verstappen being advised to nurse his tyres before Piastri and Norris took their first pit stops in lap 24 and 25, respectively, and maintained his gap to Norris.[25]
On lap 41, Alonso spun at the exit of turn 10, losing two positions to Hadjar and Russell. One lap later, McLaren decided to pit Piastri, putting the hard-compound tyres instead of the predicted soft tyres due to high degradation, followed by Norris two laps after that. Piastri rejoined the race in second behind Verstappen, while Norris rejoined in fifth behind Sainz and Antonelli. Near the end of the race, Lance Stroll and Hadjar retired, with the latter suffering a puncture. On the penultimate lap, Antonelli went wide at turn 10 while defending Norris, and Norris passed him to take fourth place. Sainz, having suffered floor damage that caused him to lose lap time, managed to fend off Antonelli and Norris.[25] Verstappen won the Grand Prix, his 70th overall and seventh of the season, equaling the race win tally of Norris and Piastri in 2025.[26] Piastri came in second place and Sainz rounded the podium,[25] his second of the season with Williams after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.[27]
Post-race
McLaren admitted they made the wrong decision regarding their strategy to not pit their drivers under the safety car.[28]
Following the Grand Prix, Norris retained his Drivers' Championship lead with 408 points. The gap between Norris and Verstappen decreased to 12 points, with Piastri 16 points behind Norris. The drivers remained in contention for the three-way title fight heading into the season finale in Abu Dhabi. In the Constructors' Championship, Williams secured their position in fifth place with 137 points, their best finish since 2016, ahead of Racing Bulls with 92 points in sixth. Meanwhile, Ferrari and Alpine also ensured their positions in the Constructors' Championship in fourth and tenth, respectively.[25]
Race classification
Notes
- ^1 – Lance Stroll and Isack Hadjar were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.[29]
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Championship standings after the race
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
- Competitor marked in bold and with an asterisk is the 2025 World Constructors' Champion.
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See also
References
External links
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