2023 F1 Qatar GP results: Max Verstappen wins, Mercs collide

F1’s teams were thrown a curveball with a mandated maximum of 18-lap stints – effectively pushing all drivers into a three-stop strategy – due to safety concerns over tyre trouble.

There was also drama right from the start when the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton collided at the first corner, allowing three-time champion Verstappen to pull well clear out front.

Sprint winner Oscar Piastri was best of the rest for McLaren, finishing just ahead of his team-mate Lando Norris. Russell recovered to finish fourth.

Polesitter Verstappen, who started on medium tyres, led Russell and Hamilton on the long run to the first corner – the latter starting on soft rubber.

As Hamilton lunged around the outside of those ahead of him, the Mercedes pair collided, sending Hamilton spinning into the gravel minus his right-rear wheel. Russell limped back to the pits for a new front wing.

That promoted Piastri to second, ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso (who was delayed avoiding the spinning Russell), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Norris.

The race went green again on lap five, Verstappen extending an immediate 1s lead over Piastri. Sergio Perez started his Red Bull from the pit lane, running the hard tyres, and was already promoted to 13th due to the clash and four cars pitting ahead of him. But Russell (on mediums) demoted him, despite Perez’s best efforts.

Alonso was the first of the leaders to pit on lap 13, followed in by Piastri and Leclerc a tour later. Leclerc rejoined ahead of Alonso but retook his net third position soon after.

Verstappen maxed out his opening stint to 17 laps, rejoining behind Alex Albon’s Williams, who had to stop a tour later. Verstappen led Piastri by 8s at this point, as Norris snatched a position from Leclerc – which was for a net fourth.

Piastri set the second pitstop cycle in motion just before half distance, opting for a fresh set of mediums, while Verstappen ran until lap 34, rejoining with a 6s lead as he switched to hards. Alonso went off into the gravel at Turn 2, losing places to Russell and Leclerc as he recovered.

Piastri was again an early stopper for the final round of pitstops on lap 43, having dropped 10s away from Verstappen. Norris pitted a lap later and rejoined right behind his team-mate after a strong penultimate stint.

Russell took fresh softs for his six-lap sprint to the finish. Verstappen had a slow final stop, rejoining 5s ahead of Piastri, who closed the gap to 3.4s at one point but was unable to challenge in the closing stages and Verstappen won by 4.8s.

Russell was a distant fourth, ahead of Leclerc and Alonso. Ocon finished seventh from Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo). Perez got a trio of 5s penalties for exceeding track limits, which hampered his recovery drive to 10th, and his final sanction promoted Zhou Guanyu to ninth.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz didn’t start the race due to a fuel system failure, and Logan Sargeant was forced to retire his Williams due to feeling unwell.