F1. Qatar 2025 Review
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By Gavin Huet, Chelsea Wintle, Graeme Woolf, Aiden McLaughlin and Joshua Arbury
Driver of the Weekend
Graeme: My main man Carlos Sainz produced a stellar drive to finish with his 2nd podium of the season in Qatar. After starting in 7th on the grid, the Spaniard climbed up quickly to 4th and then held onto 3rd from the hard charging Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli and McLarens Lando Norris. He’s had an extremely good back half of the season for Williams who have now locked in 5 th place for the year.
Joshua: A wildcard choice but I’m going with Hannah Schmitz the Red Bull Principal Strategy Engineer. She didn’t hesitate to make the split second decision to pit Max Verstappen on Lap 7, even though Piastri didn’t pit ahead of him and even though she knew it meant they were giving up any flexibility in strategy due to the bizarre and frankly annoying 25 lap limit on tyres. A great call that won Max the race.
Chelsea: Forget all that guff up front, what about Carlos Sainz? Sainz has now taken two podiums this year in his Williams, which is exactly two more podiums than Lewis Hamilton in the Ferrari that Sainz left. This isn’t about Ferrari sucking however – I spend enough time dwelling on that as it is – but instead how Sainz gained two places off the start, and used impressive speed to hold off theoretically stronger cars after the yellow flag. Red Bull will be ruing the day they passed on Sainz – or maybe not, given the decision was apparently not a democratic one, made by a dusty-haired Svengali not known for harbouring regrets. Here’s to an even stronger 2026 for the Williams team.
Aiden: Oscar Piastri did everything right all weekend and only for a mistake by the team, he would have swept the board after leading the timesheets in the four sessions before the main race. You have to feel for the Australian who was showing great resilience after a tough couple of months. But being the best driver (over the weekend) in the best car doesn’t guarantee success and boy does he know that now.
Gavin: Carlos Sainz gets the title this weekend. A solid weekend which saw him qualify and finish in P8 for the Sprint race, and then qualify P7 and ended on the podium in P3. Even in the dying laps when parts went flying off his car (it is a Williams so this is to be expected), he kept the pressure up and held on for a great result. In the second half of this season I think Carlos has edged out his team mate Alex Albon, now if only Williams could get both drivers in the points on a consistent basis they may just become more of a force again.
Talking Point
Graeme: What were Mclaren thinking on Lap 7?? I’m guessing if you’re reading this, then you know what happened. I even wondered out loud at the time why they didn’t come in and pit with everyone else. Was it blind arrogance that they thought they could run a different strategy to the field and still have the pace at the end? It certainly looks that way. McLaren handed Max Vertsappen the win and he gratefully took it.
Joshua: You have to start with the baffling decision McLaren made to not pit their drivers under the safety car. Like *maybe* if Piastri had pitted Max and everyone else might have stayed out, but it seems unlikely. The call reminded me of Hungary 2021 when Lewis Hamilton was the only car on the grid as everyone else pulled into the pits after the formation lap to change their tyres. If you’re the only one doing something then chances are you’ve made a big mistake. Piastri is a chill guy but he was absolutely fuming.
Other talking point in my mind was how utterly terrible this track is. I don’t care if it’s a good track for motorcycles. I don’t care if the drivers enjoy the high speed turns. The track is absolutely rubbish – nearly as tough as Monaco to pass and no redeeming features. Just one long straight and a bunch of repetitive medium and high speed bends. Yawn.
Chelsea: What else is there? McLaren’s decision not to pit either Piastri or Norris at the literal best opportunity – during a safety car during lap seven – confused many of us at the time, and everyone else later, when it cost them the win. Their theory was that staying out would allow them to retain flexibility with their pit windows – in this race, unusually, Pirelli had mandated a hard 25 lap limit on tyre use for safety reasons, meaning all cars that pitted in lap seven would be forced to pit again in lap 32. Holding Norris (then in third) made sense to me, but Piastri? I would gladly enter 2026 never hearing the phrase “Papaya Rules” again. Some days I want this season to go on forever; others I want it to be over already…
Aiden: What was clearly banter (mischievous banter, but banter nonetheless) when Max Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase said over team radio that Kimi Antonelli had pulled over to let Lando Norris past, has shown yet again that the world really needs to flush a lot of idiots down the social media toilet. Antonelli ended up getting death threats which makes me think that it’s not Australian kids that need some intervention, it’s some crazy, warped sports fans. This world we live in makes me shake my head far too often.
Gavin: McLaren messed up their strategy, when everyone zigged, they instead zagged. The result of which let Max Verstappen win the race and get ever closer to winning the Driver Championship. McLaren said the reason for not pitting is they didn’t want to double stack their drivers as that would have disadvantaged Lando Norris! Thanks Andrea Stella, this certainly proves you can take the boy out of Ferrari but you cannot take the Ferrari out of the boy. I said it before and I will say it again, Papaya Rules are stupid and proving costly. If they weren’t so hell bent on being totally fair in all circumstances, and therefore not fair in all circumstances, they could have sealed the deal for one of their drivers. The team never quite had the conviction of backing one driver over another even if it does feel, and look, like they favour Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri. Whilst they still could, and probably should, win the title, if they don’t it could really mean the end of the era for that team as I am sure heads will drop and be turned by opportunities elsewhere.
Special mention goes to Red Bull who sent Hannah Schmitz onto the podium to collect the team trophy, in Qatar… nice.
Gossip Time
Graeme: Papaya fools. I think I’ve seen that written somewhere already this season, but it certainly applies here. By not pitting on lap 7, they effectively ruled one of their own drivers out of Championship contention when he was comfortably leading the race. All season long they’ve adopted the mantra that both drivers are equal, but by doing this, they subconsciously favoured Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri. And where were they after the race? When they win, Zak Brown can’t wait to be on camera, but when it didn’t go so well, he ran away from the spotlight. I though fronting up early on afterwards would’ve been a good thing to do.
Joshua: While we obviously have a great showdown next week in Abu Dhabi, my mind is wandering ahead to next year. Unless Ferrari perform a miracle, can Lewis Hamilton really make it right through the season? The dude seems absolutely done with it – can he really do this for a whole extra year? Also with Piastri, unless he performs a miracle next weekend to win the championship he’s going to feel bitter about how this season has turned out – with all the rumours of McLaren favouring Lando. How much more of that can he take? I get the sense he wants to punch anyone who mutters the phrase “Papaya Rules”.
Chelsea: Lucky Liam Lawson this week received confirmation that he’ll continue in the RB in 2026 – a decision that was by no means a slam dunk. This means the much-debated lineup will be Verstappen and Hadjar in the Red Bulls, with newbie Arvid Lindblad pairing with Lawson in the RBs. Lawson wouldn’t even be considered among the top three rookies this year so will be breathing a sigh of relief that he’s been retained – while Yuki Tsunoda will still be around the garages as Red Bull’s reserve driver. All other teams will retain their 2025 lineups and, of course, both Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez will be back in Cadillac colours (“dark, carbon-focused aesthetic with hints of imperial blue and white”… yawn). Oh, and Fernando Alonso’s having a baby.
Aiden: Fred Vasseur seems to be on borrowed time as Ferrari team principal. Their form has been so bad, that there surely has to be a fall guy. I’m not saying it’s right, as the Italian outfit has been a basket case for as long as anyone can remember, but something needs to change. Antonello Coletta, the head of Ferrari’s World Endurance Championship operation, seems to be where the smart money is in terms of a replacement.
Gavin: It sounds like Isack Hadjar has been given the nod to be the next man in the second Red Bull car, which is bad news for Yuki Tsunoda. I suspect bad news also for Liam Lawson, which means there could be two new young guns in the Racing Bulls seats for 2026 (the news overnight that Liam retains his seat and is joined by Arvid Lindblad shows you how much I know). In other news Helmut Marko is not a happy man complaining that Kimi Antonelli effectively waved Lando past in the last few laps, giving Lando a couple of more points in the battle with Max. Red Bull have since had to issue an apology especially now that Kimi has been receiving death threats! Why Helmut is given so much leeway to get involved is beyond me, he has not exactly delivered the young driver supply line he is tasked with and just exudes a rich boomer with bad opinions aura.
Looking Ahead
Graeme: You couldn’t have scripted it better as it all now comes down to the final race this weekend in Abu Dhabi. A promoter’s dream. Three drivers fighting for the title. Not much else to say here, but let’s fricken go!!
Joshua: Last week my hope was to see a 3-way battle for the championship in the last round and I got my wish. Will Kimi Antonelli “letting through” Norris on the last lap be the crucial extra 2 points that makes the world of difference? Will McLaren force Piastri to let other drivers past him if it means Norris takes the championship over Verstappen? Will we see late dramas like 2021? What is Nicholas Latifi up to these days? I just hope it’s epic.
Chelsea: t’s beginning to look a lot like 2021. Next week is the final race of the season, and the driver’s championship is still within reach for Norris, Verstappen and Piastri, in that order. If Norris places on the podium, the championship is his, and the rest comes down to muddier permutations. The maths makes it sound easier than it is – the first corner at Abu Dhabi is notoriously prickly, particularly when there are three drivers with everything to lose, and another 17 with their own interests in mind. I still want it for the Aussie, Piastri – tell me I’m dreamin’ – Santa couldn’t have brought me a better final race. Bring it on!
Aiden: My prediction; Max to win the season finale this weekend but Lando to win the title. It’s going to be exciting, nerve wracking, and that’s good for the sport. Then we can all look forward to 2026.
Gavin: Down to the last race of the season, three drivers in contention, this is the future we have all wanted. I still think the momentum has swung and Max is going to do it again. He’s been like a shark circling (yes, I will keep this analogy going as long as I can) and now there is blood in the water and he’s locked onto it. If the McLarens don’t lock out that front row, and somehow work together as per Papaya Rules, and also maximise their individual races to try to win the Championship, then it is goodnight for them. That Red Bull is just too strong at the moment. Guess I will be awake at 2AM next Monday then.
Bonus Picture(s)
Is F1 jumping the shark? Novak Djokovic leading a “movement session”.
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