Oscar Piastri was gifted the Qatar Grand Prix sprint victory by Lando Norris, who controlled a tactical race that boosts McLaren's chances of sealing Formula 1's constructors' championship.
Norris ensured Piastri remained second by staying within DRS range, which allowed the Australian to repel an effervescent George Russell throughout the 19-lap race.
Having looked to have sealed the victory, Norris then let Piastri through at the finish line to allow his younger team-mate to claim the sprint win - and admitted that he'd long planned to pay Piastri back for giving up the sprint win in Brazil.
Norris had shrugged off the pressure of starting from pole and led the way in Turn 1, leaving fellow front-row starter Russell in the clutches of Piastri; the Melburnian hung his McLaren around the outside and held the favoured line for Turn 2 to complete the move.
With Norris slinking off into an early lead, Piastri came under renewed pressure from Russell when the Mercedes driver collected DRS. This prompted Piastri to defend at the start of the third and fourth laps, to the Las Vegas winner's chagrin.
Norris then backed off to keep Piastri in DRS range, ensuring that the #81 car had more tools to contain Russell over the rest of the race.
It got to a point where Norris admitted to struggling with his front tyres, and asked if he should continue to help Piastri stay in his wake; McLaren responded in the affirmative, and thus Norris continued to aid McLaren's claim to a 1-2 finish.
Piastri didn't manage to get DRS in the final lap which opened him up to a final Russell assault, but the eventual winner held firm - and then moved past a slowing Norris at the line to pick up the win.
Russell had Carlos Sainz behind him throughout the race, although the Ferrari driver was locked in the DRS train and unable to interlope on the battle for a top three finish.
Charles Leclerc wrested fifth from Lewis Hamilton with an impressive move at the start of lap 13, in which the Monegasque gathered pace with DRS and went down the inside into Turn 1.
Hamilton held on around the outside and looked to have defended with the inside line into Turn 2, but Leclerc kept his foot in and steamed around the outside to garner the upper hand into the next corner.
Nico Hulkenberg got valuable points on the board for Haas with seventh, as 2024 champion Max Verstappen finished eighth; the Red Bull driver was wayward in the opening lap and got passed by a fast-starting Hamilton, Hulkenberg, and Pierre Gasly's Alpine after suffering with oversteer.
Verstappen reclaimed the final point from Gasly ahead of the race's halfway point, but could make no inroads into Hulkenberg. Gasly finished just under a second clear of Kevin Magnussen, who made a stunning getaway off the line to convert 15th into 10th.
Zhou Guanyu and Sergio Perez were the only stoppers in the race; the Chinese driver's soft-tyre gamble did not pay off, while Perez was slow to get away from his pitlane start and was passed by fellow slow-lane occupant Franco Colapinto on the pit exit.
The Mexican then stopped for a new front wing after spending the early laps stuck at the back.
F1 Qatar GP Sprint race results
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| Cla | Driver | # | Laps | Time | Interval | km/h | Pits | Points | Retirement | Chassis | Engine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 |  O. Piastri McLaren |
81 |  |
19 |
27'03.010 |
227.774 | 8 | McLaren | Mercedes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 |  L. Norris McLaren |
4 |  |
19 |
+0.136 27'03.146 |
0.136 | 227.755 | 7 | McLaren | Mercedes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | G. Russell Mercedes |
63 |  |
19 |
+0.410 27'03.420 |
0.274 | 227.717 | 6 | Mercedes | Mercedes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 |  C. Sainz Ferrari |
55 |  |
19 |
+1.326 27'04.336 |
0.916 | 227.588 | 5 | Ferrari | Ferrari | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 |  C. Leclerc Ferrari |
16 | |
19 |
+5.073 27'08.083 |
3.747 | 227.064 | 4 | Ferrari | Ferrari | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | L. Hamilton Mercedes |
44 |  |
19 |
+5.650 27'08.660 |
0.577 | 226.984 | 3 | Mercedes | Mercedes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 |  N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team |
27 |  |
19 |
+8.508 27'11.518 |
2.858 | 226.586 | 2 | Haas | Ferrari | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 |  M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing |
1 |  |
19 |
+10.368 27'13.378 |
1.860 | 226.328 | 1 | Red Bull | Red Bull | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 |  P. Gasly Alpine |
10 |  |
19 |
+14.513 27'17.523 |
4.145 | 225.755 | Alpine | Renault | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 |  K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team |
20 |  |
19 |
+15.485 27'18.495 |
0.972 | 225.621 | Haas | Ferrari | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing |
14 |  |
19 |
+19.204 27'22.214 |
3.719 | 225.110 | Aston Martin | Mercedes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 |  V. Bottas Sauber |
77 |  |
19 |
+23.351 27'26.361 |
4.147 | 224.543 | Sauber | Ferrari | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13 |  L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing |
18 |  |
19 |
+24.421 27'27.431 |
1.070 | 224.398 | Aston Martin | Mercedes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | E. Ocon Alpine |
31 |  |
19 |
+30.379 27'33.389 |
5.958 | 223.589 | Alpine | Renault | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 |  A. Albon Williams |
23 |  |
19 |
+33.062 27'36.072 |
2.683 | 223.227 | Williams | Mercedes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 |  L. Lawson RB |
30 |  |
19 |
+34.356 27'37.366 |
1.294 | 223.052 | RB | Red Bull | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 |  Y. Tsunoda RB |
22 |  |
19 |
+35.102 27'38.112 |
0.746 | 222.952 | RB | Red Bull | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 |  F. Colapinto Williams |
43 |  |
19 |
+35.639 27'38.649 |
0.537 | 222.880 | Williams | Mercedes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 |  Z. Guanyu Sauber |
24 |  |
19 |
+1'11.436 28'14.446 |
35.797 | 218.171 | 1 | Sauber | Ferrari | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 |  S. Perez Red Bull Racing |
11 |  |
19 |
+1'14.371 28'17.381 |
2.935 | 217.794 | 1 | Red Bull | Red Bull | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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