Max Verstappen without doubt delivered a fine drive for victory at the Qatar Grand Prix but the reverberations from this dead rubber in the desert will resound long after the anthems faded into the night. Controversy and potential danger marked the meeting at the Lusail circuit, bringing recent decisions made by Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, sharply into scrutiny on the same day its president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, had demanded drivers mind their own business when questioning his governance.
Verstappen was in imperious form at Lusail in a race peppered with safety car interventions that he handled with aplomb and while being hounded throughout by a charging Lando Norris, who stayed within two seconds of the Dutchman until he received a penalty that took him out of contention.
