Max Verstappen secured a thrilling victory at the Lusail International Circuit, marking his first Grand Prix win in dry conditions since June. The Dutch driver, who had already clinched his fourth world title in Las Vegas, began the Qatar Grand Prix weekend with an unexpected dip in performance, finishing just eighth in the Sprint race, earning only a single point.
However, Red Bull made significant adjustments to his RB20 car ahead of qualifying, which paid off as Verstappen narrowly edged out George Russell for pole position by a mere 0.055 seconds. Despite his strong performance, Verstappen was penalized with a one-place grid drop for driving unnecessarily slowly, which meant he would start from second while Russell was promoted to pole.
Unfazed by this, Verstappen made an excellent start to the race, quickly reclaiming the lead. He maintained control throughout the race, fending off constant pressure, particularly from McLaren’s Lando Norris. Verstappen reflected on his performance, saying, “It was a very good race. Of course already yesterday in qualifying the car was a lot better. Today, that first stint was very, very fast.” He also mentioned the close competition with Norris, noting that the two drivers were separated by just 1.8 seconds for much of the race, pushing each other to the limit. “This track has a lot of grip, and this year the tyres were really holding on,” he added. “It was honestly a lot of fun to be really pushing the tyre.”
The race featured three Safety Car periods due to various incidents, which required Verstappen to control the restarts. Despite the challenges, he handled the pressure with skill. On one restart, Verstappen struggled with cold hard tyres, leading to a tense moment with Norris, but he managed to retain the lead. Reflecting on this, he explained, “On the hard tyres there was very little grip. You’ve just come out of the box so they’re already cold, and then immediately of course we had the Safety Car… I struggled for traction out of the corner.” Ultimately, Verstappen’s pace and composure secured him the victory, marking a triumphant return to the top step in dry conditions.
