Norris defies orders and gives Piastri the sprint to Qatar, with Verstappen taking pole position

LUZAJL – Lando Norris ignored team orders by handing his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri the sprint race victory in Qatar on Saturday, while champion Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Grand Prix.

McLaren is eyeing its first Formula 1 constructors’ title in 26 years and George Russell just behind Mercedes, the team radioed Norris to “finish the race in this order” ahead of Piastri.

Despite everything, he decided to hand the victory to his teammate, moving to the right at the exit of the final corner and then coming back in front of Russell, who finished third.

“The team told me not to do it, but I thought I could get away with it and we did,” Norris said. “Honestly, I don’t mind. I’m not here to win sprint races. I’m here to win races and championships, but it didn’t go as planned.”

Norris was paying Piastri back doing the same in a sprint race in Brazil when Norris was still fighting Verstappen for the drivers’ title.

“I made my decision in Brazil when it happened,” Norris said. “I had to do something to give it back.”

Piastri said he didn’t expect Norris to take the risk.

“I knew it could happen. I was a little surprised that George was half a second (back),” Piastri said. “It just shows our teamwork and the lack of ego in the team.”

It continues a season in which McLaren’s racing tactics have often been a talking point, such as when Norris and Piastri swapped the lead in Hungary after a long and often awkward exchange over the team radio.

On Saturday, Norris started from pole position and held the lead at the start, while Piastri overtook Russell to take second place. As Russell repeatedly attacked Piastri, Norris retreated rather than build an advantage. This put Piastri within a second of Norris, allowing the Australian to use DRS overtaking assistance to gain extra speed.

Russell said he found McLaren’s teamwork “quite irritating” as he got stuck behind Piastri, and also objected to what he considered Piastri’s late moves to defend the position.

“Hopefully we can have a proper race (on Sunday) rather than having the team order things like that,” Russell said.

Verstappen on pole position

The F1 champion made little difference in the sprint but returned to form in qualifying, taking pole position ahead of Russell on his final run by just 0.055 seconds.

It was his first pole position since June’s Austrian GP, ​​after McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes put pressure on the previously dominant Red Bull team in the second half of the season.

“Crazy. To be honest, I didn’t expect it,” said Verstappen. “We changed the car a little, but I never thought it would make such a difference in performance.”

Norris was 0.252 off the pace to finish third, with Piastri fourth, followed by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr.

Constructors’ race

McLaren has increased its lead over Ferrari in the constructors’ championship to 30 points and has both of its drivers ahead of Ferrari on the grid.

Teams can earn a maximum of 88 more points at the Qatar Grand Prix and next week’s Abu Dhabi GP.

Red Bull dropped to 67 points behind McLaren in the table as Verstappen – won the drivers’ championship last week for the fourth time in Las Vegas – he finished eighth, with his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez last after a pit stop to change the front of his car.

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