2025 F1 Qatar GP Race - As it happened: Verstappen snatches victory from under McLaren's nose

Verstappen opts to pit under the safety car, and nearly everyone behind him follows.

A throw of the dice for rivals as McLaren opt to stay on track

Replays show Russell got out of shape into Turn 2 while running fifth on lap one, dropping him behind Sainz and Alonso

Piastri is already putting the hammer down as he stretches more than 1.6s clear of Verstappen in second, while Norris is also facing down a similar gap to the Dutchman ahead of him already

1- Piastri

2- Verstappen

3- Norris

4- Antonelli

5- Sainz

6- Alonso

7- Russell

8- Hadjar

9- Gasly

10- Hulkenberg

Everyone through the first turns unscathed

Piastri gets the start he needed to hold his line into Turn 1, but Verstappen gets the stronger second phase in the getaway to out-drag Norris and beat him around the outside of the corner.

Antonelli up to fourth from Sainz and Alonso, Russell the big loser down in seventh

Warm-up lap gets underway...

The majority of the field are getting away on medium tyres, but there are a couple of gamblers - Hulkenberg on the softs in 11th and Albon on the hards in 14th

Just the one driver getting away from the pit-lane tonight, Franco Colapinto in the Alpine

Beyond the title fight, Mercedes could be a factor this evening with George Russell in fourth and Kimi Antonelli in fifth as they have been in recent races.

Ferrari, on the other hand, face an uphill task with Charles Leclerc - who spun in wildly in qualifying - down in tenth and Lewis Hamilton's torrid run of form continuing in 18th

There are multiple permutations to consider this evening, but the basic line is Norris needs to out-score Piastri by four points and Verstappen by one point to leave Qatar as the new champion.

One factor to take into account this weekend, however, is the likelihood of at least two stops for each driver in this race.

Pirelli has imposed a 25-lap maximum stint for the tyres in the wake of high levels of degradation experienced in previous events. 

The high-speed bends, rough kerbs and even rougher run-offs are responsible, so there could be some in-race strategic juggling going on to keep things interesting

When we say Lusail is difficult to overtake on, it is worth considering this fact - by length it is the third longest F1 track on the calendar. 

But the 1m 19s pole-winning lap is also one of the fastest...

That said, there is more to lose than there is to gain today - for all three drivers.

If Norris wins, he is champion no matter what. However, he faces a doubly hard task considering he is starting on the dirty side of the track, which could put the anchors on him beating Piastri to Turn 1.

Moreover, the high-speed, on the limit bends of Qatar make overtaking very difficult, as demonstrated in a decidedly uneventful Sprint on Saturday.

All three title hopefuls fill the top three coming into this race with Piastri on pole from Norris in second and Verstappen in third.

It's definitely a case of advantage Piastri as he bids for his first full-length victory since way back at Zandvoort in August.

Things have gone somewhat awry for the young Aussie in his pursuit to beat team-mate Norris to the 2025 F1 title but he has looked on terrific form again in Qatar this weekend