Sprint

Here come the lights, that was an awfully long wait, but we're about to go racing. We're underway and sprinting for the final time this year. Good reaction time to the lights for both McLaren's. Oscar Piazzetti has the lead. It's an opportunity for Lando Norris to go around the outside. George Roslis in second. Yuki Sonoda finds himself up a place. Fernando Alonso is down a position as Lando Norris hangs on to third. Piazzetti has the lead and George Roslis P2 Max Verstappen gets past Fernando Alonso. Yes, he does and he will clear his team-mates super quickly as he makes his way by and he does so Verstappen is up to P4. Yeah, I think that was a compliant Yuki Sonoda there and Max was able to find his way onto the gearbox of Lando Norris and it felt they ever was a bit tentative as they ran into the first corner. Yeah, perfect start for Verstappen though. Alonso was the driver that was lost out, often so good on the first laps but he was shuffled out by Sonoda and I thought Sonoda was halfway down the inside of Norris as well. He had a flying start but has now given up the place as we expected to his team-mate sliding through turn 10. Further back, Isaac Hajar has made a couple of positions. He's putting the pressure on Carlos Sainz at the moment. Sainz in the Blue Williams is the last point scorer, the top eight score here and it was well behaved in the opening corners of the sprint race. Cars visibly fast, obviously not running anyone the other amount of fuel will have in the Grand Prix tomorrow. But this is a challenging racetrack and we saw that telltale sign of instability on the back of Max Verstappen who said that as he had to carry the set up from qualifying this was about survival. So on board with Lando, little bit of wheel spin in the second phase of the gear shift there, Julian Anomas contact with George Russell. Yeah, he didn't need that, did he? This is Max Verstappen who gained a couple of places. So ahead of Fernando Alonso and then Yuki Sonoda was fully aware of his duties at this point. And his teammate gets to the inside. This is Charles Leclerc, driver who lost four places at the start of the race. Then once again, he's through the gravel. He's close now, six tenths. It's quite a long straight down the main straight as well. Not going to be close enough as they hit the brakes, but it's tempting. He's trying to be large in the mirrors DC. Yeah, just not a big enough braking zone there, is it? To really run that over speed down the inside, especially on a quick car That was 0. 8. Yeah, it's really bad. It's Yeah, same as yours. Out of the car, getting loose. These cars running over the kerbs and a bit of debris. Clear of the Williams. Yeah, difficult to kind of see exactly what that is. It doesn't obviously look Oh, there again. It's been Saw it as well and is getting closer in the background. His wide moment off the road goes Liam Lawson. They'll clear him, but he was off the track as he did so. Lawson just gets on with it. And that wide moment for the Ferrari capitalized upon by Liam Lawson. Currently up to 13th. Lawson surely has to get out of the way. Lawson was told to give the decision back. He will do so. Good team management from the racing VORS team. That's the right thing to do to avoid a five-second penalty. Just back to what happened to Charlotte. The car turned in for five. He's going to defend the inside, be ahead of the apex, and then that's why Lawson has to give up the place. Rude, but fair from Leclerc. Hamilton's running at a 126. 7. So he's two seconds off what Norris has just done as his personal best. In the background, a wide moment gives an opportunity to Kimi Antonelli. Fernando Alonso trying to ring the pace there for the driver who's been on the podi Capitalizes on that error and gets past Fernando Alonso. Alonso hasn't scored points in the last three. Perhaps you're seeing why they're. . . Big understeer, reminiscent of what we saw with Lando Norris in qualifying yesterday. Dipping a wheel on the gravel, costing him the moment Yuki Sonoda has a five-second penalty for track limits. Four times in this sprint race, he has gone beyond the white lines. Oscar Piazzari, it's been such a tough run. He'seen his championship lead evaporate. In Mexico City, it transferred to Lando Norris, but this has always been a happy hunting ground. He will return to first place in a race for the first time since the Dutch Grand Prix. Three sprint victories in a row and still a contender for the title. Oscar Piazzari wins the sprinting Qatar to stay part of the championship fight. It's George Russell in second, Lando Norris in third. Max Verstappen will lose a point in the championship battle. And then it's Yuki Sonoda over the line. When the penalty is applied, Kimi Antonelli will be promoted to fifth place. And then it will be Fernando Alonso. And the last point scorer will be Carlos Sainz, Hadjar chasing him across the line by 8 tenths of a second. But it is Alonso and Sainz Sonoda dropping the one place after that five-second penalty. And Oscar Piazzari taking the sprint win in the end by 4. 9 seconds. OK, that's the checkered flag. Very nicely done, Oscar. Yep, nice sit-down, everyone. Yeah, car was good. Let's keep it going. Update from Race Control, and it is a five-second penalty for Kimi Antonelli. So after all of that, Yuki Sonoda finishes in fifth, and Kimi Antonelli with that penalty is down to P6. Well, the tough run is over for Oscar Piazzari, and everyone was talking about Qatar being a circuit that would suit him. And he has delivered, beating George Russell to the win, taking two points out of his championship rival, Lando Norris. And that's all he can do for the rest of the year. Keep trying to fire in the P1s and ask the question of his rivals.