this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2025
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ROUND 23:Β πŸ‡ΆπŸ‡¦ Qatar


FORMULA 1 QATAR AIRWAYS QATAR GRAND PRIX 2025


Circuit stats


  • Circuit name: Lusail International Circuit
  • First Grand Prix: 2021
  • Number of laps: 57
  • Circuit Length: 5.419 km
  • Race Distance: 308.611 km
  • Lap record: 1:22.384 Lando Norris (2024)
  • 2024 winner: Max Verstappen

Track Map


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top 18 comments
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[–] Goodeye8@piefed.social 24 points 1 day ago (2 children)

This just solidifies my belief that Mclaren doesn't have two number 1 drivers, they have two number 2 drivers. They could've had the WDC in the bag by now and instead it gets down to the last race. It's still Norris's championship to lose but if he hadn't passed Antonelli then Max winning the WDC would've been a near guarantee. It shouldn't have been this close to begin with, but because McLaren refuses to have a number 1 driver we're going to the last race with only a small advantage for Norris to win. If I was Oscar Piastri I would be looking at what other teams can offer because Mclaren is only cares about the WCC. He deserves better.

The rest of the race kinda meh IMO. I don't know how Sainz got to P3 but definitely a good job.

[–] cyrano@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 1 day ago

Yeah I kind of agree. Norris should have eaten antonelli and sainz even today. He also bottled the start (again).

[–] AliSaket@mander.xyz 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The problem is more that they make silly unforced errors. Like today, where they made a completely weird strategy call for both or last race, where they had more porpoising than they expected and got DQed. There were more of these errors during the season, albeit not often this consequential. They could have gone into the last few races just fighting it out amongst themselves, but instead they've let a third one get in between them.

If I was Oscar Piastri I would be looking at what other teams can offer

This would be even more true, if McL had decided to back Lando at the beginning of the season. It is precisely the equal opportunity in the most competitive car, that would keep him there (rule changes for 2026 notwithstanding). So the argument is exactly the opposite.

[–] Goodeye8@piefed.social 5 points 1 day ago

My point is that Mclaren could've decided midway through the season that one driver has more points and more wins and then backed him. Instead they decided to give both drivers an "equal" chance and in doing so let Verstappen stay as a legitimate contender for the championship. By trying to treat both drivers as the number 1 driver they've ended up treating both drivers as number 2 drivers. In that sense IMO it doesn't even matter if Mclaren had decided to back Norris from the start, Piastri would've been treated as a number 2 driver either way. That's why if I was Piastri I would be looking elsewhere because you can't trust Mclaren to have your back for the WDC. The only reason to stick with Mclaren is because they had a dominant car this year, but if next year their car isn't as dominant as this year then what's the point of sticking with them for 2027? You don't get the clearly fastest car and you don't get the full support of the team. One of the reasons Verstappen is in contention is because the team has his back completely. The team would move mountains if it meant that Max would win. Much like Verstappen Piastri probably could achieve more with a weaker car but with a team that 100% has his back.

[–] Coelacanth@feddit.nu 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

That turned out to be a lot more exciting than I feared! Not a banger by any means but I was expecting literally nothing. And all it took was an all-time blunder from McLaren. Really hard to understand their thinking but I'll take it. Having a 3-way title fight going into the last race is not exactly common so I'm not going to complain too much about this race itself being pretty uneventful as far as on-track action goes.

I think Hanna Schmidt really goes unappreciated. Red Bull are so good on strategy, always proactive and so rarely commit major blunders. Was very happy to see her both on the podium and interviewed after the race for once.

Also can't stop thinking about how much worse this could have been for McLaren if Alonso hadn't spent half the race backing up the entire field. This was already bad but imagine Oscar and Lando having to pit into heavy traffic, on a track like this? I guess the lesson for the day is that coke is good for the pit crew because that 1.8 sec stop was brilliant, but maybe don't let your strategists in on doing lines.

[–] ohulancutash@feddit.uk 2 points 15 hours ago

Schmidt doesn’t go unappreciated at least on the Sky Sports coverage.

[–] cyrano@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 day ago
[–] cyrano@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 day ago (3 children)

One question why did not McLaren use soft tires at the end ?

[–] florge@feddit.uk 5 points 1 day ago

Pretty sure they'd used up all their softs

[–] ohulancutash@feddit.uk 4 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

They had only used softs, and deg was too high to be confident.

[–] Thorry@feddit.org 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I suspect with how hard they would have to push, the tyres would explode?

[–] ohulancutash@feddit.uk 1 points 15 hours ago

Nah, they were used but well in the window. It was just the deg

[–] espentan@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

Not that many weeks ago I would've had difficulty imagining Max in the #2 spot going into the season finale.

[–] kikutwo@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

Who's getting fired at McLaren for that?

[–] SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Goatifi in 2021, Goatlkenberg and Goatsly in 2025

[–] Vinny_93@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Pretty safe bet Yuki will bin it on a very inopportune moment

[–] hsr@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 day ago

And the championship goes to Abu Dhabi πŸ‘€

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[–] hal_5700X@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

If you need to make a new arbitrary tyre rule. Due the tyres can't take this circuit. That's a bad sign. Qatar GP sucks.

Also go Max and Williams!