Oscar Piastri won the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint but a penalty was handed out to one of the drivers just seconds after the end of the short-form race
The stewards imposed a penalty just moments after the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint concluded, altering the final result of the shortened race.
Oscar Piastri claimed victory from pole position with a masterful drive as the leading trio remained static, with George Russell maintaining second place ahead of Lando Norris in the second McLaren. Piastri cut McLaren team-mate Lando Norris‘ championship lead by two points with victory.
However, there was some shuffling further down the order, with Max Verstappen climbing two spots to secure fourth place. He finished ahead of Kimi Antonelli, who had moved up to fifth after Yuki Tsunoda received a five-second penalty for repeatedly exceeding track limits, but moments after the chequered flag it was revealed that the Mercedes driver would face identical punishment.
Antonelli, it emerged, had also strayed beyond the white lines once too often during the race, reports the Express. His final infringement came on the last lap and ultimately cost him a point, as he slipped from fifth back behind Tsunoda to sixth in the official results following the sanction.
Announcing the penalty, the stewards stated: “Car 12 [Antonelli] exceeded track limits on three occasions and was given the black and white flag, then exceeded track limits a fourth time. Therefore, in accordance with the guidelines, a five-second penalty is imposed.”
Piastri claimed his third Sprint triumph in as many attempts in Qatar. Speaking in parc ferme, he said: “It’s been a good weekend so far. Everything went smoothly in the Sprint there so I’m happy with how it has been so far. I just need to keep it rolling.”
“It’s obviously a very different circuit to where we have been, much higher speed and grip. The last couple of weekends has seen things going wrong, rather than a lack of pace. Here, everything has gone smoothly so far and the pace has been strong. It’s a track I’ve enjoyed in the past and I’m enjoying it again, clearly.”
Piastri’s triumph netted him just two more points than Norris secured for his third-place finish, meaning he remains 22 points adrift of his teammate. The Australian must make a more substantial dent in the Briton’s lead during Sunday’s Grand Prix to harbour realistic hopes of snatching the title from him on the concluding weekend in Abu Dhabi.
Verstappen climbed two spots from his sixth-place grid position, though it proved insufficient to prevent him dropping another point behind Norris. Should he fail to finish ahead of the McLaren driver in the Grand Prix, his championship hopes will be extinguished.
Tsunoda transformed his impressive qualifying performance into four additional points for Red Bull, whilst Antonelli’s post-race penalty left him with three. Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz completed the top eight finishers.