Oscar Piastri won the final Formula 1 Sprint race in 2024 after teammate Lando Norris handed him the win on the final corner.
McLaren took another step closer to securing their first F1 constructors' title since 1998 as they finished the Qatar Sprint race first and second while Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished fourth and fifth for Ferrari.
Norris out-dragged George Russell at the start while Piastri took second from the Mercedes driver and from there on the McLaren pair played the team game to perfection staying within DRS from each other to defend from Russell, a tactic that worked like a charm.
Lewis Hamilton made up places at the start and split the Ferrari for some time but Leclerc overtook him later in the Sprint as the seven-time F1 champion finished sixth.
Max Verstappen, having started from sixth lost two positions and the start but came back to take eighth from Pierre Gasly but could not close the gap to Nico Hulkenberg in the Haas.
Hulkenberg finished seventh while Verstappen took the final point-scoring position, while Sergio Perez who started from the pitlane after setup changes to his car finished 20th as his session was used for data collection for the team which will help them change the car setup before qualifying and the Grand Prix on Sunday.
What the top three finishers said
Piastri reflected on his second consecutive win in the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint, he said: "It was about defense for the whole race!
"I had a good start and good Turn One but didn't quite have the pace. I think I killed the front a bit early on. I was struggling a bit for the rest of the Sprint but some great team work.
"Without that help, it would have been a much more difficult Sprint. Nice to have a McLaren one-two," the Australian concluded.
As for Norris, he added: "We scored one-two and that's what we were aiming for today. We've got maximum points, so we're happy.
"We're happy as a team, we've executed things perfectly. The pace was good, I probably could have pushed a little bit more than what I was doing, but we wanted to keep the others behind so we tried to help out and not let George get too close. We did our job and that's the main thing."
As for allowing Piastri take the lead, Norris said: "It was probably a bit closer than what I was wanting, but I planned to do it since Brazil.
"It's just what I thought was best. It's probably a little bit sketchy. The team told me not to do it but I thought I could get away with it, and we did.
"Honestly, I don't mind. I'm not here to win Sprint races, I'm here to win [Grand Prix] races - and a championship, but that's not gone to plan. But I did the best we could and I look forward to tomorrow," the Briton concluded.
As for Russell, he was visibly frustrated with McLaren's team work which meant he couldn't pass Piastri.
He commented: "It was very close going into Turn 1 on a couple of occasions. It was so frustrating every lap with Lando backing up to give Oscar DRS.
"I understand why they did that but when you're out here fighting you want to put a race on for the fans. It was pretty infuriating.
"Nevertheless, P3 and Qualifying later on is the important one," Russell maintained. "Lando had good pace, Oscar was struggling so it would have been good to go head-to-head with Lando to see what the true pace would have been."
How the Sprint unraveled
With the sun setting on the Lusail International Circuit the final Sprint race of the 2024 season, a 19-lap affair - began with track temperatures at 27 degrees Celsius while the air temperature was 22 degrees.
Furthermore, the conditions were quite windy which meant the drivers would be challenged to keep their cars pointing in the right direction.
Franco Colapinto, in the older spec Williams, and Sergio Perez in the Red Bull were set to start the race from the pitlane after originally qualifying for the Sprint 20th and 16th respectively as both drivers opted for setup changes under parc ferme conditions.
All the driver opted for Medium tyres while Zhou Guanyu opted for the Softs.
Russell started playing tricks with Norris, overshooting him at the start of the formation lap and leading a couple of corners before dropping back.
Norris has been known for messing up his stars and losing positions, will it be the same this time?
Lap 1/19: Norris led away with Piastri pressuring Russell who dropped to third as McLaren are one-two, while Hamilton made up two positions with Verstappen dropping back.
So Norris - Piastri - Russell - Sainz - Hamilton - Leclerc - Hulkenberg - Gasly - Verstappen.
Lap 2/19: Norris started building up a gap while Russell was chasing Piastri, Hamilton chasing Sainz.
Lap 3/19: Russell is within DRS to Piastri and had a look but the Australian held firm. Verstappen was still unable to pass Gasly.
Lap 4/19: Russell attacked Piastri one more time at Turn 1 but cannot make it past, the Briton coming on the radio saying: "He just ****** turned into me."
Mind your language George, Mohammed Ben Sulayem is around...
Lap 5/19: Replay showed Verstappen struggling with oversteer on the opening lap, while the order of the top eight drivers remained the same.
Lap 6/19: No changes in the order. Piastri now had DRS and Norris slowed down as McLaren started playing the team game to defend from Russell.
Lap 7/19: Norris was leading a DRS train up to fifth place, where Hamilton was trying to pass Sainz. Verstappen was within DRS to Gasly.
Lap 8/19: Verstappen makes a move on Gasly in Turn 1 and takes eighth from the Frenchman. As for the leaders, nothing changed.
Lap 9/19: Russell attempted to pass Piastri another time but to no avail. Piastri was expecting is and responded. Verstappen was 1.6s behind Hulkenberg in seventh.
Leclerc was now within DRS to Hamilton.
Lap 10/19: Leclerc gets closer to Hamilton but Verstappen couldn't close the gap on Hulkenberg while Russell was still looking at the rear wing of Piastri.
Sainz was also within DRS to Russell.
Lap 11/19: No changes as Norris kept leading the DRS train, dictating the pace of all those behind him. As McLaren as the race leader to up the pace by one tenth to help Piastri in his defense against Russell.
Lap 12/19: Sainz posted the fastest lap as he was now clear from Hamilton's DRS threat.
Lap 13/19: Russell takes the fastest lap, but Leclerc had a go at Hamilton into Turn 1 as they kept battling in the opening corners but the Ferrari overtook the Mercedes at Turn 4.
Lap 14/19: Norris take the fastest lap as Piastri dropped out of his DRS zone and got under attack from Russell into Turn 1, but the Aussie hung on.
Sainz in the meantime closed in on Russell who complained about Piastri: "**** that was late, twice now."
Lap 15/19: Norris slowed down again and gave Piastri DRS again but reported he was starting to struggle with the front tyres, but McLaren asked him to push and keep helping Piastri.
Lap 16/19: McLaren's team game continued as they were making sure they outscored Ferrari as much as possible in the constructors' championship.
Further down the order, Verstappen was in no man's land in eighth far from Hulkenberg ahead and under no threat from Gasly behind him.
Lap 17/19: Nothing to mention there...
Lap 18/19: Piastri fell out of DRS from Norris and Russell tried one more time to take second place but was unsuccessful.
Lap 19/19: Piastri still did not have DRS and Russell was again on the attack but did not make it. However in the final corner, Norris gave Piastri the lead.
A thank you for previous favors in Sao Paulo?
In the end, McLaren maximized their points haul, and while they did not ask Norris to give Piastri the position, the former felt the need to return the favor to his teammate not that he was out of running for the F1 drivers' championship.
Qatar Grand Prix Sprint Classification
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