Norris Gifts Piastri Win in Role Reversal of Sao Paulo
Despite barely holding onto second for most of the Race, some tactics from Lando Norris resulted in Oscar Piastri taking his second-straight Sprint victory in Qatar! It was Lando who came home second to complete a McLaren 1-2, ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell!
A Nice Touch
Lando Norris got a great start off the line to lead into Turn 1 whilst Oscar Piastri pulled off a crucial overtake to get past George Russell! Max Verstappen had a terrible opening lap which saw him lose 3 positions before we got a really fierce scrap between Oscar and George! I have to say, this was very tight! McLaren then made the smart decision to get Lando to keep Piastri in DRS in order to keep McLaren’s 1-2 (and I think Sprint Win) alive! Unfortunately, this meant the Sprint itself was pretty dull, with the Top 4 just following each other around each lap! We did get a good scrap between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton which was also cool to see, with Charles winning out, but other than that, not much happened! However, heading off the final corner, Lando Norris took his foot off of the gas to let his teammate through in what was a role reversal of what took place in Sao Paulo a few weeks ago!
The Highs and Lows of the Sprint
I’ve given out two 10’s for today’s Sprint and the first one is for Lando Norris! Lando led for basically the entire Sprint, and given I gave Oscar a 10 in Sao Paulo and not Norris, this is fair! The other driver I’ve given out maximum points to is Nico Hulkenberg who just continues to be brilliant! I mean, Nico beat Max Verstappen, that’s insane! I also thought Oscar Piastri did a great job to put himself in a position to win whilst Pierre Gasly also drove really well, even if he didn’t quite make the points!
In terms of the lowest possible grade, I’ve only given out one 1, and that is for Sergio Perez! I mean, Checo started from the pits, got overtaken out of the pits by Franco Colapinto, made no progress for the rest of the Sprint, made a pit stop, and finished behind Zhou Guanyu (who also stopped)! Just why?! I also thought both VCARB’s struggled, particularly Liam Lawson who got a terrible start, whilst Franco Colapinto and Zhou Guanyu will be hoping for better for the rest of the weekend!
Overall Sprint Race Results and My Ratings
Oscar Piastri: 9
Lando Norris: 10
George Russell: 8
Carlos Sainz: 8
Charles Leclerc: 7
Lewis Hamilton: 6
Nico Hulkenberg: 10
Max Verstappen: 5
Pierre Gasly: 9
Kevin Magnussen: 8
Fernando Alonso: 6
Valtteri Bottas: 8
Lance Stroll: 5
Esteban Ocon: 4
Alex Albon: 4
Liam Lawson: 2
Yuki Tsunoda: 2
Franco Colapinto: 2
Zhou Guanyu: 2
Sergio Perez: 1
My Predictions for Lusail Qualifying
Lando Norris
George Russell
Oscar Piastri
Carlos Sainz
Charles Leclerc
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