Grand seigneur, Lando Norris offers the sprint victory to Oscar Piastri

It is often said of sprints that gains and losses are marginal, given the low scale. Not sure that McLaren considers these fifteen points collected on a Saturday as a detail of history, it which is engaged in a fight for the title of constructors' world champion against Ferrari. Left on pole, Lando Norris was indeed preparing to win the Losail sprint race, but he decided on the line to offer success to his teammate Oscar piastri, to thank him for having done so much in Brazil earlier in the year. A rather complex maneuver but perfectly executed.

Throughout the race, the Briton had already played into his team's hands by trying to offer his teammate the DRS as much as possible, under the constant attacks of George Russell. The Englishman from Mercedes, 3rd, attempted two huge attacks on the Australian. First on lap 4, where he was met with a late defence from the McLaren driver. He then tried to squeeze into another mouse hole on lap 9, but once again, Piastri slammed the door shut with virility.

Behind the top 3, Ferrari saved the day. Carlos Sainz, 4th from start to finish, never managed to land the final blow on George Russell. Hampered at the start by a slide by his Spanish teammate, Charles Leclerc was overtaken on the first curves by Lewis Hamilton. But the Monegasque managed to overtake the man who would be his teammate in 2025 at Maranello on the 13th lap, at the end of a magnificent exchange of words between the two men.

Nico Hulkenberg gave him two extra points Haas in his fight for 6th place in the constructors' championship. Starting 8th, Pierre Gasly could not resist the charge of Max Verstappen, who seizes the last point in play. Esteban Ocon finished 14th. Starting from the pit lane, Sergio Perez himself was unable to keep Franco Colapinto behind him as the Argentinian followed in his wake. See you for qualifying this Saturday at 19pm.

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