31+ min ago (833+ words) Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri McLaren CEO Zak Brown has again insisted that as long as both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, separated by 22 points, can win the World title, McLaren will not impose team orders in Qatar. Even if it means that Max Verstappen, a long shot at 25 points off the pace and having to beat Norris on Sunday night to stay in the fight, could yet pip them both to the F1 2025 title. Throughout the first part of this campaign, McLaren was in the position of sitting 1-2 in the Drivers" Championship and only strengthened that after the summer break when Oscar Piastri surged 104 points clear of Verstappen while Norris, despite losing ground through a DNF, was still 70 points ahead. The 1-2 was on, the only question was which of the teammates would win the title. But seven races on from…...

1+ hour, 15+ min ago (811+ words) Martin Brundle said "one or two" people thought of walking out of the drivers' and FIA meeting in Qatar All 20 Formula 1 drivers met with the FIA stewards in Qatar for an important'annual "Driving Standards Review" meeting. According to Martin Brundle, not every driver found it to be a worthwhile experience. Brundle, the former racer turned Sky F1 commentator and pundit, said he had "spoke to one or two people who thought about walking out" of the meeting. Oscar Piastri and George Russell were not among those alleged unimpressed drivers, as both called the meeting "very productive". With the driving standards guidelines a key topic, the FIA clarified that situation. There has been some rumblings of driver discontent when it comes to the applications of penalties in F1 2025. A key example discussed in the Qatar meeting with governing body the FIA was Oscar…...

2+ hour, 16+ min ago (466+ words) Not a fallout, just a "BS" blame game George Russell and Lando Norris had a moment in the media pen after qualifying in Qatar when the Mercedes driver questioned his compatriot over a claim that Norris blamed Russell for losing out on pole position. On a weekend in which he could be crowned Formula 1 World Champion, Norris was sitting on provisional pole at the Lusail International Circuit when the top ten ventured out of the pits for a second and flying lap. In the mad dash that was the final few minutes, Norris overtook Russell on the start-finish straight before starting his final flying lap. However, a mistake at Turn 2 meant he backed off and pitted without setting a lap time. He lost pole position to his teammate Oscar Piastri and will line up second on the grid ahead of…...

5+ hour, 46+ min ago (1905+ words) Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen each feature on the Winner and Losers list from qualifying at the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix. A resurgent Oscar Piastri rekindled his championship challenge on Saturday at the Qatar Grand Prix, ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris. Here is PlanetF1.com's full list of winners and losers from the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix qualifying session. It's perhaps coming a weekend too late to rescue his world championship outright, but at least Oscar Piastri isn't letting it go without some fight. An inch-perfect performance in the Sprint event has kicked off his weekend nicely with a few points clawed back in the Drivers' Championship, and he followed that up by coming out on top in a tense intra-team showdown with Lando Norris. It's a performance reminiscent of what he was capable of for the vast majority of this season…...

7+ hour, 46+ min ago (722+ words) Lewis Hamilton suffered a double Q1 elimination in Qatar After the worst qualifying result of Lewis Hamilton's career in Las Vegas, his on-track performance again failed to improve this weekend in Qatar. The seven-time world champion did not manage to reach Q2 in either qualifying or sprint qualifying, finishing both sessions in P18. It is clear that the problem Hamilton is facing with Ferrari's car is far deeper than it appears " so let's use the data to uncover what is actually going on. Including sprint qualifying, this is now the third consecutive time that Hamilton has failed to progress into Q2 or SQ2. A result that simply does not fit the name Lewis Hamilton or anything we associate with his long F1 career. Although the SF-25 is far from a fast car and certainly not at the level expected from Ferrari, it is important to note…...

13+ hour, 16+ min ago (907+ words) Oscar Piastri is back on pole position for the first time since Zandvoort After a very long run of poor results, Oscar Piastri has finally returned " and just in time to keep his F1 2025 championship hopes alive. How he managed to defeat team-mate Lando Norris after such a long gap, and secure another pole position ahead of the most important race of the season, we uncover with the help of telemetry data. The last time we saw Oscar Piastri on pole was back in the Netherlands at the end of August. That was also the weekend when he took his most recent grand prix victory. And just when everything suggested that Norris was cruising towards the title, Piastri managed to climb back to the top with a phenomenal lap. The start of the race weekend and FP1 already hinted that this might…...

14+ hour, 30+ min ago (563+ words) Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton suffered a further blow after dropping out of qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix at the Q1 stage. That made it back-to-back Q1 exits this race weekend, and consecutive grand prix qualifying Q1 exits. On top of lacking downforce and "a bit of luck, Hamilton feels Ferrari is "constantly challenged with stability with the SF-25. Ferrari endured a bruising Saturday in Qatar. Hamilton started the Sprint from the pit lane " Ferrari having made setup changes to his car after a Q1 elimination " but he finished P17. Charles Leclerc meanwhile went from P9 on the grid to P13 at the chequered flag. "We made changes, the car felt better in quali, Hamilton informed PlanetF1.com and other media outlets. However, that could not prevent Hamilton from suffering back-to-back departures at the Q1 stage. "I think the early session was looking pretty decent, and then…...

14+ hour, 55+ min ago (368+ words) Lando Norris will start P2 after missing out on a chance for a final flying run. Lando Norris sounded despondent over the team radio after a moment of understeer resulted in him failing to set a final flying lap. After Oscar Piastri had won from pole in the sprint, Norris was hoping for a fightback in qualifying for the main race but instead was unable to have one last go at the quickest lap. A snap of understeer into Turn 2 left Norris with a ruined lap and not enough time and fuel to start another, resulting in him watching his provisional pole be demoted to second as Piastri went quicker. After, a despondent Norris was heard on the team radio asking "First, second, third, where am I?" to which his race engineer Will Joseph replied "don't know yet." Norris replied with…...

16+ hour, 13+ min ago (127+ words) Here's how the 20 drivers will line up for the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix. The penultimate qualifying session of the F1 2025 season is done and Oscar Piastri took his sixth pole to keep his Championship hopes alive. Heading into the weekend on the backfoot, Piastri needed a strong performance to keep his title bid going and has so far duly delivered. After winning from pole in the sprint, Piastri was back on top in qualifying as he made the most of a Lando Norris error to take P1. The Briton made an early mistake in his final flying lap and as such was only quick enough for second. Behind him, Max Verstappen remained a step behind the McLarens while George Russell will start from fourth....

16+ hour, 32+ min ago (850+ words) Oscar Piastri with his thumb up Oscar Piastri secured his second pole position of the Qatar weekend with a P1 in qualifying for the grand prix, beating Lando Norris after the Briton abandoned his lap having made a mistake. In a weekend of high stakes with Norris in a position to win the World title, it was Piastri who came to the fore at the Lusail International Circuit. As the countdown to qualifying began, the drivers queued up at the end of the pit lane as Esteban Ocon complained that a Williams had barged him out of the way. "There was almost a crash there," said the Haas driver. The Williams driver in question was Alex Albon, whose teammate Carlos Sainz lined up P1 in the queue. The Spaniard laid down a 1:22.3 as the opening gambit in Q1, but was out of the…...