02/12/2025

SPORTS TUESDAY | DEC 2, 2025 28 ‘Call me Chucky’ Verstappen revels in McLaren’s Qatar horror show F ORMULA ONE champion Max Verstappen revelled in McLaren’s strategy horror show at the Qatar Grand Prix

RESULTS

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 3. Carlos Sainz (Williams) 4. Lando Norris (McLaren) 5. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 6. George Russell (Mercedes) 7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 8. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 9. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) 10. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) 11. Alex Albon (Williams) 12. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 13. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) 14. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) 15. Esteban Ocon (Haas) 16. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) DNF: Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) , Oliver Bearman (Haas) , Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) , Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls). WORLD C’SHIP STANDINGS DRIVERS 1. Lando Norris (GBR) 408pts, 2. Max Verstappen (NED) 396, 3. Oscar Piastri (AUS) 392, 4. George Russell (GBR) 309, 5. Charles Leclerc (MON) 230, 6. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 152, 7. Kimi Antonelli (ITA) 150, 8. Alex Albon (THA) 73, 9. Carlos Sainz (ESP) 64, 10. Isack Hadjar (FRA) 51, 11. Nico Hulkenberg (GER) 49, 12. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 48, 13. Oliver Bearman (GBR) 41, 14. Liam Lawson (NZL) 38, 15. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) 33, 16. Esteban Ocon (FRA) 32, 17. Lance Stroll (CAN) 32, 18. Pierre Gasly (FRA) 22, 19. Gabriel Bortoleto (BRA) 19, 20. Franco Colapinto (ARG) 0, 21. Jack Doohan (AUS) 0 . CONSTRUCTORS 1. MCLAREN 800PTS - CHAMPIONS, 2. Mercedes 459, 3. Red Bull 426, 4. Ferrari 382, 5. Williams 137, 6. Racing Bulls 92, 7. Aston Martin 80, 8. Haas 73, 9. Sauber 68, 10. Alpine 22. Sainz secures fifth place for Williams CARLOS SAINZ expected Qatar to be his hardest race of the year and ended up celebrating a surprise second podium of the season that secured fifth place in the championship for his resur gent Williams team. The Spaniard has now taken twice as many top three placings in 2025 as Lewis Hamilton, the seven-times world champion who replaced him at Ferrari in January and has yet to finish higher than fourth. “I think it’s my proudest day in Williams,” he said after finishing third behind Red Bull’s race winner Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. “Happiest? Maybe Baku, because I was just so happy to get my first podium for the team … I think I feel really proud of everyone. “Just very proud of myself but mainly the whole team for the week end that we’ve executed.” The points left the former champi ons on 137 points and fifth, 45 clear of Racing Bulls with a maximum 43 still to be won in the final round in Abu Dhabi. Ferrari are fourth, 245 points ahead, but fifth marks the best season for Williams since 2017. Last year they ended up ninth with just 17 points. “I was proud of Carlos and the team when we got our first podium in Baku,” said team boss James Vowles. “The second is a dream come true, but perhaps more importantly at a track that was almost our worst last year. And we’ve come back, we’ve rein vented ourselves and the result is there for everyone to see.” – Reuters

yesterday as the Red Bull driver won again, days after the team’s boss compared him to a movie monster who keeps on coming back. “He can call me Chucky,” grinned the Dutchman after winning under the Lusail floodlights from third place on the grid. McLaren, who had both cars dis qualified in Las Vegas a week earlier while Verstappen won, had swept the front row with Oscar Piastri on pole and championship leader Lando Norris – seeking to clinch the title – alongside the Australian. Then it all went wrong again for the cham pions. Verstappen passed Norris at the start and pitted from second on lap seven when the safety car was deployed, while the McLarens stayed out and paid the price – Piastri ending up second and Norris fourth. That rocketed Verstappen up to second in the championship, 12 points behind Norris with only the Abu Dhabi finale remaining and four ahead of Piastri. At the end of August the Dutch driver had been 104 points off Piastri’s lead. “I didn’t expect to win today, that’s for sure,” Verstappen told Sky Sports television. “Looking at pure pace, we were not on the same level as McLaren, but we made the right call, as most of the grid did, in boxing under the safety car. “That almost gives you a free pit stop and that made the race for me. “For sure, that call at the pit stop made me win the race today.” Red Bull reinforced that feeling by sending Hannah Schmitz, the team’s principal strategy engineer,

NORRIS 408 NEEDS P3

PIASTRI 392 NEEDS TO WIN + NORRIES P6 OR LOWER

This weekend will truly be a nightmare if Verstappen denies them a same-season title double for the first time since Mika Hakkinen in 1998. “I think on pure pace it will be tough but a race like today also shows that it’s not always straight forward, a Grand Prix, and a lot of things can happen,” said Verstappen. “So I’m probably rely ing a little bit on that.” – Reuters VERSTAPPEN 396 NEEDS TO WIN + NORRIES P4 OR LOWER

pure pace they are faster, but as it showed today again anything is pos sible.” McLaren chief executive Zak Brown had likened Verstappen ear lier in the week to “that guy in a hor ror movie, that right as you think he’s not coming back, he’s back.” Vegas was a blow and yesterday was a shock for McLaren, who have already won the constructors’ crown for a second year in a row.

up to the podium to share Verstappen’s fizzy celebrations under the floodlights. Verstappen said he did not think McLaren had messed up by trying to be fair to both drivers, not wanting to disadvantage one over the other in the title battle if they had double stacked them at a pitstop, but just made a wrong call. “It was about missing the whole pit stop opportunity,” he said. “On

Not our finest day, says Norris

LANDO NORRIS had his first chance to win the Formula One championship in Qatar yesterday but a McLaren strategy error meant the Briton will have to try again in Abu Dhabi next weekend. The wrong call on whether to pit after the safety car was deployed on lap seven cost Oscar Piastri a likely win and Norris a place on the podium. Piastri finished second and Norris was fourth behind Red Bull’s winner Max Verstappen. Four-times world champion Verstappen is now second in the standings, 12 points off the lead, but Norris would have been champion had he won. He still will be if he finishes at least third at Yas Marina, regardless of where his rivals end up. “It is not our greatest day, it is not our greatest

didn’t expect everyone else to pit,” said Stella. “Obviously, once everyone pitted, it makes that the right thing to do. “When you have the lead car, you don’t know what the others are going to do. The main reason was related to not expecting everyone else to pit so it was a decision. “And as a matter of fact it wasn’t the correct deci sion.” Both drivers and Stella made clear they were expecting to review the race and the decision-mak ing before reaching any conclusions about their approach to the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend where Norris can clinch the title if he finishes on the podium.– Reuters

weekend,” the 26-year-old told reporters. “But I don’t know if anyone saw the run of results I had before? They were great. I put myself in this position and I am still happy. “It was not my finest day in terms of driving and putting things together. That is life. Everyone has bad weekends. I take it on the chin, we all take it on the chin, and we will see what we can do next week end.” Team boss Andrea Stella said Piastri deserved to win and Norris should have been on the podium He admitted his team made a costly strategic blunder yesterday that cost his title-chasing drivers a victory and a podium finish. “It was a decision not to pit and in fairness we

Qatar blow hurts more than Vegas: Piastri OSCAR PIASTRI said it hurt more to finish second for McLaren in Qatar yes terday than to be disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix a week earlier. said Piastri. Over the team radio, he had con fessed to being simply speechless.

the end of August. He was at least back on the podium on Sunday for the first time in seven races and was the man to beat all weekend. “I feel like you always become stronger through some of these moments,” said the Australian, who can still become his country’s first cham pion since Alan Jones in 1980. “But it all depends on how you deal with it. So I’m sure we’ll get through it. But yeah, obviously at the moment it does hurt.” – Reuters

Obviously for the team it was a pretty painful weekend. But yeah, I think for me personally this probably hurts more.” “It’s certainly not a catastrophe,“ added the Australian. “I think we made a wrong decision today. I think that’s clear. But it’s not like the world ended. Obviously it hurts at the moment but with time things will get better.” Piastri has won seven races this year, and was 34 points clear of Norris before the results tailed off dramati cally with his last win at Zandvoort at

With one race to come in Abu Dhabi next weekend, Piastri is 16 points adrift of championship-leading teammate Lando Norris, who started on the front row and finished fourth on Sunday. Verstappen is now second and 12 points off the lead. “I think on a personal level, I feel like I’ve lost a win today,” Piastri told report ers. “You know, in Vegas, I lost a P4.

The Australian had qualified on pole position for yesterday race at Lusail, after winning the Saturday sprint, but a team strategy blunder cost him a win and knocked him from sec ond to third in the Formula One cham pionship. “We didn’t get it right with the strategy. The pace was very strong. I didn’t put a foot wrong. Just a shame,”