Piastri Claims Unremarkable Sprint Before Qatar Qualifying

Oscar Piastri claimed the final sprint race of the season, with little excitement, after surpassing Russell and Norris. The two points he gained with this result seem insufficient to achieve his goal.

As has happened in other weekends with this sprint format, everything was decided at the start. The performance of the tyres, whose detriment to the spectacle has long been present, and the fear of all—especially those fighting for the title—of making mistakes meant that only at the start was there any excitement. An aggressive Tsunoda and a points-hungry Verstappen quickly took the fourth place from Alonso, who was already set for sixth before the start. Little else occurred during the 19 laps of this short race, as Piastri broke away at the front, with Russell comfortably behind and Norris securing third.

Once Tsunoda let his team leader pass, he began to gain attention after failing to stay within track limits for more than two laps, earning a five-second penalty. That margin was not enough for Alonso, who, after losing two positions at the start, made an error in a corner and went off track, losing another place to Antonelli—also penalised—finishing seventh to earn two points.

Carlos Sainz secured the final point of the last sprint of the year, with an eighth place that was enough to approach the afternoon's qualifying with relative optimism, where more was at stake.