‘I’ve f***ed it up’: F1 drama as ‘unbelievably harsh’ call hits title race in chaotic Qatar GP

Max Verstappen avenged his overnight demotion from pole position by clinching his ninth win of the season and 63rd of his career with a dominant triumph for Red Bull in a crash-hit and controversial Qatar Grand Prix.

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In a race shaped by a litany of stewards’ decisions and penalties, including a harsh late 10-second ‘stop-go’ for Lando Norris of McLaren, the newly-crowned four-time world champion was flawless as he came home six seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

That result meant McLaren, even with Australian Oscar Piastri finishing third, were unable to clinch a first constructors title since 1998 and have to try again in the final race in Abu Dhabi next weekend.

Norris said he did not see the yellow flags, signaling that he should slow down, which led to him receiving a crushing 10-second stop-go penalty that wrecked his hopes of success.

Sky Sports F1’s Jenson Button described it as “unbelievably extreme” in commentary.

The McLaren driver, who went from second to 15th as a result of the penalty, admitted that he did not lift off, but said he understood the rule.

“It’s a fair penalty,” he said. “It’s the rule.” “But honestly, I don’t know what I did wrong.

“Apparently, I didn’t slow under the yellows.

“I’ve let the team down. The team gave me a great car today, easily the quickest out there, and I f***ed it up.

“I am not an idiot and, if I saw a yellow, I would have slowed down. The rule is you have to slow down under the yellow, so it is a fair penalty.

“It’s an opportunity missed.”

His McLaren race team boss Andrea Stella said he felt the race was unfolding ‘in a strong way’ for McLaren and he ‘felt optimistic’ but the result was ‘affected dramatically’ by the penalty.

“We checked the data and he stayed flat out,” he said. “The driver needs to recognise and to back off in those situations.

“But it was quite peculiar that it was deployed and then removed.”

He said the stewards had “lost any sense of proportion and specificity in the penalty” adding that they had not looked at the level of danger in that situation.

“The removal of the yellow flag and to then judge it with just a rule book full of dust … and then to apply it without any sense of critical approach,” he added. “It was an opportunity to do better for the FIA.”

George Russell finished fourth for Mercedes, despite being handed a late time penalty, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari, two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Zhou Guanyu of Sauber, who scored his and the team’s first points of the season.

Kevin Magnussen was ninth for Haas and Norris, after a ferocious finale following his penalty, was 10th for McLaren.

Verstappen’s success was not enough to keep alive Red Bull’s challenge for the teams’ title which left McLaren top with 640, 21 points clear of Ferrari with one race to go.

Leclerc said he was happy with second and forecast a “very tight” finish in the championship next weekend.

The Dutchman’s overnight loss of pole, for driving too slowly and causing Russell to take evasive action, had gifted the Mercedes’ driver his career fifth pole and second in succession.

Fired up by that stewards’ decision, Verstappen made an excellent start to power by Russell and lead into Turn One with Norris squeezing through to take second before the opening lap was red-flagged for a Safety Car.

A crash involving Nico Hulkenberg, who lost the rear of his Haas and spun into Ocon’s Alpine, the pair taking the innocent Franco Colapinto with them in his Williams, caused the pause. It was the luckless Williams team’s 16th crash of the season.

Racing resumed on lap five with the top three unchanged ahead of Leclerc and Piastri, who swiftly jumped back to fourth, a move that kept both McLarens ahead of the two Ferraris.

For McLaren, it was going to plan, a description not claimed by Hamilton. After a false start, he was eighth with a five-second penalty.

His Mercedes team-mate Russell also suffered misfortunes, pitting after 24 laps in a slow seven seconds – due to a recalcitrant right rear wheel — and dropping from third to rejoin 12th on hards.

Russell’s problems lifted Piastri to third, 8.7 behind Norris, the two McLarens sitting ahead of Leclerc and Sainz, in fourth and fifth, with Verstappen on top before an errant mirror, from Magnussen’s Haas car, fell on the main straight, bringing double waved yellows.

Valtteri Bottas ran over the mirror on the lap 34, sending debris across the circuit. Hamilton and Sainz collected punctures and pitted before a belated Safety Car was deployed as Piastri and then the rest came in.

Leclerc profited by moving up to third, ahead of Piastri, who stopped before the SC interval, while Hamilton fell to 16th and Russell, angry after taking another set of hards, was seventh. “Why have we put hards on?” he screamed.

Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, meanwhile, said on team radio after the race: “Karma is a wonderful thing. You definitely did not drive unnecessarily slowly today. Great job”.