Qatar Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog

Well that then wraps up this live blog of the Qatar Grand Prix. Another special weekend for Red Bull and Max Verstappen, who has indeed wrapped up the championship for a third season in a row. McLaren have notched up their 500th podium in F1 as well with their double podium result and again Oscar Piastri starring after his Sprint victory on Saturday. Thanks again for tuning in here on The Roar. A weekend's break now before the next race Stateside in Austin. Until then, bye for now.

-------- DRIVER'S -------- 433 - Max Verstappen 224 - Sergio Perez 194 - Lewis Hamilton 183 - Fernando Alonso 153 - Carlos Sainz 145 - Charles Leclerc 136 - Lando Norris 132 - George Russell 83 -- Oscar Piastri 47 -- Lance Stroll 46 -- Pierre Gasly 44 -- Esteban Ocon 23 -- Alexander Albon 10 -- Valtteri Bottas 9 --- Nico Hülkenberg 6 --- Zhou Guanyu 3 --- Yuki Tsunoda 3 --- Kevin Magnussen 2 --- Liam Lawson 0 --- Logan Sargeant 0 --- Nyck De Vries 0 --- Daniel Ricciardo

----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 657 - Red Bull Racing 326 - Mercedes AMG 298 - Ferrari 230 - Aston Martin Racing 219 - McLaren Mercedes 90 -- Alpine 23 -- Williams Mercedes 16 -- Alfa Romeo Racing 12 -- Haas Ferrari 5 --- Scuderia AlphaTauri

RACE REPORT On the weekend that Max Verstappen was coronated as a three-time world champion, the imperious Dutchman went on to further stamp his authority on the 2023 season with victory at a demanding Qatar Grand Prix. Starting from pole, Verstappen survived a first corner melee between the Mercedes drivers and established a comfortable lead before taking the first of a mandated three stops on Lap 18. Pre-race it was announced that drivers could only do a maximum of 18-laps per set of tyre, with a minimum of three stops required. Lewis Hamilton from third started on the soft tyres and got the run on teammate George Russell towards Turn 1. Russell in between Hamilton and Verstappen had nowhere to go, while there was contact between teammates resulting in a retirement for the seven-time world champion. The stewards dismissed it as a racing incident, though Hamilton took to social media after watching a replay to admit fault. Russell was forced to pit for a new front-wing and then settled into a recovery drive for fourth. Benefitting from the Mercedes cars coming together, was McLaren as Saturday Sprint winner Oscar Piastri bolted from sixth into second. As well as Lando Norris, who from tenth was up to sixth. Norris after the first round of stops was in podium contention, with Fernando Alonso having occupied third for the opening phase of the race. Lap 26 saw Piastri take his second stop, while the Spaniard was in a lap later. McLaren then executed a season-best 1.8 second stop for Norris on Lap 28, which saw the Briton overcut the Aston Martin of Alonso for third. All before Laps 44 and 45 saw the Papaya drivers take their final stops. There was a moment where Norris thought he could challenge Piastri, with the gap between them as low as 1.5-seconds. But with the possibility of Russell on soft tyres in the final stint threatening them, it was safer to consolidate another double podium finish. Charles Leclerc as the sole Ferrari, after Carlos Sainz failed to take the start due to a fuel system error, challenged Russell for fourth but settled for a top five finish ahead of Alonso and Esteban Ocon. While the Alfa Romeos picked up their first double points finish of the year, after a flurry of 5-second penalties for track limits infringements hitting the likes of Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon and Sergio Perez. Perez started the race from pit-lane and barely hung on to a tenth place finish, after three separate penalties for track limits. Logan Sargeant the only other retiree in the race, was forced to stop due to illness in the car caused by the sweltering conditions. The American wanted to continue, despite struggling but was back in the Williams garage on Lap 42. The Haas and AlphaTauri duos as well finishing outside the points, with Nico Hülkenberg hit early with a 10-second penalty for starting in the wrong grid position. Liam Lawson ending his last race in F1 before Daniel Ricciardo returns in last.

POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by David Coulthard VERSTAPPEN - "What made my race was the first stint." "The McLarens were quick again today and I had to push for it." "There's still some more races out there to win." PIASTRI - "I thought you were going to say I got a 5-second penalty again..." "The hardest race I've ever had in my life." NORRIS - "Just a mega race from start to finish." "Good pace throughout the whole thing, we had the best pace out there." "Hot and stressful." "The three stop made it a lot harder."

RESULTS FROM THE 57-LAP QATAR GRAND PRIX 1 M. Verstappen (Fastest Lap) 2 O. Piastri 3 L. Norris 4 G. Russell 5 C. Leclerc 6 F. Alonso 7 E. Ocon 8 V. Bottas 9 G. Zhou 10 S. Perez 11 L. Stroll 12 P. Gasly* 13 A. Albon 14 K. Magnussen 15 Y. Tsunoda 16 N. Hülkenberg 17 L. Lawson RET L. Sargeant RET L. Hamilton DNS C. Sainz

MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE QATAR GRAND PRIX! On the weekend he was crowned three-time world champion, he claims his 14th win of the season. And another sensational double podium for McLaren, with Oscar Piastri backing up his Sprint win in second and Lando Norris third.

Lap 57/57: FINAL LAP It's a second between the McLaren drivers.

Lap 56/57: Leclerc now gaining on Russell for fourth, which is interesting. The soft tyres clearly not working for the Mercedes, as it just gets picked up by the stewards for track limits. Gasly again, off track.

Lap 55/57: Another 5-second penalty to Stroll for track limits. Gasly has displaced Perez for tenth.

Lap 54/57: Norris has the gap to Piastri down to 1.5 seconds, as Russell hasn't really made an impression on the soft tyres. Perez meanwhile moves into the top ten, battling with Gasly and Stroll.

Lap 53/57: Gasly again with Stroll, ends up going off the track to pass the Aston Martin. He'll have to give that place back.

We have 73% humidity then with 31 degrees ambient temperature... at night!

Lap 52/57: Verstappen pits from the lead then, which is just a reminder that the three-time world champion is still out there. Fresh set of mediums for the Dutchman and he has a slower stop at 4.1-seconds, before re-assuming the lead of the race.

Lap 51/57: Russell boxes now then, as we saw him trying to cool his hands given the sweltering conditions. The Mercedes driver indeed switches to the softs and will have a 16 second margin up to Norris.

Lap 50/57: VER RUS PIA NOR LEC ZHO ALO OCO BOT STR GAS PER ALB MAG TSU HÜL LAW is the order of the field. Sargeant and Hamilton are out. Sainz didn't start the race.

Lap 49/57: Norris the quicker of the McLarens and is shaving off that deficit to Piastri, with the margin only 1.8-seconds. They do have to remember that Russell could be a factor here late in the game, as the Brit still has to pit and could go on the softs for his run to the flag. Verstappen as well still to pit.

Lap 48/57: 5-second penalty to Albon for track limits as well. The Williams driver is a lap down in P13 now.

Lap 47/57: Norris sets the fastest lap in response now, but then is told by the McLaren pit-wall to hold position now till the end of the race. It would be sensible to secure a two-three finish, especially for their pursuit of Aston Martin's fourth in the championship.