Against all odds - against all logic - Max Verstappen and Red Bull-Honda decisively and clinically won the Qatar GP on Sunday, with McLaren-Mercedes finishing only P2-P4, sandwiching the Williams-Mercedes of Carlos Sainz. In what will be remembered as the most inexplicable strategy call of the 2025 season, both McLaren drivers were told to stay out when a Safety Car was deployed on lap seven. Thus went their chance of a "free" tyre change in a race in which the use of each set of Pirellis was uniquely limited to 25 laps. With the rest of the field switching tyres under the SC conditions, McLaren now faced a two-stop race against what had now effectively become a one-stop race for their opposition. And it was Max Verstappen who capitalised on that error - instantly and without blinking. He was quick on his second set of mediums - and he was McLaren-fast on his set of hard tyres, often surpassing Piastri's times in the first two sectors. His was a titanic win at a crucial point of the championship, for Lando Norris now goes to Abu Dhabi, the season's finale, with only a 12-point lead over Verstappen and a 16-point margin over his team-mate. In this video, Peter Windsor looks back at the key elements of an extraordinary night.
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Music: Rain Over Kyoto Station - The Mini Vandals
Images: Red Bull, Pirelli and McLaren
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