Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix Prediction: Will we get the new champion today?

Although he suffered a major disappointment at the end of last weekend, Lando Norris is still in a perfect position to win the Formula 1 World Championship in 2025. The penultimate race of the season, the Qatar Grand Prix at Lusail, gives him his first big chance to finish the job and achieve the biggest of all his dreams. In the history of Formula 1, 75 drivers' titles have been awarded, and that elite circle of great champions who won the World Championship has 34 members. Perhaps already this Sunday, the 35th member will be handed that special ticket to the company of drivers whose names will never be forgotten.

Qatar GP

The penultimate of 24 races in this long and demanding F1 season will take place at the Lusail International circuit near Doha. At the same time, it will be the last of six sprint weekends in this championship. Qatar does not have a long history of hosting Formula 1 races and is much closer to the motorcycling scene. MotoGP has been coming to this location regularly since 2004, while Formula 1 came for the first time quite by accident in 2021, due to the pandemic situation and the cancellation of the race in Australia. Lewis Hamilton was entered as the first winner. The following year, Qatar hosted the World Cup in football, so the organization of the Formula 1 race in that same period was abandoned, but after that, a ten-year contract was signed between the race organizers and the leadership of Formula 1. The Qatar Grand Prix in 2023 and 2024 was won by Max Verstappen

Piasti wins Qatar sprint race, closes gap on Norris by two points

For the third year in a row, Oscar Piastri won first place in the sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix. The McLaren driver started very well from the first position and took the victory without any major problems. That earned him eight points for the overall World Championship standings. The order of the first three did not change compared to the qualifications, so the second place was won by George Russell in Mercedes, and the third by Lando Norris in McLaren. Max Verstappen managed to make his way from sixth to fourth place. After this sprint race, Norris leads the standings with 22 points more than Piastri, while Verstappen is 25 points behind the leader in third place.

Vasseur: We focused on 2026 back in April

Ferrari's drivers are far from the desired results at the end of the current season of the Formula 1 World Championship, and Frederic Vasseur admitted that the Italian team turned to the development of cars for the next season back in April. The dominance shown by McLaren at the very beginning of this season steered Ferrari towards an unpopular but probably logical decision. Very early in the season, the leadership of the Italian team made a decision to stop the development of aerodynamic parts for this year's car, so they devoted themselves to working on the car for 2026. This year's results of the team from Maranello are not at the level of expectations, especially after Ferrari was in the game for the constructors' title last year until the last race. In addition, Lewis Hamilton was brought in, so last winter there was a kind of positive atmosphere among the fans, but it only led to even greater disappointment.

Verstappen: We can only afford a perfect weekend

Last Saturday, Max Verstappen had a great night in Las Vegas. First, he registered his 69th victory in his F1 career, and a few hours later, he was served dessert in the form of a double disqualification of the McLaren drivers, which significantly improved his situation in the championship ahead of the last two races. Max calculated that is leaving for the Middle East with 42 points behind the leader, Lando Norris, but with the aforementioned disqualification, the difference was reduced to 24 points. Verstappen is 3rd place behind Oscar Piastri ahead of the races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

Expert Betting Tips

The Lusail circuit is primarily designed for motorcycling, as is clear from its rather unique configuration; it is fast and twisty, with a straight line over a kilometer long. The track on the outskirts of Doha presents some unusual challenges for drivers, cars, and tires. It has 16 corners, ten of which are right-handers, while its location in the desert means that sand is often blown onto the track, which inevitably affects the evolution of the surface. To prevent this, there are several areas of artificial grass around the track. The championship race is in full swing, and our tip is that although the McLaren drivers have dominated all weekend, Max Verstappen can still claim another victory with his aggressive driving.

OUR PREDICTION: Max Vestappen to win