Qatar GP driver ratings: Oscar Piastri's best weekend of 2025 undone by McLaren

There was one other twist within the 2025 F1 title race as Max Verstappen stormed to his seventh victory of the season, capitalising on one other McLaren blunder.

Oscar Piastri was again to his finest in Qatar – however now appears to be like to be simply an outsider for the title, barring a miracle in Abu Dhabi.

This is how we rated every driver’s efficiency throughout the Qatar Grand Prix weekend…

Max Verstappen – 9

McLaren’s terrible technique name opened the door for Max Verstappen to take his seventh victory of the yr. It means Verstappen remains to be in title competition — 12 factors behind Lando Norris — with one race to go. The principle blemish on his weekend was his dash qualifying show, dropping out to teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

Oscar Piastri – 9.5

Oscar Piastri was again to his best in Qatar. He was comfortably the quickest driver out on monitor however was let down by the McLaren pit wall. Arguably his finest weekend of 2025 up to now.

Carlos Sainz – 9.5

One other driver who delivered an unbelievable weekend was Carlos Sainz. He was blistering all through, capitalising on McLaren’s technique shocker to beat Norris to the rostrum.

Lando Norris – 6.5

Even with out McLaren’s poor technique, Qatar was comfortably Norris’ worst weekend since Canada. He was off the tempo relative to Piastri and made an important error on his remaining lap in Q3. Equally, his race tempo wasn’t at his teammate’s stage. Norris remains to be the heavy favorite to take the title in Abu Dhabi.

Kimi Antonelli – 7.5

A combined weekend for Kimi Antonelli total. He was almost 0.5s off George Russell in dash qualifying however managed to cut back that hole because the weekend progressed. begin put Antonelli into the highest 4, however he misplaced essential monitor place to Sainz via the pit stops.

George Russell – 7.5

Russell was sensible in Qatar up till the opening lap, the place he dropped down the order. With overtaking so troublesome, Russell was unable to make a lot progress, finally ending sixth.

Fernando Alonso – 7.5

One other driver who was unbelievable up till a sure level was Fernando Alonso. He was operating a high-quality race till his spin at Flip 10 within the latter levels of the Qatar GP, surrendering positions to Russell and Isack Hadjar. In the end, the spin means he doesn’t get a 9 ranking.

Charles Leclerc – 8

You may simply make the argument that Ferrari had the worst-balanced automobile in Qatar. Leclerc deserves immense credit score for making Q3 in each qualifying classes. Total, it was a disastrous weekend for Ferrari.

Liam Lawson – 6.5

Liam Lawson is preventing for his F1 profession with Purple Bull set to decide on their three vacant seats imminently. He was outperformed by teammate Hadjar all through the weekend in Qatar.

Yuki Tsunoda – 5.5

Qatar was extra encouraging for Tsunoda as he out-qualified his teammate for the primary time (in dash qualifying). His tempo fell away in essential qualifying, leaving him outdoors the highest 15. He drove a stable race to complete tenth, benefitting from Hadjar’s late-race puncture.

Alex Albon – 5

One other nameless weekend for Alex Albon, who was outperformed by teammate Sainz once more. Albon’s latest kind might be a trigger for concern.

Lewis Hamilton – 4

It was one other weekend to neglect for Lewis Hamilton, who did not progress past SQ1/Q1 in both session. He had no likelihood of recovering within the race given Ferrari’s struggles this weekend.

Gabriel Bortoleto – 6.5

A greater weekend for Gabriel Bortoleto. He received forward of teammate Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying. Nevertheless, a lingering grid penalty from Brazil put Bortoleto on the again, ruining his probabilities of a factors end.

Franco Colapinto – 5

A very poor weekend from Colapinto. Granted, Alpine lacked tempo for a lot of it, however Pierre Gasly produced some magical laps to make it into Q3. Colapinto’s kind since his new contract has been disappointing.

Esteban Ocon – 4

One other driver who had a weekend to neglect was Esteban Ocon. He misplaced out to his teammate in each qualifying classes and picked up a time penalty for a false begin.

Pierre Gasly – 7

Gasly starred in qualifying to make it into the highest 10. Nevertheless, a tangle — which the stewards dominated as a racing incident — ruined his likelihood of a factors end.

Lance Stroll – 4.5

Lance Stroll has now did not out-qualify teammate Alonso at 35 consecutive F1 occasions. It was a forgettable weekend for Stroll in any other case.

Isack Hadjar – 8

One other sturdy outing for Hadjar, who appears to be like set to be introduced as a Purple Bull driver within the coming week. The Frenchman was on target for a top-10 end till a puncture with a few laps to go. Unlucky.

Oliver Bearman – 7

Ollie Bearman is one other driver who felt a factors end was doable in Qatar. An unsafe pit-stop launch resulted in a penalty, ruining his afternoon. Nonetheless, he had the sting on Ocon pace-wise as soon as once more.

Nico Hulkenberg – 7

Nico Hulkenberg was aggressive within the early laps of the Qatar GP, overtaking Leclerc into Flip 1. He tried to do the identical with Gasly, however the pair tangled, ending his race prematurely. On steadiness, it was extra Gasly’s fault, with the stewards ruling it as a racing incident.