The BIGGEST Winners and Losers from the F1 Qatar Grand Prix

Matt Hylen
2 days ago
5 min read

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a three-way fight for the Drivers' Championship

The penultimate round of the 2025 F1 season in Qatar is done and dusted, with the fate of the world championship coming down to the season's final race. The race itself was shaping to be as expected, extremely difficult to overtake for drivers and difficult to watch for viewers, but it did give us a result that will leave another mark on an insane Drivers' Championship.

So, before we get into the biggest winners and losers of the weekend, a couple or reminders and a look at the current standings after 23 races:

Formula One has two main championship competitions. The first of the two Championships is the Drivers' Championship, which is a competition based on the drivers' individual performance. On a non-Sprint style weekend, the drivers who finish in the top 10 in each race will score points (the higher you place, the more points you get). These points are added up, and whichever driver finishes with the most points at the end of the season will win the Drivers' Championship.

The next is the Constructors' Championship, a competition between the teams. The number of points the drivers within a team get each race is combined, creating the total points for the team (e.g., Lando Norris has scored 314 points and Oscar Piastri has scored 336 points, giving the McLaren team 650 points in the Constructors' Championship). The team whose drivers accumulate the most points combined for their team will win the Constructors' Championship.

Note, 21 drivers will be listed within the Drivers' Championship Standings, as Franco Colapinto replaced Jack Doohan at Alpine.

Now, here is a look at the standings for both Championships:

Drivers' Championship Standings:

Lando Norris 408 points
Max Verstappen 396 points
Oscar Piastri 392 points
George Russell 309 points
Charles Leclerc 230 points
Lewis Hamilton 152 points
Andrea Kimi Antonelli 150 points
Alexander Albon 73 points
Carlos Sainz 64 points
Isack Hadjar 51 points
Nico Hülkenberg 49 points
Fernando Alonso 48 points
Oliver Bearman 41 points
Liam Lawson 38 points
Yuki Tsunoda 33 points
Esteban Ocon 32 points
Lance Stroll 32 points
Pierre Gasly 22 points
Gabriel Bortoleto 19 points
Franco Colapinto 0 points
Jack Doohan 0 points

Constructors' Championship Standings:

McLaren 800 points
Mercedes 459 points
Red Bull 426 points
Ferrari 382 points
Williams 137 points
VCARB 92 points
Aston Martin 80 points
Haas 73 points
Kick Sauber 68 points
Alpine 22 points

Standings were found at F1.com.

Winner: Carlos Sainz

Though he only scored a single point in the Sprint, Carlos Sainz may have just put together one of the most unexpected and impressive performances of the season. Sure, you could look to Hulkenberg in Great Britain, Verstappen in Brazil, or Antonelli in Las Vegas to name a few, but I truly believe this performance from Carlos Sainz is up there.

First off, this track did not suit Williams' car whatsoever. The car performs at its best in a straight line, and this track is anything but straight. Sainz not only outperformed the expectations of the car but survived the pit stop chaos and safety car drama, all while holding off a McLaren in Lando Norris. This is an absolutely fantastic race from Carlos, who reminded the world once again he is one of the best drivers in the sport.

Loser: Haas

After a string of point-scoring weekends, not coming away with a single point in the Sprint or the Grand Prix is not a great result. From pit stop blunders to strategy errors, the team was lackluster all weekend long. On top of that, Esteban Ocon remains in terrible form, with Ollie Bearman getting screwed over at every turn. It is not the end of the world for Haas, but they have to bounce back with one race to go.

Winner: Fernando Alonso

Compared to his teammate, Fernando Alonso was great this weekend. He looked competitive all weekend long, especially in qualifying (P4 in Sprint Qualifying and P8 in the Grand Prix Qualifying), while also finishing 7th in both the Sprint and Grand Prix. With his teammate finishing in the bottom five in every competitive session, Alonso should come out of this weekend proud of his performance.

Loser: Ferrari

Just when you think Ferrari could not hit lower, they hit lower.

Ferrari looked horrible this weekend, simple as that. Lewis Hamilton has gotten worse and worse, exiting in Q1 twice and going pointless, while Charles Leclerc was lucky to come away with points at all this weekend. Neither Leclerc nor Hamilton seem to have a grasp on this car, which is likely because it is just not good. 2026 could not come soon enough for the drivers and team alike.

Winner: Max Verstappen

Did McLaren hand Max Verstappen this win on a silver platter? Absolutely, yet Max still put himself in a position to yet again take advantage of McLaren's mistakes. The fact he won a race in which he was not close to the pace of the McLaren is beyond me, but it puts him within striking distance of winning his 5th straight championship. 12 points is a big ask for Max to make up next weekend, but considering McLaren has failed to make a single right decision in the big moments, it's really nothing. Max Verstappen is at the top of his game, carrying a slow car to the top of the podium for a second straight race.

Loser: McLaren

I have no words. No words. I mean, what is there to say at this point?

McLaren were the fastest car this weekend and it was not even close. Yet, McLaren found yet another way to rob their drivers of what they deserved. Oscar Piastri finally put things back together, looking dominant in every competitive session. For him not to have won that race in which he absolutely should have won is a robbery, to say the least.

As for Norris, he was robbed of a potential win due to the manipulation McLaren continue to execute. If this was any regular race, Norris absolutely would have been told to follow Verstappen into the pits during the lap 7 safety car. Yet, McLaren had to intervene and keep things fair, which is why neither Piastri nor Norris pitted. Granted, both drivers should have pitted. However, with Piastri leading and Norris in 3rd, having Norris pit while keeping Piastri out makes more sense than no driver pitting at all.

So, not only is this championship STILL not secured, it put Piastri in the worst position of the three candidates, while giving Norris absolutely zero room for error against the best driver in the sport. Unbelievably bad from McLaren again.