{"id":293547,"date":"2023-10-08T01:13:37","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T01:13:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/?p=293547"},"modified":"2023-10-08T01:13:37","modified_gmt":"2023-10-08T01:13:37","slug":"pretty-cool-piastri-wins-first-f1-race-by-taking-qatar-sprint-ahead-of-verstappen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/racing\/pretty-cool-piastri-wins-first-f1-race-by-taking-qatar-sprint-ahead-of-verstappen\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Pretty cool\u2019: Piastri wins first F1 race by taking Qatar sprint ahead of Verstappen"},"content":{"rendered":"
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.<\/p>\n
Oscar Piastri has won his first race for McLaren, taking out the sprint in Qatar ahead of Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n
Piatri\u2019s success ended Red Bull\u2019s domination of the sprints this season and earned the Australian rookie his first victory in F1, even if not a proper grand prix for the record books.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sprint winner: Oscar Piastri.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cWhen he [Verstappen] got through to second I thought I was going to be in a bit of trouble, but the pace was good. First Sprint win sounds pretty cool,\u201d said Piastri, who finished 1.871 seconds ahead.<\/p>\n Verstappen may have come second in the sprint but he added his name to the list of triple Formula 1 world champions after Red Bull teammate and sole title rival Sergio Perez crashed out of the sprint race.<\/p>\n Mexican Perez needed to finish in the top three to keep the title open for another day, with the main grand prix on Sunday, but his hopes ended in a cloud of dust after tangling with Alpine\u2019s Esteban Ocon and Haas\u2019s Nico Hulkenberg on lap 11.<\/p>\n The Red Bull was then stuck in the gravel, with Perez stepping out.<\/p>\n That meant Verstappen, who started third, was the champion for the third year in a row with an unassailable lead of 184 points and only 172 left to win.<\/p>\n Team boss Christian Horner read out a roll call of greats over the radio after the 26-year-old Dutch driver crossed the finish line.<\/p>\n \u201cMax, you are a three-times world champion. That\u2019s unbelievable. It\u2019s been an incredible year for you,\u201d said Horner.<\/p>\n Verstappen, who has won 13 of 16 grands prix so far including 10 in a row, replied: \u201cYeah, unbelievable guys. I don\u2019t know what to say. Thank you for providing me with such a car. It\u2019s been a lot of fun this year.\u201d<\/p>\n He also became the second-youngest triple world champion after now-retired German Sebastian Vettel, who secured the third of his four crowns with Red Bull in 2012 at the age of 25, and the first to win the title in a sprint event.<\/p>\n The last to take the title on a Saturday was Brazilian triple champion Nelson Piquet in the 1980s.<\/p>\n Piastri\u2019s teammate Lando Norris finished third with Mercedes\u2019 George Russell fourth and Lewis Hamilton fifth after starting 12th and cashing in on the collisions ahead of him.<\/p>\n Ferrari\u2019s Carlos Sainz was sixth with teammate Charles Leclerc seventh at the flag but then handed a five-second penalty for exceeding the track limits and demoted out of the points.<\/p>\n That moved Williams\u2019 Alex Albon up to seventh with Fernando Alonso eighth for Aston Martin.<\/p>\n While Piastri led away into the first corner on the medium tyres, with Russell using his softs to slot into second, Verstappen on mediums dropped initially to fifth and Perez to 11th.<\/p>\n That all but ended the contest, with Perez making no progress through the field.<\/p>\n Those on the mediums had the last laugh, however, as the softs wore down and Piastri passed Russell to take back the lead on lap 11.<\/p>\n The safety car was kept busy throughout, deployed shortly after the start when AlphaTauri\u2019s Liam Lawson went off at turn two and his car became stuck in the gravel.<\/p>\n It came in at the end of lap two, enough time for Russell to take the lead, before Logan Sargeant also spun his Williams into the gravel a lap later and again triggered a safety car deployment.<\/p>\n The safety car came out a third time to deal with Perez\u2019s accident, leaving five laps of racing at the end and not enough time for Verstappen to catch Piastri.<\/p>\n The Dutch driver will start Sunday\u2019s main grand prix at Lusail on pole position.<\/p>\n Reuters<\/strong><\/p>\n News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\nMost Viewed in Sport<\/h2>\n
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