F1 Grand Prix, GP Qatar, Losail International Circuit

The now four-time world champion Max Verstappen took his ninth win of the season at the end of what was a dramatic Qatar Grand Prix, with Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc securing a surprise second place and McLaren driver Oscar Piastri completing the podium. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo delivers teams' reaction after the Lusail F1 race.

Red Bull

“I enjoyed the race quite a lot overall, especially at the beginning with Lando and I pushing each other quite hard. We were leading by Turn 1 after starting P2, and were able to maximise and get the tyres in the right window.

"The car felt much better and I enjoyed it a lot out there today. It was nice to win in the dry as well, it has been quite a few races since we’ve achieved that. It was definitely not a boring race and there was a lot to manage with the restarts and safety cars throughout, but we learned from that and were able to stay in front.

"I am very proud to win here in Qatar, and proud of the Team for our performances this weekend, it is a great track and one of my favourites on the calendar. We have to make sure we nail our setup in Abu Dhabi and to hopefully finish the season with another great race.”

Sergio Perez, DNF

“Things were looking good at the time for me, I was sitting in P5 and we were in the mix for the podium. Then as I was warming up the tyre, getting ready for the restart, I had a massive over delivery as I was picking up the throttle out of turn 12. With cold tyres I couldn’t control it, it basically meant I lost the car and then lost drive from that point onwards.

"It is quite disappointing to end up like this. There were some positive signs for me this weekend with performance and I think we have learnt a lot from the car this weekend and found good direction. I think the season hasn’t been great for me, there has been a lot of up and downs and we have a few things to review there.

"We are all in this together as a Team and we are trying to get our season back on track, hopefully Abu Dhabi can do that and we can have a strong weekend.”

Ferrari

"We expected this to be a difficult weekend for us so I’m happy with how the race went today, having made up some points on McLaren. We had some luck on my side and a bit less on Carlos’ with the puncture. We may have been able to finish second and third had it not been for that, which is a shame teamwise, but overall, it was positive to be this competitive here.

"Driving for such an iconic team as Ferrari, it would be amazing for us to finish the season by bringing the constructors’ title back to Maranello. It won’t be easy to score the points we need to win the title in a single weekend, but everything is still possible and we will do absolutely everything to achieve it."

"I’m obviously not happy with the outcome of today’s race. We were in a strong position but unfortunately, I got a puncture and had to complete an entire lap with a flat tyre. After the pit stop, the Safety Car came out so the whole situation cost us even more time and ultimately some crucial positions.

"Dragging the car for an entire lap led to some damage and the car felt a bit off, making things difficult for the last stint. That said, I’m pleased I managed to bring the car home and together with Charles’ podium we managed to score important points. We will fight until the last lap of the Abu Dhabi race for the championship, and hopefully finish the season in the best way possible."

McLaren

Lando Norris, 10th
"The team gave me a great car today, it was the quickest out there, so I'm disappointed we haven’t been able to secure maximum points in Qatar. I know the rules around Yellow Flags, but I missed it. I have to take that on the chin. I can only apologise to the team.

"We have one more weekend to go now and we’ll head to Abu Dhabi with the same mindset as any other weekend, and that’s wanting to win."

"I am happy with that. I enjoyed the race and it’s a mega track, so it’s nice to come away with another podium. There were some good battles on track, but it was challenging as the cars at the front seemed to have very similar pace to each other. It was tough to get into DRS, and then far enough into DRS to overtake but it was still fun, nonetheless.

"We were just unlucky with the timing of the Safety Car, but that’s racing. It’s going to take everything we’ve got to seal the deal next week. It’s going to be an exciting one."

Alpine

“Unfortunately it was a disappointing weekend and a short race for me today in Qatar. I had a good start to the race and had passed Franco [Colapinto]; I was on the left side of Nico [Hülkenberg] but I was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"It got very narrow and unfortunately, I was already on the outside when the collision occurred and our race was then over. It was a race incident and not something that we wanted today.”

“It was an incredible race today to finish in fifth place and I’m very happy for all the team. I felt like we managed the race well right from the beginning. It was a tough start but we had the pace to stay with Kevin [Magnussen] and once he pitted it was flat out for us lap after lap. In the end, with the Safety Car, we pitted for Hards and then had to keep Carlos [Sainz] behind all the way until the chequered flag.

"It was certainly an enjoyable race, the car felt good, we were competitive and I was quite confident to hang on to that fifth place. We go into the final round in the fight for the Constructors’ Championship and we have to be ready for it.”

Aston Martin

"A very good Sunday for us finishing in seventh and with six points scored. The car felt a little stronger than yesterday and we capitalised on some of the action ahead of us with some retirements and penalties, but we were in the right place at the right time tonight.

"It's a good time to get some points on the board for the team and hopefully we can carry this form into Abu Dhabi and finish the season on a high there."

"The car wasn't feeling right from the start of the race. I locked the front left at Turn 2 which was strange because it's not really a corner you brake that much for. Then at Turn 5 I made contact with Alex [Albon] which was completely unintentional. I wasn't trying to race him; I was just trying to hold my line on the inside of the corner, but I picked up huge levels of understeer.

"I think maybe my tyres weren't working properly because I couldn't do anything about it. It's a shame to retire from the race but we'll go again in Abu Dhabi next weekend."

Kick Sauber

"Today was frustrating, as everything seemed to go against me after a good start. The incident with Lawson cost me track position and gave me floor damage and, from there, I was on the back foot. Zhou was ahead of me and, therefore, had the first pick on strategy. The team pitted me early to learn about the performance of the hard tyre, and the timing of the Safety Car couldn’t have been worse: I finished 11th in the end — so close to the points, which makes it all the more disappointing.

"That said, I’m happy for Zhou and the team. It’s been a challenging year and his P8 is a well-deserved result for everyone who has worked so hard this season. Now it's off to Abu Dhabi, where I hope we can finish on a high note. The team has shown we can be competitive, so let’s see what we can achieve in the final race."

"What a race! I’m incredibly happy for the entire team. Today was all about delivering a strong performance, and we did just that. We had great pace, stayed clean, and executed our strategy perfectly, making overtakes when it mattered most. It’s a massive boost for everyone involved.

"Finally scoring some points feels like a huge reward for all the hard work and resilience we’ve shown this season. Given where we started and the challenges we’ve faced, this result means so much more. Shout out to the team for delivering a great race.”

Haas

"Turn one was messy; it was all happening very quickly and it didn’t go well, but I didn’t have any damage so was able to continue. I had a long stint in traffic and then was unlucky with the safety car as others got a free stop. At the restart I lost it in a big way, in a high-speed corner, so it wasn’t our day.

"The first half of the weekend went well while the second half didn’t. I think the performance in the car isn’t bad, but it’s close, and others around us have good performance; so now we need to reset and go again."

Kevin Magnussen, 9th
“I’m super gutted with the safety car coming out, it completely ruined the day for me. It was going well and we had a good beginning to the race, but I just wish that safety car hadn’t come out because it really screwed us. There’s still one race to go and we’ll go into it giving everything.”

RB

“We weren’t quick enough to be fighting with the teams we need to be today. I had a spin on the first safety car restart when I tried to overtake Bottas. I didn’t have enough temperature in the tyres and lost the car and tried hard not to make contact. After this, we caught the pack up and our pace wasn’t bad, but we were out of position.

"We also experienced balance issues towards the end of the race. It was a tough race, we also struggled here last year. We’ve made big steps this season but there’s more to be taken. Ultimately, we lost a lot of points to our competitors, which we will fight hard for in Abu Dhabi.”

Yuki Tsunoda, 13th
“Today we had a tough race. We had a good start and I knew it was the best opportunity for us to gain some positions, but after that, we simply started to have a lack of pace and we lost positions.

"We will work together as a team to review the data and get some learning for the future to understand what didn’t work this weekend. Abu Dhabi is next week. Now we all need to reset and we’ll be going there giving our best for the last race weekend of the season.”

Williams

"It was a tricky day. We were a little bit in no man’s land most of the race being towards the back and we were struggling with pace. The Safety Car made it interesting, and we took that opportunity to put on Softs. It was an optimistic gamble, but one worth taking because of the pace we had.

"We knew that on every Safety Car restart the first lap was the only one I could overtake and so we made up some positions and we were in the points for a bit, but we were relying on another Safety Car which didn’t come so then the tyres started degrading quite badly. For ten laps we had some good pace but ultimately we were not quick enough."

"I’m disappointed to be taken out in Turn 1 after trying to leave a big enough gap on my inside. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and there was nothing I could do to avoid it. It’s quite frustrating as the race had plenty of opportunities to make things happen that could’ve put us in the fight.

"At the end of the day, it’s part of racing unfortunately. We’ll need to assess the damage from today. It’s important to have a clean weekend in Abu Dhabi and aim to finish the season on a high."