Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were already screwing each other during SQ1 of sprint qualifying in Qatar. Watch Lando Norris being in the way of the Red Bull driver and the revenge by the Dutchman a few corners later.
Lando Norris blocking Max Verstappen
First there was this moment created by the current leader in the Championship. Max Verstappen was in a hot lap when Lando Norris got in the way driving on the apex which the Red Bull driver wants to use. It was a moment he might regret 30 seconds later because Max Verstappen did not forget about this.
Max Verstappen taking revenge
When the Dutchman set his earlier fast laps he immediately went offline on the straight after passing the line. But not this time as he knew Lando Norris was waiting to start his fast lap. The Red Bull driver checked his mirror and spotted the Papaya car on full speed. While a Aston Martin did make room for the upcoming McLaren it was Max Verstappen who continued for one corner.
It is clear this created dirty air for Lando Norris making it impossible to turn in on the speed with which he was approaching. As soon Max spotted this he decided to make room as he had his payback moment with Lando Norris.
There was an investigation for one of these two moments but they didn’t take any action on it.
On Saturday they both won’t be starting on the first row as Oscar Piastri took pole in front of George Russell. Lando Norris is third with Fernando Alonso next to him in fourth. Yuki Tsunoda outperformed Max Verstappen for the first time with a fifth place seeing his teammate in sixth next to him.
VIDEO: Max Verstappen Almost Joined Oscar Piastri But The He Did This
Championship
McLaren had been dominating this season but they still don’t have the drivers championship in the bag. Lando Norris (390 points) is the favourite with a 24 points lead on Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen who both have 366 points. With a maximum of 33 points to be won this weekend it’s still possible to go to the last race of the season with 3 drivers still able to win the title.
This weekend they are racing in Qatar with a sprint race on Saturday and a regular race on Sunday. One week later it is time for the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi and then we will certainly know who is the F1 Champion of 2025.