Max Verstappen pins F1 Qatar GP win on strategy, as he notes when the car transformed, while Laurent Mekies adds on strategy and McLaren surprise.
Already the start was solid from Red Bull’s Verstappen in F1 Qatar GP when he managed to clear McLaren’s Lando Norris. Even though the Dutchman couldn’t keep up as much with Oscar Piastri ahead, but he had enough to keep the Brit at bay, with similar pace.
The opportune moment arrived at Lap 7 when the safety car was deployed for an incident between Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly. Red Bull had ample time to decide and they ended up pitting early to switch tyres. It helped them and the rest of the field but cutting off the second stop.
It handed Verstappen the net lead, while Piastri was forced to chase rather than dictate. Despite the pace, the Australian didn’t have enough to close in, in the final stint. He could trim the gap from about 15s to seven, but that was about it. The Dutchman managed to leapfrog him in the standings.
With the 12 points buffer, Norris still has a good lead but Piastri lost out in this. Verstappen hailed the strategy call for the win in Qatar. He didn’t the car transformed from Friday to Sunday, as he still faced issues, but the pace was enough on the day to challenge McLaren at least.
He did feel the transformation from Zandvoort onward when they found the sweet spot in setup. That is when his fightback kick-started and he cut down the 104 points gap to 12 now. But both he and team boss Mekies highlighted the mistakes done by McLaren, which also helped their case.
They were surprised by their call in Qatar and some of the calls made in the races prior to it, eventually helped Verstappen, who kept himself in the mix despite not having the best car on a given day. He sees the current F1 title fight differently than 2021, being a chaser than going on par.
Mekies acknowledged the Verstappen factor which scares F1 rivals, like Zak Brown calling him a horror movie. The Dutchman wanted to call himself ‘Chucky’. Additionally, the Red Bull chief confirmed driver decision due on Tuesday, as Isack Hadjar is set for a promotion and Liam Lawson to stay on alongside Arvid Lindblad, leaving Yuki Tsunoda out of a seat.
Race –
Verstappen: “Yeah. I mean, the start was decent. So, I got one spot, and then from there, I was, of course, just looking after the tyres a bit. But then, yeah, of course, the Safety Car came out basically at the right lap. So, we opted to box, and I guess a lot of people behind me had the same idea. So, yeah, the team did a very good job there. Stayed out of trouble also with the pit lane. You know, it was quite a busy pit lane. And from there onwards, I knew that we probably did the right thing. I think I also knew that the two McLarens needed a lot of pace to overcome basically that kind of pit stop. So I think when the Safety Car went away, of course, initially they pulled away quite a bit. But for me, it was just making sure that these two stint lengths were in the best possible pace from the first step until the end. And I think we managed that well. Just trying to do my own pace and look after the tyres, and it was enough until the flag.”
Mekies: “So at first, as far as the weekend is concerned, we think we are behind. We are behind from Friday by a large amount, four or five tenths, which was painful. Then everyone has done an amazing job back at the base and here at the racetrack to continue to try to put the car in different windows to see if we could close that gap. We were expecting McLaren to be strong in that circuit. It’s a long mid-speed corner on which they have been killing us on quite a few tracks. I remember Zandvoort, I remember Budapest. It’s really the tracks where they know they have an advantage now. The gap reduced to somewhat the two tenths of qualifying, two and a half tenths qualifying. We were not so clear on what that would transform into in the race. As you say, there is a bit of tyre offset and a bit of a clever comparison to make for the race pace, but I think we were closer than that in the race.
“I don’t know if we are just matching or only half a tenth slower or maybe half a tenth faster, but we were certainly not two and a half tenths slower per lap. So I think we were very close in the race. We really started in a difficult place. And again, credit to the guys in the office. It has been a weekend where it pretty much felt too easy how the McLaren were faster than us all weekend. It put a lot of pressure, going back to your psychological aspect, it put a lot of pressure on us to get our car in a better place. So yes, Max was particularly unhappy on Friday. And in some respect, I think we have improved from Friday to Saturday and from Saturday morning to Saturday afternoon. And I think today was probably a lot closer to where he has a car where he can add to it and bring up that incredible performance that we are used to with it.”
Strategy, McLaren surprise –
Verstappen: “Well, I mean, first of all, when they called me in, I had to look and remember that it was lap—like, we were going into lap seven. So I was like, okay, now we can go to the end. So then, yeah, I was a bit surprised once I did the whole pit stop because, I mean, when they call you in, you focus on the box and making sure you’re not in trouble with releasing and whatever. So when I came out of the pit, I was like, okay, I think this is a very good opportunity now for us to win the race. I don’t know [if staying out was discussed]. I didn’t hear anything.
“So maybe they were talking on the pit wall. But to me, it was very clear. I just got the call to box. I thought at that moment that there was a big chance of winning it, yeah. I don’t think about losing. That’s not in my head. I think about how to win. I mean, it was still the same as in qualifying. I’m struggling with the same things, but we won the race today by the strategy. And then, from there onwards, just trying to manage your issues in the best possible way, and I think we did that very well.”
Mekies: “Yes, we were surprised. It’s always easy to say after the race what is the right strategy, but to your point, we were very surprised because we had sort of, on our side, we had sort of pre-decided that, that would be the first lap we can take and we will take it, but I cannot judge for what was their thought process at that moment, but yes, we were very surprised, yeah. No, no, we would have gone through [to fight Piastri after pit stop]. I mean, if he had passed him, we would not have been interested in backing him up. No, absolutely not.”
What can be done now –
Verstappen: “I have no idea. I mean, again, I hope that we start the weekend well. Let’s say like that. That would help a lot. I think on pure pace, it will be tough, but a race like today also shows that it’s not always straightforward, a Grand Prix, and a lot of things can happen. So I’m probably relying a little bit on that. I’m excited. I mean, I’m happy to go there and have a go at it. But like I said before, you need to also be realistic, that I think on pure pace, we’re not at the same level. But at the same time, when strategy maybe comes into play or making the right calls at the right time, we might have the opportunity.”
Mekies: “The simple truth is that the approach is exactly the same. What we need to do in Abu Dhabi is what we needed to do here. We need to put the car in the right window. As you can see, it’s not exactly straightforward every race weekend and then if we do that, Max can fight for the win. If he does that, then what’s happening hopefully behind him is not something we can control. So really, in terms of how we approach the weekend, it doesn’t change anything. You go there, try to get our car in the sweet spot, try to give Max a balance that he’s excelling with and hopefully that puts him in the fight for the top positions and then we won’t control what’s behind.”
When the car hit that moment in the season –
Verstappen: “It’s probably a bit what Carlos said as well. You try a lot of things, and a lot of things didn’t work. But then I would say since Zandvoort, we found a bit of a direction. And in some tracks, it has worked really well. Some other tracks, we still have limitations—like here, as well. We know that in long medium-speed corners, that doesn’t suit our car, basically. Plus, I think also the more medium-downforce tracks, that’s normally probably the best for us—medium- to low-downforce, for whatever reason.
“So, yeah, that’s not this track, and it’s probably not really Abu Dhabi either. There are also some long corners there. But that’s something that we, of course, try to understand more also in the future. I know that the regulations are going to be completely different, but it’s still very important to figure out what you’ve been doing. I don’t want to say “been doing wrong”—it’s just something that you need to get better at, basically. And that’s what we are continuing to do.”
Different from 2021 –
Verstappen: “No. I’m a lot more relaxed now. I mean, I know that I’m 12 points down. I go in there with just positive energy. I try everything I can. But at the same time, if I don’t win it, I still know that I had an amazing season. So, it doesn’t really matter. It takes a lot of the pressure off. I’m just out there having a good time like I had today. I also started today with, “We’ll see how it goes.”
“I know that when I sit in the car, I always try to maximise everything I can. And that’s what I’ll try to do in Abu Dhabi, but at the same time, I also know that we need to rely on probably some external factors to have a go at it. But a race like today shows that when you think it’s going to be boring and straightforward—it’s not. So, I’m hoping Abu Dhabi is going to be similar.”
Brown’s horror movie comment –
Verstappen: “He can call me Chucky. Is that short enough for you? I don’t know. I saw it as well. I thought it was quite funny. From my side, I just focus on myself. I know that when I go in the car, I just try to do the best – like, I guess, everyone does. But, yeah, that’s the only thing I can control, right? And that’s the only thing I focus on.”
Verstappen factor –
Mekies: “I think you’re right. There is an element. I’m sure there is an element when you are Max’s competitor, having been on the other side of that. There is an element where, he just never gets it wrong. And this puts some pressure on you. He never gets it wrong. He never misses a start. He never misses a turn one. He’s going to extract more out of the tyres than most people out there. So, of course, it puts pressure. The team has been extraordinary at strong execution. So it is true we have benefited from our competitors’ less strong executions.
“But please allow me to give credit to the incredible strength of massively strong races, massively strong executions from the team. Never got a call wrong. They have made some very courageous decisions more than once. Sometimes we fell, but it never stopped any of them to keep taking the risk. And ultimately, the executions on Sunday have been extremely, extremely strong. So I think the combination of these two things is certainly playing in our favour. How much does it cost to the competitions? I don’t know, but it is natural that there is a psychological effect as well.”
Driver call –
Mekies: “So all I can tell you is that we will, in fact, stick to our plan and we will announce on Tuesday what the driver line-up is. We are confident it will not disturb the focus in Abu Dhabi. Don’t ask me to anticipate what will be announced on Tuesday.”
Here’s race start: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-qatar-grand-prix-verstappen-jumps-norris-to-snatch-p2-on-the-race-start.1850232522975616997
Here’s winning moment for Max Verstappen: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-qatar-grand-prix-verstappen-crosses-the-line-to-win-and-keep-his-title-hopes-alive.1850238756177909150
Here’s how F1 Qatar GP panned out
Here’s McLaren explaining call
