Photo: Race Pictures

F1 Today | Verstappen capitalises on McLaren's blunder, Wolff brands Marko brainless over Antonelli accusation

21:53, 30 Nov

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byNorberto Mujica

This is GPblog's round up of the best F1 stories of today, 30 November, 2025.

Photo: Race Pictures

Verstappen capitalises on McLaren's pit stop fail

Max Verstappen has emerged the unlikely victor in Qatar after McLaren fumbled the strategy at the Lusail International Circuit. On lap 7 a crash involving Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg prompted Safety Car conditions, neutralising the race.

As the field came around the last corner McLaren chose not to call their drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in for a pit stop. A decision the rest of the drivers - led by Verstappen in P3 - went against, effectively taking in a free pit stop.

Given Pirelli's mandatory 25-lap limit on tyre usage, the cars that had already stopped only had to complete one more pit stop on lap 32, from which point they could reach the the end of the race without stopping again.

However, both McLaren drivers had to complete both stops under green flag conditions, giving Verstappen a time advantage he would not relinquish, leading the field home in P1, tying both McLaren drivers' race wins tally at seven victories a piece.

The Dutchman also managed to overtake Piastri in the championship Standings where he trails Norris by only 12 points, with one race remaining.

Photo: RacePictures.

Wolff slams Marko as 'brainless'

Red Bull Racing chief advisor Dr. Helmut Marko accused Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of aiding Norris' title bid by waving him through on two occasions, a claim the German team's boss and CEO Toto Wolff was enraged by.

Dismissing Marko's statements as "nonsense," the Mercedes F1 team's part owner admitted his mind was "blown" by the 82-year-old's remarks, labelling him as "brainless."

According to Wolff his team is locked in a fight for P2, which leaves them no reason to come up with such a path of action. He also revealed a conversation with Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, where Antonelli's mistake on the penultimate lap, which allowed Norris through to take P4 at the flag, had been clarified without "drama."

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