Oscar Piastri finished in second place at the Qatar Grand Prix, after McLaren made a strategic blunder early into the race, which allowed Red Bull's Max Verstappen to take a huge advantage.

Piastri has largely dominated the Qatar GP weekend, coming into the Grand Prix on Sunday. The Australian qualified on pole position for both the Sprint race and Grand Prix, and completely dominated the sprint race on Saturday.

The Australian was hoping to gain further points on team-mate Lando Norris in the world championship, as after the sprint race, the pair were separated by 22-points.

With the Australian lining up on pole position on Sunday, many expected Piastri to take a dominant victory. However, a crash between Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg on Lap 7 at the first corner would bring out the Safety Car.

Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly collide at the Qatar GP 2025 - Credit: Race Pictures

Every single car, except for both of the McLaren's, were brought into the pits. Given the two-stop rule for the Qatar GP, most of the drivers and teams saw this as a free pit stop.

McLaren, on the other hand, didn't make the same decision. They opted to keep both Piastri and Lando Norris out on the circuit, where they eventually lost all of their track advantage, due to the field bunching up under the Safety Car.

Once the race was restarted, both of the McLaren's raced hard and fast, attempting to make up for the time lost due to the strategic error. However, the pair both came out behind Carlos Sainz, Kimi Antonelli and crucially, Max Verstappen.

Piastri was able to overtake both Sainz and Antonelli, but struggled to make a meaningful impression on Verstappen, who was able to take a crucial race victory ahead of Abu Dhabi. Norris eventually got past Antonelli for fourth position, a move which could prove crucial after Abu Dhabi.

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Piastri reacts to McLaren's strategic blunder

Speaking to race engineer, Tom Stallard, Piastri said: "Speechless. I don't have any words."

The 24-year old also expressed his disappointment to the media after the race, stating: "I drove the best race that I could and as fast as I could. There was nothing left out there. I tried my best but it wasn't to be tonight unfortunately."

Despite a difficult result, Piastri was the fastest driver throughout the entire weekend. Piastri continued: "It's not all bad. It's been a really good weekend and the pace has been very strong. Obviously it's a little bit tough to swallow at the moment.”

Piastri has therefore lost second place in the world championship, with Verstappen now the closest title contender to Norris, sitting just 12-points behind. Piastri, on the other hand, sits 16-points down on Norris.

In order to win the world championship, Piastri must now win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and needs Norris to finish in sixth place or lower.

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