Official 2025 Qatar Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***

[Piginapoke]

It s a quick turnaround for triple-headers and we re straight to Qatar- home to money, sand and heat. And there s a lot to think about in this Sprint weekend after McLaren s double DQ in Las Vegas.

Pirelli has limited each tyre stint to 25 laps, forcing a minimum 2-stop race and Norris will win the WDC here if he outscores Piastri and Verstappen by 2 points over the weekend.

McLaren will need to understand what happened, and quickly, to decide if it needs to play safe in Qatar with ride height. The circuit should suit the MCL39 down to the ground and, barring another disaster, it should win.

But Max is now fully in the hunt and pressure can do funny things. Lando has his first opportunity to win the WDC here and hopefully he will carry on doing what he s been doing. Antonelli will be chomping at the bit after 3 excellent races, but the Mercedes will likely eat its tyres. Hamilton will need a good performance to salvage something from the second half of the season.

Lando is my tip for the win and WDC, with Max not far behind.

Here s to a great race.

Date(s): Friday 28 to Sunday 30 November 2025.

UK Broadcast Timings (and track time)

All sessions are live on Sky F1. Channel 4 is showing highlights of all competitive sessions.





2024 Highlights: Chaos!

https://youtu.be/NGSPg5ns2-0?si=mvsgbs_4xGvQ4vXa

Tyres:

Hardest compounds: C1 C2 C3

Tyres limited to 25 laps per stint




2024 Result: 3 safety cars, Verstappen grassing up Norris on the radio and winning

Edited by Piginapoke on Monday 24th November 07:35

[garythesign]

Thanks PiaP. For this and all the others this year

It’s turned into a great season

[Still Mulling]

Thanks PiaP. I’d like Lando to wrap it up at this one, please and thank you.

[MorrisF1]

It's justified yet also kind of nuts have far apart Verstappen and Piastri are in the title betting.

This championship is still Norris' to win and there's a high chance he'll do it in Qatar. But if something goes wrong, then his nerves will have quite the test in Abu Dhabi. I suspect he's going to win, but Verstappen will end up 2nd.

[BrettMRC]

Thanks Mr Poke!

I've gone for Piastri to win, not sure why - but Norris didn't do well last year...

My top 3:

PIA
VER
NOR

[Gary29]

I'd echo the thanks for PIAP, this is still always my first port of call when a new weekend beckons, trying to get actual session start times out of Sky is nigh on impossible as they want you tune in an 90 mins early to force feed you adverts. Anyway I digress.

I'd love to see Max take it to the last weekend, but I suspect Lando will be able to do enough to get it wrapped up by this time next week.

I didn't bother getting up for 4am for Vegas, chose to just watch the 10 mins of highlights on Youtube, sans Croft, was refreshing, but I'm looking forward to following this one a lot more closely.

I had a bet on with my brother at the start of the season that Oscar would be WDC, but he would be my 3rd preferred option, even with money to lose. The mature version of Max we'e seen this year has really impressed me, and I don't know what it is about Lando, but I just can't seem to warm to him the same as I do towards Max.

[honda_exige]

How old is Lando's Power Unit now?

IIRC no engine swaps over the allowance yet, did the Zandvoort engine stay in the pool or was it junk, it was McLaren failure but did it affect the PU?

[PhilAsia]

+1 more in appreciation for PiaP's huge contribution to our race threads. Outstanding!!

Not really looking forward to the culmination of this season, as although it is probably not contrived, some of it seems that way...

[FoolsErrand]

Gary29 said:

The mature version of Max we'e seen this year

This mature version?

[FoolsErrand]

honda_exige said:

How old is Lando's Power Unit now?

IIRC no engine swaps over the allowance yet, did the Zandvoort engine stay in the pool or was it junk, it was McLaren failure but did it affect the PU?

I could be wrong, but I recall it was an external failure and it's still a viable unit.

This site gives a view of current usage. Chapman would be appalled at the robustness of the Mercedes exhausts.

Edited by FoolsErrand on Monday 24th November 09:28

[paulguitar]

FoolsErrand said:

Gary29 said:

The mature version of Max we'e seen this year

This mature version?

Yes, he's had some moments this year, as always.

What's changed now, though, is that taking off his rivals won't help him. So for the balance of the season he actually has to behave.

[Sandpit Steve]

FoolsErrand said:

Gary29 said:

The mature version of Max we'e seen this year

This mature version?

There are two events that stand out this year as potentially deciding which way the championship goes.

That photo represents one, and Lando crashing out in Canada is the other.

[Big Nanas]

Sandpit Steve said:

FoolsErrand said:

Gary29 said:

The mature version of Max we'e seen this year

This mature version?

There are two events that stand out this year as potentially deciding which way the championship goes.

That photo represents one, and Lando crashing out in Canada is the other.

Don't forget this:


Lando's car failure at the Dutch GP.

Edited by Big Nanas on Monday 24th November 09:46

[Big Nanas]

Thanks, PiaP! Nice to get an early start to this week's race thread.

I think one of the talking points this week is the mandated use of three sets of tyres due to the heat issues - same as last year at Qatar.

This led to drivers pushing harder, which meant were struggling with near heat-stroke. Remember Russel looking like a zombie after?
The cool vests will help, but we'll see if that affects anything.

[Sandpit Steve]

Big Nanas said:

Thanks, PiaP! Nice to get an early start to this week's race thread.

I think one of the talking points this week is the mandated use of three sets of tyres due to the heat issues - same as last year at Qatar.

This led to drivers pushing harder, which meant were struggling with near heat-stroke. Remember Russel looking like a zombie after?
The cool vests will help, but we'll see if that affects anything.

The temperatures should be okay for the drivers this year. The really hot one was in 2023, when the race was held on 8th October, seven weeks ago.

I’m in Dubai and it’s a quite pleasant 26-28 in the middle of the day at the moment, by sunset it will be 23-24 and falling rapidly.

[Big Nanas]

Sandpit Steve said:

Big Nanas said:

Thanks, PiaP! Nice to get an early start to this week's race thread.

I think one of the talking points this week is the mandated use of three sets of tyres due to the heat issues - same as last year at Qatar.

This led to drivers pushing harder, which meant were struggling with near heat-stroke. Remember Russel looking like a zombie after?
The cool vests will help, but we'll see if that affects anything.

The temperatures should be okay for the drivers this year. The really hot one was in 2023, when the race was held on 8th October, seven weeks ago.

I m in Dubai and it s a quite pleasant 26-28 in the middle of the day at the moment, by sunset it will be 23-24 and falling rapidly.

Good info, and that's also good to hear.

[595Heaven]

Another big thank you from me PiaP. The first posts in these threads are the definitive source I use for planning my viewing. Fabulous job.

It’s been a great season for the most part, and the way the ‘obvious’ WDC contender has changed towards the end of the season makes it a very exciting couple of weekends ahead.

I have a horrible feeling the the 2026 season will have us all very frustrated with the new cars, but I’ll watch anyway!

For me, Max to win the race this weekend, but Norris to win the championship.

[usn90]

Max is going to put lando in very vulnerable situations next Sunday in the hope of contact, unless lando is up the road and on better pace It’s going to be sketchy to say the least.

If max is ahead and quicker he’s going to back off.

[honda_exige]

FoolsErrand said:

honda_exige said:

How old is Lando's Power Unit now?

IIRC no engine swaps over the allowance yet, did the Zandvoort engine stay in the pool or was it junk, it was McLaren failure but did it affect the PU?

I could be wrong, but I recall it was an external failure and it's still a viable unit.

This site gives a view of current usage. Chapman would be appalled at the robustness of the Mercedes exhausts.

Edited by FoolsErrand on Monday 24th November 09:28

Thanks, yeah seems it's still in the pool.

McLaren took their last engine into the pool way back in Monza but no way to see how many races each engine has done.

[mk1coopers]

Thanks for the thread, and all the effort you put into them during the year PiaP, I said in the Vegas thread that perhaps something would affect LN to keep the championship going for Liberty, at least it was a proven technical issue that was on both cars, rather than a penalty.

This race, hard to see past McLaren / Mercedes and RB fighting it out again, will something happen that drives the WDC to the wire, or will LN get that 2 point gap, Liberty will want the former, I’m sure Lando wants the latter !