Source:REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
[Saba Sports News] The 2025 F1 Qatar Grand Prix has concluded, with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen taking the championship. McLaren missed a great opportunity by not pitting during the safety car period in the seventh lap. Their driver, Oscar Piastri, finished second, while Lando Norris came in fourth. After the race, Piastri, who started from pole position and led for a time, appeared very frustrated, stating that this week’s experience was more painful than last week’s race being canceled. McLaren’s CEO, Zak Brown, admitted that the team made a “huge mistake,” but emphasized that they have no choice but to learn from it.
In the seventh lap, after an accident involving Hülkenberg and Gasly triggered the safety car, all teams except McLaren chose to pit their drivers for new tires. This raises the question: why didn’t McLaren allow their two drivers to pit? McLaren team principal Stella explained it in one sentence, stating, “If both McLaren cars pitted at the same time, Norris might incur a disadvantage.” In my view, McLaren’s strategy appears to disguise the so-called “fairness” within the team. By not pitting both cars simultaneously, they avoided placing Norris at a potential disadvantage—essentially making it so that neither driver would pit.
Thinking it through, McLaren has indeed stuck to their word; they previously stated they would rather hand over the world championship to Verstappen than compromise team fairness. In the Qatar Grand Prix, they truly handed the race victory to Verstappen.