Qatar GP driver ratings: Oscar Piastri's best weekend of 2025 undone by McLaren

There was another twist in the 2025 F1 title race as Max Verstappen stormed to his seventh victory of the season, capitalising on another McLaren blunder.

Oscar Piastri was back to his best in Qatar - but now looks to be just an outsider for the title, barring a miracle in Abu Dhabi.

Here's how we rated each driver's performance across the Qatar Grand Prix weekend...

Max Verstappen – 9

McLaren’s awful strategy call opened the door for Max Verstappen to take his seventh victory of the year. It means Verstappen is still in title contention — 12 points behind Lando Norris — with one race to go. The main blemish on his weekend was his sprint qualifying display, losing out to teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

Oscar Piastri – 9.5

Oscar Piastri was back to his very best in Qatar. He was comfortably the fastest driver out on track but was let down by the McLaren pit wall. Arguably his best weekend of 2025 so far.

Carlos Sainz – 9.5

Another driver who delivered an incredible weekend was Carlos Sainz. He was blistering throughout, capitalising on McLaren’s strategy shocker to beat Norris to the podium.

Lando Norris – 6.5

Even without McLaren’s poor strategy, Qatar was comfortably Norris’ worst weekend since Canada. He was off the pace relative to Piastri and made a crucial error on his final lap in Q3. Similarly, his race pace wasn’t at his teammate’s level. Norris is still the heavy favourite to take the title in Abu Dhabi.

Kimi Antonelli – 7.5

A mixed weekend for Kimi Antonelli overall. He was nearly 0.5s off George Russell in sprint qualifying but managed to reduce that gap as the weekend progressed. A good start put Antonelli into the top four, but he lost crucial track position to Sainz through the pit stops.

George Russell – 7.5

Russell was brilliant in Qatar up until the opening lap, where he dropped down the order. With overtaking so difficult, Russell was unable to make much progress, ultimately finishing sixth.

Fernando Alonso – 7.5

Another driver who was fantastic up until a certain point was Fernando Alonso. He was running a fine race until his spin at Turn 10 in the latter stages of the Qatar GP, surrendering positions to Russell and Isack Hadjar. Ultimately, the spin means he doesn’t get a nine rating.

Charles Leclerc – 8

You can easily make the argument that Ferrari had the worst-balanced car in Qatar. Leclerc deserves immense credit for making Q3 in both qualifying sessions. Overall, it was a disastrous weekend for Ferrari.

Liam Lawson – 6.5

Liam Lawson is fighting for his F1 career with Red Bull set to make a decision on their three vacant seats imminently. He was outperformed by teammate Hadjar throughout the weekend in Qatar.

Yuki Tsunoda – 5.5

Qatar was more encouraging for Tsunoda as he out-qualified his teammate for the first time (in sprint qualifying). His pace fell away in main qualifying, leaving him outside the top 15. He drove a solid race to finish 10th, benefitting from Hadjar’s late-race puncture.

Alex Albon – 5

Another anonymous weekend for Alex Albon, who was outperformed by teammate Sainz again. Albon’s recent form will be a cause for concern.

Lewis Hamilton – 4

It was another weekend to forget for Lewis Hamilton, who failed to progress beyond SQ1/Q1 in either session. He had no chance of recovering in the race given Ferrari’s struggles this weekend.

Gabriel Bortoleto – 6.5

A better weekend for Gabriel Bortoleto. He got ahead of teammate Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying. However, a lingering grid penalty from Brazil put Bortoleto at the back, ruining his chances of a points finish.

Franco Colapinto – 5

A really poor weekend from Colapinto. Granted, Alpine lacked pace for much of it, but Pierre Gasly produced some magical laps to make it into Q3. Colapinto’s form since his new contract has been disappointing.

Esteban Ocon – 4

Another driver who had a weekend to forget was Esteban Ocon. He lost out to his teammate in both qualifying sessions and picked up a time penalty for a false start.

Pierre Gasly – 7

Gasly starred in qualifying to make it into the top 10. However, a tangle — which the stewards ruled as a racing incident — ruined his chance of a points finish.

Lance Stroll – 4.5

Lance Stroll has now failed to out-qualify teammate Alonso at 35 consecutive F1 events. It was a forgettable weekend for Stroll otherwise.

Isack Hadjar – 8

Another strong outing for Hadjar, who looks set to be announced as a Red Bull driver in the coming week. The Frenchman was on course for a top-10 finish until a puncture with a couple of laps to go. Unfortunate.

Oliver Bearman – 7

Ollie Bearman is another driver who felt a points finish was possible in Qatar. An unsafe pit-stop release resulted in a penalty, ruining his afternoon. Still, he had the edge on Ocon pace-wise once again.

Nico Hulkenberg – 7

Nico Hulkenberg was aggressive in the early laps of the Qatar GP, overtaking Leclerc into Turn 1. He tried to do the same with Gasly, but the pair tangled, ending his race prematurely. On balance, it was more Gasly’s fault, with the stewards ruling it as a racing incident.