Max Verstappen put together a commanding drive to win the Qatar Grand Prix, keeping his title defence alive.

Oscar Piastri started Sunday’s race from pole after clocking the fastest-ever lap around the Lusail International Circuit in the final moments of Saturday night’s qualifying. His teammate and championship leader, Lando Norris, lined up alongside him on the front row, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen starting just behind the McLaren pair in third.

The defending champion made the stronger start, surging past Norris into second place—but the drama escalated quickly. Only a few laps in, a collision between Pierre Gasly and Nico Hülkenberg left Hülkenberg’s car stranded at the side of the track, bringing out the safety car.

Everyone except the two McLarens seized the opportunity to make the first of the race’s two mandatory pit stops for the race. The move made the constructors’ champions look out of step. And ultimately, it proved costly.

When their drivers had to make their first pit stop before the end of the 25th lap, they reemerged 4th and 5th respectively. While they had a significant advantage compared to those around them thanks to being in the fastest car with fresh tyres, they still needed to make clean passes under pressure at a track where overtaking is difficult.

Norris had a big scare in the 37th lap as he momentarily lost control of the car and had to snap his steering, but managed to keep it pointing in the right direction. However, he lost a significant amount of time as well as confidence, and dropped out of contention for the win.

The real battle was between his teammate and Verstappen. Piastri made his second pit stop slightly earlier than initially planned to try and chase the defending champion down. Although he was slightly quicker lap-by-lap, he couldn’t get close to him in the end and had to settle for second place.

Carlos Sainz came in at an impressive third place for Williams, claiming both his and the team’s second podium of the season. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli ceded fourth place to Norris on the penultimate lap, while Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar suffered heartbreak as an issue forced him to retire from sixth place. Ferrari took home a few points at the end of a miserable weekend thanks to Charles Leclerc’s eighth-place finish, but Lewis Hamilton languished in 12th.

That means the title race will go right down to the wire in Abu Dhabi for the final race of the season next weekend. Norris continues to lead the standings, but Verstappen is just 12 points behind him, and Piastri remains in contention as well.

Formula 1 will return to the Lusail circuit at the same time next year, but almost everything else will be different. There will be new drivers, new teams in the shape of Audi and Cadillac, and completely different cars under a set of new regulations. Despite all those changes, the excitement and thrill around the race should remain unchanged.