The ‘Sprint Day’ at the Losail International Circuit turned out to be very eventful. Max Verstappen finally clinched his 3rd World Championship in the floodlights-lit desert. But the highlight for the viewers was the debut F1 win for the McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri. Piastri looked on rails as he started the weekend with a P1 in the Sprint Shootout (a smaller Qualifying Session to determine grid positions for the Sprint Race). The Australian driver later claimed victory in the Sprint while his teammate Lando Norris missed out.

Even after driving at McLaren for four years, Lando Norris is yet to win a race in Formula 1. Norris has come close on several occasions, claiming P2 several times before but has never managed to emerge as the top driver in the grid. The 23-year-old has finished in the runners-up 4 times in the last 7 Grands Prix. Despite these amazing statistics, he could only finish P3 behind Piastri and Verstappen at the Qatar Sprint.

Lando was interviewed right after the Sprint Race where he spoke about Piastri’s win. He said [as reported by ESPN], “First of all congrats to Oscar and Max. His first win…earlier than mine, so a big well done to him. I’ve been trying to win for a long time but Oscar has done a mega job. I’ve made a lot of mistakes and he hasn’t, he’s done a better job, so hats off to him.”

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Fans react to Oscar Piastri beating Lando Norris to his first win for McLaren

The start to the Sprint Race was chaotic but pole-sitter Oscar Piastri got a stellar kickoff despite all the trouble. Meanwhile, Norris was overtaken off the line by George Russell and both Ferrari drivers (Sainz and Leclerc). Russell and the Ferrari duo were on the soft tires while Piastri and Norris started the race on mediums. The soft tires looked to be the better option as Piastri was passed by George Russell for the lead and Norris continued to struggle.

At one point in the race, Norris dropped to P6 and Verstappen started his march to the top. The race came back to the medium-tire runners as they warmed up in the closing laps of the Sprint. Verstappen, Norris, and Piastri displayed excellent overtaking abilities and claimed the top three places in the Sprint. Norris managed to climb up to P3 from P6 while Piastri made a move on Russell to take back his lead.

But the fans are not happy with how Lando Norris is yet to win a race in his F1 career. They said–

But the truth of the moment is that Lando Norris was beaten yet again by his rookie teammate for the win. Norris has been getting more points and performing consistently better than the rookie for McLaren this year. Yet, Piastri took the spoils home. Norris was beaten by Daniel Ricciardo in 2021 for McLaren’s last win, let’s see if Norris can manage a win in the Grand Prix this weekend.

In case you missed it:

• “World Given Championship” – Fans DISMISS Max Verstappen’s historic third F1 title win, claim FIA’s bias and Red Bull’s ‘illegal’ car helped him
• WATCH: “Lifetime ban please”- Fans react as Logan Sargeant spins into the gravel and bows out of the Qatar GP Sprint

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