VERSTAPPEN TAKES ROUTINE WIN IN QATAR AS SAUBER SCORE FIRST POINTS

Formula One was in the Middle East for the penultimate race of the season as we return to Qatar in what are much cooler conditions compared to last year. It was the newly crowned Four Time World Champion that very much continued his celebrations by winning the race in classic Max Verstappen style. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc takes second place with Sprint Race Winner Oscar Piastri taking his McLaren to third place at a track which the Australian driver rather likes.

Despite his one second grid penalty to second it didn't stop Verstappen who gets into the lead of the race heading into turn one with Lando Norris (McLaren) fighting hard in second and George Russell (Mercedes) in third.

But fast paced action stops just moments after the start as the Safety Car is deployed for contact between Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Franco Colapinto (Williams) - as both cars are out of the race. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), Alex Albon (Williams) and Lance Stroll of Aston Martin were also involved but all three drivers able to carry on but are the last three drivers currently running.

Lap five was when the green flag was shown and the Safety Car comes in - Verstappen was able to hold onto the lead with Norris having to defend from Russell. Liam Lawson (RB) spins into turn one but carries on in last, the Sauber of Bottas run's wide at T1 on the restart.

The race ended early for Lance Stroll who is forced to retire from the race - they kept him out to serve the 10 second penalty he had been given for causing the collision on lap one.

Around lap 29 the one of the Haas cars has their wing mirror ping off the car and it ends up sitting in the middle of the start/finish straight which clearly needs to be cleared up but no signs of any VSC or Safety Car from Race Control for the debris to be cleared.

And on lap thirty four... Hamilton has a puncture! for whatever reason they didn’t clear the stranded wing mirror on the start finish straight and

Moments later we see Carlos Sainz also has a puncture! Bizarre it wasn’t cleared.

And one lap later the Safety Car is finally deployed for the debris on the track. Why race control waited for something to happen before deploying the Safety Car is just bizarre.

On the restart on lap forty - Norris goes for the lead but Verstappen holds first with Leclerc third and Piastri is fourth.

But the racing doesnt last long as the VSC is deployed for Sergio Perez (Red Bull) who has lost drive. With Nico Hulkenberg beached and out of the race - seemingly no contact between the two drivers.

So on lap forty one we have the third and final Safety Car of the race this one deployed to remove the Haas and Red Bull who are both out of this race.

Once again Verstappen stays first on the Safety Car restart as Norris fends of Leclerc for second. Piastri fourth and Russell fifth.

With not long left in this race Norris is given a 10 second stop go penalty for not slowing during the yellow flags that were out whilst the wing mirror was on track.

Two laps later Norris pits and Leclerc will take second and Piastri third. Norris goes from second to last in fifteenth.

Norris would eventually finish tenth with the fastest lap - taking home two points heading into the final race of the year.

Further down the field it was celebrations for Kick Sauber who scored their first points of the season as Guanyu Zhou finished eighth to equal his best finish in F1 and to score four massive points for the team he is leaving after the final race.

The next race is the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

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