2025 Qatar Grand Prix Preview: 5 Big Talking Points Heading into the Weekend

Linus O'Howell
2 days ago
4 min read

Lando’s Crowning Weekend?

With just two weekends to go before the end of the 2025 Formula 1 Season, Lando Norris is firmly in Pole Position to be crowned the next Champion of the World! In fact, Lando can very much achieve his dream this weekend, and to do so, he only needs to outscore both Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen by 2 points! However, it’s not going to be as easy as first imagined, because at the end of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Norris led Piastri by 30 points, and Verstappen by 42 points! However, a post-Race Disqualification has meant that Lando now “only” leads both Verstappen and Piastri by 24 points, and the pressure will very much be on, particularly for McLaren after they completely messed up in Vegas! If McLaren start the weekend with the fastest car, Lando Norris will leave Qatar as a World Champion, but to do so, LN is really going to need his team to deliver!

Nearly Over for Lewis Hamilton

To say that Lewis Hamilton’s first year in red has been a disaster would be an understatement, with Lewis currently enduring the worst year of his entire 19-year Formula 1 career! Lewis is currently 6th in the Championship, 74 points behind teammate Charles Leclerc, and at this current rate, it’s totally possible that Hamilton even gets beaten by Andrea Kimi Antonelli (the kid who replaced Hamilton at Mercedes)! The fact that Lewis Hamilton is yet to appear on a Grand Prix Podium in 2025 is actually insane, and the fantastic victory in the Chinese Sprint feels like nothing but a distant memory! Lewis will hope to end his season on a high note, but given how Mexico, Sao Paulo, and Las Vegas all played out, it’s a lot safer to assume that Hamilton is just waiting for the season to end!

Oscar Piastri’s Final Lifeline

If Lewis Hamilton’s season at Ferrari has been a disaster, then Oscar Piastri’s season since Zandvoort has been nothing other than a complete mess! A lot of people thought Zandvoort would be the defining moment of the season, with Oscar 34 points clear of Lando Norris, but that hasn’t been the case at all! Since then, Piastri was told to let his teammate through in Monza, he crashed multiple times in Baku, got bumped out of the way by Norris in Singapore, made contact with Lando in COTA, was slow in Mexico City, crashed out of the Sao Paulo Sprint before receiving a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision the day after, and he then went on to get disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix! However, that last part may not be such a disaster for the Australian, with Oscar now closer to the Championship lead than he would’ve been without the DSQ! Also, it’s brought Max Verstappen into play too, and that could cause issues for Lando Norris, something Piastri needs, given he’s shown nothing for a while now! It’s still a long shot that Oscar Piastri can leave Abu Dhabi as the 2025 Formula 1 World Champion, and it’s highly likely that he won’t even be in contention heading into the final round! However, Qatar is one of Oscar’s best tracks, so let’s see if he can take advantage of his final lifeline!

Kick Sauber’s Push for P7!

If you’ve read enough of my articles over the years, you will know that I take a vested interest in the midfield battle, and we have quite the battle forming for 7th in the Constructors’! However, this week, I really want to talk about Kick Sauber, mostly because it might be the last time I get to talk about them properly before they change their name to Audi from 2026! So, let’s talk about Sauber, because they’ve quietly been on the charge in recent weeks, having scored points in each of the last 4 weekends! Now, 12 of those points have come from a resurgent Nico Hulkenberg, who’s keen to end the season on a much stronger note than his midseason form, whilst Gabriel Bortoleto did well to score a point in Mexico City! However, having said that, Gabby has crashed out three times in the past two weekends, with two big incidents in Sao Paulo, before he completely wrecked Lance Stroll and Pierre Gasly’s afternoons at Turn 1 in Vegas! So, Bortoleto definitely needs to fix his form, but if he can do so, given Nico Hulkenberg and Sauber’s recent performances, Kick Sauber have a great chance at finishing at least 8th in the Constructors’ Championship!

Never Count Out Max Verstappen!

The fact that that is even a headline right now tells you that one, McLaren are terrible Champions, but two, you absolutely cannot count out Max Verstappen! Despite a very strong Podium in his Home Race at Zandvoort, Max left the weekend 104 points behind Championship leader Oscar Piastri! However, seven rounds later, Verstappen finds himself level on points with Piastri, and only 24 points off the current Championship leader, Lando Norris! Yes, 24 points, less than a Race Win, and it’s very much worth remembering that this weekend is also a Sprint Weekend, meaning there are a maximum of 33 points up for grabs for the flying Dutchman! So, with not much to lose given this Championship is still firmly in Lando Norris’ hands, Max Verstappen can be his brilliant best over the next two weekends, and Max knows that it’s then up to Lando and McLaren to not drop the ball (again)!