Formula 1: Lando Norris’ penalty allows Ferrari to cut McLaren’s constructor’s lead to 21 points ahead of season finale

A bizarre officiating sequence during Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix could lead to McLaren losing the constructor’s championship.

Max Verstappen won the race as Lando Norris had to pit from second place to serve a 10-second drive-through penalty for failing to slow under a yellow flag. In the middle of the race, a wing mirror from someone’s car had fallen off and sat in the middle of the main straight for numerous laps.

Race officials simply waived yellow flags at the end of the straight instead of summoning a safety car or calling for a virtual safety car to pick the mirror up. As officials waited to do something about the mirror, Valtteri Bottas ran it over and the mirror broke into myriad pieces.

Those pieces then appeared to cause front tire punctures for both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz. After the two drivers had tire failures, F1 finally summoned a safety car.

Norris’ penalty happened in the laps where the intact mirror sat on track. He was forced to pit with 12 laps to go and 10th while posting the fastest lap.

As Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished second and his teammate Carlos Sainz was sixth and Norris’ McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri was third, Ferrari gained nine points on McLaren and now trails by 21 points heading into the season finale in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 8.

The victory is Verstappen’s ninth of the season. He clinched the 2024 title a week ago in Las Vegas.

Polesitter George Russell finished fourth ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in fifth.

The race featured three safety car periods including one on lap one when Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto and Esteban Ocon collided at the back of the pack. The crash ended the day for both Colapinto and Ocon.

The second safety car came after the mirror fiasco and the third happened as Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez both had problems as the race restarted. Perez said hs car lost drive and simply stopped moving.

Zhou Guanyu took advantage of the chaos to finish eighth. It’s the first points Sauber have scored all season and all 10 teams now officially have scored points on the season.

Race results

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

3. Oscar Piastri, McLaren

4. George Russell, Mercedes

5. Pierre Gasly, Alpine

6. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

7. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

8. Zhou Guanyu, Sauber

9. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

10. Lando Norris, McLaren

11. Valtteri Bottas, Sauber

12. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

13. Yuki Tsunoda, RB

14. Liam Lawson, RB

15. Alex Albon, Williams

Not classified: Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), Sergio Perez (Red Bull), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Franco Colapinto (Williams), Esteban Ocon (Alpine)