Oscar Piastri confidently maintained the lead on the opening lap of the Qatar Grand Prix, while his McLaren teammate Lando Norris lost a place to title rival Max Verstappen.
It looked like the three leading men were making good starts when the lights went out, but the Red Bull driver’s determination to pass Norris saw him improve to P2 as they approached Turn 1, dropping the Briton to third on a day when he needed a win to seal the championship.
Norris tried unsuccessfully to get back at Verstappen, allowing Piastri to move away from his battle and open a gap on Verstappen. Just behind, the Mercedes of George Russell had a similarly poor start at the first corner as he dropped three places back to P7, allowing Kimi Antonelli into fourth.
While everyone in the top 10 bolted on medium tires for the first stint, Lewis Hamilton made the most of a set of soft compounds to move up from P17 to P13 as he sought to return to the points-paying positions.
To watch the action from the opening lap in Qatar, click on the video player above.
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