Picture Rajiv Nair

Max Verstappen of Red Bull won the Qatar Grand Prix marred by three race safety cars, a ten-second stop-and-go penalty in breach of failing to slow for yellow flags,  for McLaren’s  Lando Norris.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz both suffered punctures caused by debris from a wing mirror that had been lying on the pit straight for about three laps before it was smashed by Valtteri Bottas’ Sauber.

The safety car was called to allow marshals to clear the shattered carbon-fibre and glass.

After the restart Norris challenged Verstappen, who defended his position robustly,  although the Dutchman was instrumental in getting Norris the penalty after pointing the incident out to his team. The punishment also ended McLaren’s hopes of tying up thee constructors’ championship in this race.

The final race this season is in Abu Dhabi next weekend with a 21-point lead over Ferrari and maximum of 44 points available to score.

Verstappen pushed himself into position to win the race at the start having taken pole position on Saturday, before being demoted one place behind Mercedes’ George Russell for driving slowly during the session. 

Verstappen and Norris ran together in the first half of the racer, with a gap less than two seconds, as Russell started to fall back from them with Norris’ team’s mate Oscar Pastry putting him under pressure,

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso took seventh, while Sauber scored their first points of the year with Zhou Guanyu in eight, ahead Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and recovering Norris who took 10th after dropping to the back with his Penalty.

A difficult race for Hamilton after he was penalised for jumping the start – as he moved before the lights went out, then had to stop and go again which left him at the back of the lead group in the first stint.

After his puncture, he dropped out of the points and was in 12th place a the finish. Hamilton also was given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane.