F1 News: George Russell Laments 'Infuriating' Qatar Sprint Race

McLaren secured a one-two finish at the Qatar Sprint Race through strategic DRS use, leaving George Russell frustrated.

Nov 23, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Mercedes AMG Petronas driver George Russell (63) celebrates his race victory of the Las Vegas Grand Prix at Las Vegas Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

McLaren seized a decisive one-two finish in the Qatar Sprint Race. Although he had led the race from the start, Lando Norris let his teammate Oscar Piastri through at the finish line to claim the win. Despite George Russell's concerted efforts to break through the McLaren stronghold, he secured a third-place finish, leaving the Mercedes driver visibly frustrated.

The McLaren drivers were in a strong position to use DRS to their advantage. Norris, in the lead at the time, made sure to keep his teammate within a second behind him to make sure Piastri could benefit from DRS as well as Russell who was close behind him. Piastri and Russell had multiple close battles, particularly at Turn 1, but the Mercedes driver was not able to get the overtake done.

The British driver explained in his post-race interview:

"It was very close going into Turn One on a couple of occasions. It was so frustrating every lap with Lando backing up to give Oscar DRS.

"I understand why they did that but when you're out here fighting you want to put a race on for the fans. It was pretty infuriating.

"Nevertheless, P3 and Qualifying later on is the important one.

"Lando had good pace, Oscar was struggling so it would have been good to go head-to-head with Lando to see what the true pace would have been."

Norris also commented on handing Piastri the victory after the race, stating:

"We scored one-two and that's what we were aiming for today. We've got maximum points, so we're happy.

"We're happy as a team, we've executed things perfectly. The pace was good, I probably could have pushed a little bit more than what I was doing, but we wanted to keep the others behind so we tried to help out and not let George get too close. We did our job and that's the main thing.

"It was probably a bit closer than what I was wanting, but I planned to do it since Brazil. 

"It's just what I thought was best. It's probably a little bit sketchy. The team told me not to do it but I thought I could get away with it, and we did. 

"Honestly, I don't mind. I'm not here to win Sprint races, I'm here to win [Grand Prix] races - and a championship, but that's not gone to plan. But I did the best we could and I look forward to tomorrow."

2024 Qatar Sprint Race Results

1. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
2. Lando Norris, McLaren
3. George Russell, Mercedes
4. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
5. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
6. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
7. Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
8. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
9. Pierre Gasly, Alpine
10. Kevin Magnussen, Haas
11. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
12. Valtteri Bottas, Sauber
13. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
14. Esteban Ocon, Alpine
15. Alex Albon, Williams
16. Liam Lawson, VCARB
17. Yuki Tsunoda, VCARB
18. Franco Colapinto, Williams
19. Zhou Guanyu, Sauber
20. Sergio Perez, Red Bull