Oscar Piastri has sensationally won the Qatar GP Sprint ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.

The Australian had to fight for the victory after losing out to George Russell in the early stages before holding off Verstappen in the latter laps.

Second for Verstappen was enough to see him crowned champion after Sergio Perez crashed out midway through the 19-lap encounter.

From pole position, Piastri jumped well and held his advantage as the Sprint got underway.

Behind, Verstappen was crowded out as Russell, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc also moved through.

It left Verstappen only fifth and Norris six while Liam Lawson crashed out at Turn 2 to draw the Safety Car.

Lawson lost the rear end as he turned into the left-hander, spinning into the gravel in what was arguably the first mistake of his F1 career.

It was a brief interruption and Piastri headed the field to the green flag as they started Lap 3.

The Australian was under intense pressure from Russell, the Mercedes enjoying an initial pace advantage on soft tyres.

He soon got the job done with a darting move up the inside of Piastri at Turn 6, mugging the pole sitter for the lead.

Before the end of the lap, the Safety Car was deployed for a second time as Logan Sargeant dropped the Williams into the gravel.

Cleanup of the stricken car took a little longer than Lawson’s Scuderia AlphaTauri, with racing resuming at the start of Lap 6.

Russell got a strong jump, holding a 1.4s advantage as he flashed across the stripe.

Piastri came under pressure from Sainz, the McLaren driver just holding on as they rounded Turn 1.

Once his tyres came up to temperature, the Australian had strong pace to set a new fastest lap on Lap 8.

That saw the gap to Russell ahead close to 1.3 seconds as Piastri inched clear of DRS range to the Ferrari behind.

The soft tyre runners were beginning to struggle after 10 laps, evidenced by Verstappen scything by both Ferrari drivers to sit second on Lap 10.

By the end of the lap, the front two were locked together.

The battle did not last long, Piastri swooping by courtesy of DRS down the front straight.

Moments later, Verstappen became world champion when Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon found themselves beached in the gravel at Turn 2.

It was a case of three into one; Ocon on the inside sandwiching Nico Hulkenberg in the middle, and Perez on the outside.

As the Alpine moved right to open up the coming left-hander, Hulkenberg had nowhere to go, while Ocon would have been unaware of Perez’s presence to the Haas’ right.

Though he’d limped back to the pit lane, Hulkenberg was also a retirement, the fifth of the race.

The Safety Car was withdrawn at the end of Lap 14, leaving five laps of racing.

Piastri didn’t enjoy the same jump Russell had earlier, though it advantageously kept the Mercedes in his slipstream, helping draw him away from Verstappen.

However, the McLaren driver quickly pulled clear, the battle for second aiding his cause.

That scrap only lasted a lap, Verstappen taking the place at the start of Lap 16 to find himself. That left him 2.6s back from the race leader with four laps remaining.

In the pack, Norris was making progress on his medium compound tyres, picking off Leclerc as they started Lap 17.

He despatched Sainz two corners later as he set off in pursuit of Russell ahead.

In the lead, Piastri’s advantage had reduced to just two seconds as they started Lap 18, Verstappen reeling in the 22-year-old at 0.3s a lap.

He held on, taking victory in the Sprint over Verstappen with Norris third.

It marks the best finish of Piastri’s career and a second double-McLaren podium in quick succession.

With Perez out of the race, Verstappen was left mathematically untouchable for what is his third world championship.

The Dutchman will start Sunday’s race from pole, while Piastri will line up sixth in the rapid McLaren, and Norris 10th.

Behind the top three, Russell held on for fourth ahead of Hamilton, then Sainz, Leclerc, and Alex Albon rounding out the eight points-paying places.