Max Verstappen celebrated his third Formula 1 championship with victory in a Qatar Grand Prix dominated by tyres.

Concerns about tyre safety led the FIA to impose an 18-lap limit for each set of tyres, leading to an absolute lottery in terms of strategy.

But the dominance of Verstappen and Red Bull continued as the Dutchman secured his 14th win of the year.

Oscar Piastri capitalised on Turn 1 contact between the two Mercedes' to snatch second, but could do little to challenge for victory.

Lando Norris made it a second double McLaren podium in as many races in third.

Race Review

The story began before lights out with the FIA imposing tyre restrictions during the race, resulting in at least a three-stop strategy for all the drivers.

Carlos Sainz then added to the early drama by failing to make the start due to a fuel system issue on his Ferrari.

When the action got underway, Verstappen made an ideal start to lead away from pole, defending from George Russell on the run to Turn 1.

Starting from third on soft tyres, Lewis Hamilton tried to sweep around the outside at the first corner but collided with his Mercedes teammate sending both spinning and Hamilton into the gravel.

Piastri was the big beneficiary moving up from sixth to second on the opening lap, ahead of Fernando Alonso in third.

The Safety Car was called to clear the stricken Mercedes with five drivers already having to make pit-stops due to the 18-lap limit.

Verstappen led the restart as Russell overtook Sergio Perez as both drivers fought back through the field.

Nico Hulkenberg was given a 10-second penalty for being out of position on the grid, having pulled into Sainz's empty slot for the start.

The leaders began pitting from Lap 12 with Alonso, Leclerc and the two McLarens among the early stoppers.

Verstappen could go to Lap 17 on his tyres, giving him a chance to extend his advantage over Piastri but briefly giving Alex Albon the lead for Williams.

The Thai driver would pit a lap later to end the first round of stops and promote Piastri back upto second and Alonso in third.

Early stops from Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll allowed them to run strongly before triggering the second round of pit stops from Lap 23.

Piastri, Alonso and Norris had the earliest second stops of the leaders but went onto new tyres, giving them a full 18 laps for their third stint.

That promoted Russell briefly back upto second and Perez third, though the Mexican later picked up a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits.

Verstappen completed his second stop on Lap 35 and retained the lead, around seven seconds ahead of Piastri.

A big off for Alonso at Turn 2 dropped the Spaniard down the order and gave Norris P3 and Russell in fourth after his stop.

The two McLarens made their final stops with 13 and 12 laps to go respectively, with Lando narrowly missing out on undercutting Piastri.

McLaren then told Norris to hold station behind his teammate, much to the frustration of the Briton.

Ahead, there was no trouble for Verstappen though, as he made a final stop with five laps to go and stormed to victory.

Russell produced a brilliant recovery from the Lap 1 contact with Hamilton to finish fourth, ahead of Leclerc in fifth.

Alonso dropped to sixth after his off, ahead of Esteban Ocon in seventh. Alfa Romeo scored their biggest points haul of the season with Bottas eighth and Zhou Guanyu in 10th.

Perez went from a pit-lane start to ninth despite picking up two five-second penalties for track limits.

Stroll finished P11, as Pierre Gasly was another to pick up two penalties for track limits in 12th.

Albon's hopes of points faded in 13th, ahead of Kevin Magnussen, Yuki Tsunoda and Hulkenberg in 16th.

Liam Lawson was the final finisher in 17th on his last start before Daniel Ricciardo returns in Austin.

Logan Sargeant retired through illness, joining Hamilton and Sainz.