The stewards dished out a penalty just seconds after the conclusion of the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint, changing the outcome of the short-form race. Oscar Piastri won from pole with an accomplished performance as the top three remained unchanged, George Russell holding onto second place ahead of Lando Norris in the other McLaren.

There was some movement further back, though, with Max Verstappen rising two places to finish fourth. He was ahead of Kimi Antonelli, who had risen to fifth place because of a five-second penalty for Yuki Tsunoda who violated track limits too many times, but shortly after the end of the race it was confirmed that a similar punishment was also heading the way of the Mercedes driver.

Antonelli, it turned out, had also taken one trip too many across the painted white lines that define the edge of the track. His last violation occurred on the final lap of the race and cost him a point in the end, dropping from fifth back down below Tsunoda to sixth in the final classification as a result of the punishment.

Confirmind that penalty, the stewards said: “Car 12 [Antonelli] exceeded track limits on three occasions and was given the black and white flag, then exceeded track limits a fourth time. Therefore, in accordance with the guidelines, a five-second penalty is imposed.”

Piastri took his third Sprint victory in as many such races in Qatar. He said in parc ferme: “It’s been a good weekend so far. Everything went smoothly in the Sprint there so I’m happy with how it has been so far. I just need to keep it rolling.

“It’s obviously a very different circuit to where we have been, much higher speed and grip. The last couple of weekends has seen things going wrong, rather than a lack of pace. Here, everything has gone smoothly so far and the pace has been strong. It’s a track I’ve enjoyed in the past and I’m enjoying it again, clearly.”

Piastri’s victory was only worth two more points than what Norris earned for finishing third, leaving him still trailing his team-mate by 22 points. He needs to take a more significant chunk out of the Brit’s advantage in Sunday’s Grand Prix if he is to have a realistic chance of beating him to the crown on the final day in Abu Dhabi next weekend.

Verstappen rose two places from his starting position of sixth but it wasn’t enough to avoid slipping a point further behind Norris. If he fails to finish ahead of the Brit in the Grand Prix, he will be eliminated from championship contention.

Tsunoda converted his strong qualifying result into four more points for Red Bull while Antonelli’s post-race penalty meant he had to settle for three. Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz were the others to finish in the top eight.