As the sun dipped behind the grandstands, the 2025 F1 season entered its penultimate chapter under Qatar’s familiar blend of heat, speed and floodlit drama. The sunset sessions at the high-speed circuit were impacted by a new tyre regulation that would prove to be a complicated combination.
Practice
The weekend began on Friday afternoon local time, with a train of cars immediately heading out on the Hard tyres - all conscious of the race’s unique new constraint: every tyre set was capped at 25 laps across the entire five-session weekend. Managing that limit would impact every decision each team made across the weekend.
Ollie completed 26 laps of the only Practice of the Sprint weekend, closing the session in P15 and working through the compound range, setting the foundation for the competitive sessions ahead.
Sprint Qualifying
Medium tyres were the choice for the Sprint Qualifying and Ollie’s early pace was encouraging. He progressed through SQ1 in P10, and in SQ2, he fought hard to escape the drop zone. With just 90 seconds remaining, he headed out for a final push lap and secured P12, keeping himself firmly in the midfield battle for the Sprint.
Sprint Race
Starting P12 on Mediums, Ollie got away cleanly and held his ground on a circuit that punishes hesitation. The Sprint was largely incident-free across the field, with the high-speed nature of Lusail allowing few opportunities for risk without consequence. Ollie managed his tyres well, considering the Sprint did not require a pit stop, and maintained a strong pace, crossing the finish line in P12.
Grand Prix Qualifying
Later on Saturday, it was time for Qualifying for the Grand Prix. In the first session, Ollie was immediately competitive, putting the car in P7. The pace continued into Q2 hard when Ollie put in one of the fastest laps.
Through the midpoint of the session, he held P2 on Softs, but as the track progressed and other drivers battled to improve their lap times, Ollie slid to P13, in an astonishingly small margin from Q3. He qualified in P13 for Sunday’s race.
The Race
From P13, Ollie went into Sunday optimistic about targeting points, with his sixth consecutive points finish looking realistic. Starting on medium compound tyres, he gained a position on the opening lap and began hunting down the Ferrari of Leclerc ahead.
A Safety Car on Lap 7, following an incident between Nico Hülkenberg and Pierre Gasly, triggered early pit stops across the field, with every car, apart from two McLarens, deciding to pit.
After pitting, Ollie emerged in P10 and, by the restart on Lap 11, he managed to hold that position well into the race, still running in the points fight by Lap 26. With the strict tyre-life limit approaching, the second stop beckoned. He pitted on Lap 32 for Hard tyres, but the stop unravelled when the car was mistakenly released with a rear jack still attached.
The error cost significant time, caused minor damage to the car and resulted in a 10-second penalty for an unsafe release. After serving the penalty and assessing the damage to the car, the team retired the car.
It was not the outcome the pace had hinted at, and without the pit stop issue, Ollie was genuinely in the battle for points. But, on a weekend shaped by harsh tyre limits, tight margins and relentless demands, he remained competitive and composed throughout.
Looking Ahead
With one race remaining as the season heads to Abu Dhabi for the finale, Ollie sits P13 in the Drivers’ Championship with Haas now P8 in the Constructors’ fight - just seven points away from P7. After a year defined by progress and standout performances, there is still plenty to fight for in the final chapter of 2025.
