Marko pleased with Piastri's performance ahead of Norris in Qatar.

      "When you realize Max is close by..."

      Oscar Piastri has rejuvenated his dwindling title aspirations with a sprint win and pole position in Qatar, reducing Lando Norris’ championship advantage to 22 points ahead of Sunday’s grand prix. However, if Norris secures victory from P3, he will be crowned world champion. Otherwise, the contest will extend to Abu Dhabi next weekend. Max Verstappen repeatedly pretended to challenge Norris during the sprint, but the Brit maintained, "I didn’t see him." Dr. Helmut Marko is skeptical of this. "When you know Max is close, most drivers get anxious," remarked the Red Bull advisor. "It’s beneficial for us that Piastri is in front instead of Norris." McLaren CEO Zak Brown likened Verstappen to a horror film antagonist. "He’s among the best. We need to disregard him, but that’s easier said than done." Earlier in Qatar, Verstappen added to the psychological battle by stating he would have "easily" won the title in an orange car. Norris retaliated: "Max is free to say whatever he likes – he’s accomplished an extraordinary amount. But there are many areas where he lacks insight. "Red Bull often spews nonsense. Maybe he could have, but he hasn’t done it yet, and he continues to try." Meanwhile, overtaking seems nearly impossible at Lusail, with a realistic Verstappen noting: "If I can’t overtake him (Norris) in turn 1, he scores more points than I do." Piastri, happy to be back in the competitive mix, said: "Winning is far more enjoyable than whatever madness took place in the last four or five races." Pirelli had already set a strict 25-lap limit per tire set before coming to Qatar and has now disclosed concerning inspection results. Pirelli engineer Simone Berra stated: "We discovered significant cuts on numerous tires – the stones here appear sharper than on other circuits. Some cuts reached the core structure." Mario Isola added: "We observed some tires completely worn due to graining, which prompted us to limit the maximum distance to 25 laps."