The Qatar Grand Prix did not go entirely to plan for Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton may have walked away with a dominant win, but Valtteri Bottas crashed out due to a blowout. The damage was too severe to finish the race.
The gap between Red Bull and Mercedes is now just five points. Max Verstappen's P2 and Sergio Perez's P4 ensure that they narrow the gap. Mercedes is on 546.5 points, while Red Bull now has 541.5.
Ferrari increase their lead towards McLaren as Daniel Ricciardo finished outside the top ten. The Italian team has 297.5 points, McLaren aren't far behind on 258 points. Alpine also takes a lot of points with the podium of Fernando Alonso and increases their lead to AlphaTauri.
Standings contractors championship
1. Mercedes - 546.5 points
2. Red Bull - 541.5 points
3. Ferrari - 297.5 points
4. McLaren - 258 points
5. Alpine - 137 points
6. AlphaTauri - 112 points
7. Aston Martin - 77 points
8. Williams - 23 points
9. Alfa Romeo - 11 points
10. Haas - 0 points