Verstappen revives title hopes after masterful Qatar GP start

The Red Bull Racing driver, who had earlier revealed he would go for an early-lap lunge on the McLaren driver, stayed true to his words by overtaking Norris into the first corner of the race.

The McLaren driver appeared to suffer wheelspin off the line at the Grand Prix.

Verstappen’s move on the championship contender marked the second race in a row where he pulled an opening-lap overtake on the British driver. The move also kept alive his drivers’ title hopes, as he needed to finish ahead of the McLaren driver to stay in contention for the championship.

Verstappen wasn’t the only driver who made up places, with Lewis Hamilton in his Scuderia Ferrari also climbing a few spots on the opening lap.

Ahead of the race, Verstappen made changes to as many as six parts of his engine. The Red Bull Racing driver reverted to several previously used parts due to reliability concerns.

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