Qatar Grand Prix Live - World Champion Verstappen heads the field under the desert lights

Verstappen takes the chequered flag to secure his 14th win of the season. Piastri indeed has second covered and crosses the line ahead of Norris, the duo securing another double podium for McLaren.

Barring disaster, Verstappen will cruise to the win here. Behind, Norris is not quite within DRS range of Piastri and the Aussie likely has this covered.

Russell is more than 27 seconds behind in fourth.

Verstappen has been untouchable here and although he probably hasn't been driving flat out here, it's worth noting that the McLarens didn't let him run away with it. The gap between the Dutchman and Piastri sits consistently at around four seconds, much less than what it has been earlier in the season.

The gap between the McLarens is on less than two seconds now. Norris might be losing out here due to the dirty air from Piastri right ahead of him costing him pace.

Russell is more than 20 seconds behind. It's unlikely the Mercedes will have a shot at the podium here.

Verstappen comes in for his final pit stop and although it's a fairly slow one, he rejoins the track four seconds clear of Piastri.

There's the stop from Russell and he indeed swaps to the soft compound. He rejoins 15 seconds behind Norris.

Piastri and Norris are closing in on Russell who will need to pit a lap from now. They need a buffer here should Russell try to make soft tyres work late on.

Norris gets the radio call to hold the position behind Piastri. He doesn't quite agree.

However, they will need to watch out here with Russell potentially swapping to a fresh soft versus the McLarens' used hards in the late stages.

Piastri sets a new fastest lap to stay well ahead of his team-mate Norris. The gap sits at just over two seconds.

Russell currently sits second, but he'll have to pit again. The Mercedes is racing for fourth.

Norris comes in for his final pit stop and rejoins the track behind Piastri. The gap is significantly reduced for the moment, but with Norris needing to heat up his tyres, it opens right back up.

Piastri comes in and it's a decent stop for the Aussie. He needs to heat up the hard tyres swiftly as Norris sets a new fastest lap.

Piastri is about to head into the pits as Norris ups the pace to potentially do the overcut.

Both McLarens will have to swap to the hard compound in their last stop, meaning other drivers might be able to catch up on them in the late stages.

Out front, Verstappen is up and away.

Norris edges slightly closer to Piastri but can't take any significant time out of his team-mate. Likewise, Russell is not getting closer to the McLarens either.

It's not going Perez' way whatsoever here as the Red Bull driver picks up another five-seconds penalty for repeatedly exceeding track limits.

With the 18-lap rule, lap 39 will be the cut-off point to go to the end of the race on a fresh set of tyres. Someone may take a gamble on a safety car here come in next lap to go to the end.

The fastest lap goes to Russell now with the track getting ever quicker. His tyres are fresher than the McLaren's current compound.

Verstappen pits from the lead and rejoins in the lead. This race is his to lose.

Behind, Piastri and Norris are firmly in podium contention, Norris still holding the fastest lap, with Russell now indeed in fourth.

Big moment for Alonso who goes well, well wide at Turn 2. He rejoins the track in seventh and almost collides with Leclerc doing so - race direction will likely have a look at that.

Russell comes in for his fourth pit stop and rejoins in sixth. Zhou on a different strategy is ahead of him, meaning the Mercedes is virtually fifth.