Qatar Race Reaction
Image: Red Bull Content Pool
The second running of the Qatar Grand Prix was as eventful as ever, crowing a world champion on a Saturday for the first time in 40 years, and with a rookie taking his first win in Formula One. Let’s get stuck into an action-packed Grand Prix weekend.
Qualifying
The start of the session was fairly standard, with McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull comfortably through to the next session. Alexander Albon found himself in danger of being eliminated in Q1, the Thai driver just made it out, pushing his teammate Logan Sargeant out of Qualifying. Lance Stroll also had an absolutely shocking session, classifying a dismal P17.
The drivers out in Q1 were: Zhou Guanyu, Kevin Magnussen, Liam Lawson, Lance Stroll, and Logan Sargeant.
Q2 started with a frantic wheel-to-wheel battle between Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso, with both drivers evidently angry, ultimately ruining their respective hotlaps. Track limits also played a huge part in positions as many drivers had their lap times deleted for exceeding track limits, such an easy thing to do at Losail.
Carlos Sainz was the biggest victim of this as the Spaniard was knocked out of Q2, halting an impressive performance from the Ferrari drivers. Sergio Perez continued his string of poor performances, classifying a depressing P13.
The drivers out in Q2 were: Nico Hulkenberg, Alexander Albon, Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz, and Yuki Tsunoda.
Q3 was a standard affair with Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, and George Russell topping the timing sheets in the first runs of the session. The McLarens were electric, setting purple sectors, clearly led by Lando Norris in P2.
With Piastri splitting the Mercedes, the Aussie was on track for a great result, until he got demoted three grid places after the session due to exceeding track limits. Norris also had his lap time deleted, leaving him to start P10 but it was Verstappen who took his 30th pole position, ahead of Russell and Hamilton.
The final top ten in qualifying were: Max Verstappen, Lando Norris (+7), George Russell, Oscar Piastri (+3), Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, and Valtteri Bottas.
Sprint Race
Oscar Piastri had a clean getaway from pole position but Max Verstappen and Lando Norris dropped down the order at the start, with Liam Lawson getting caught up in the gravel trap, bringing out the safety car. Shortly after the safety car period ended, Russell overtook Piastri for the lead before getting neutralised by another safety car this time brought out by Logan Sargeant spinning off.
As the second safety car period came to an end, Verstappen powered past the two Ferraris for P3 and Piastri regained his lead over Russell. This was looking very good for Max Verstappen, who was about to become world champion before he crossed the finish line.
Kevin Magnussen, Esteban Ocon, and Sergio Perez went three-wide into Turn 2 and came together, causing the trio to crash into each other and leaving Perez out of the race.
Norris had a great race, moving into the podium positions after a horrible start. Verstappen managed to overtake Russell for P2 at the end, leaving Oscar Piastri to take his maiden win in Formula One albeit a Sprint Race win.
Verstappen makes history
Max Verstappen became the first driver to win a Formula One driver’s championship on a Saturday since Nelson Piquet, who won the 1983 South African Grand Prix at Kylami — funny how life works.
Image: Red Bull Content Pool
Verstappen claimed pole position on Friday and has seemed comfortable all weekend, appearing more than happy to take P2 in the Sprint Race. The Dutchman is now only the fifth driver in Formula One history to take three consecutive drivers’ world championships. With both championships now secured, surely Verstappen would lift off just a little bit? No, he took his 49th career victory at the Losail Circuit.
Whether he can continue his near-perfect sweep of victories in 2023 will depend on the pace of the McLarens, which has been getting ever closer to Red Bull. The untouchable team from Milton Keynes continues to deliver!
Spain 2016 flashbacks
It was a nightmare start for Mercedes as Russell and Hamilton collided at Turn 1, with Hamilton making contact with his teammate. The seven-time world champion found himself out of the race on Lap 1, with Russell continuing with damage to his W14.
Whilst the crash might’ve been Hamilton’s fault, Race Control deemed the incident as a ‘racing incident,’ whilst both Mercedes drivers obviously blamed each other. Could this be Russell and Hamilton’s Spain 2016? Hamilton later apologised for the Turn 1 incident, taking the blame.
Russell had a superb turnaround, coming home P4, an impressive feat as the Brit was down in P18 on Lap 1. This amazing performance means that Russell has closed the gap to Leclerc in the drivers’ championship, currently behind by 18 points.
A super weekend for McLaren
It seems as though McLaren is on Cloud 9, achieving a double podium last race in Japan last time out. It was rookie Oscar Piastri who took pole for the sprint race, beating teammate Lando Norris by just 82 milliseconds. The Aussie fought off the rapid Red Bull of Max Verstappen to take this sprint race win, with Norris coming home in P3.
With McLaren on such a high, a Grand Prix win still very much remains at the top of its bucket list. As it stands, Noris is ahead of Piastri in the drivers’ championship by just 53 points. Norris, who joined the McLaren team in 2019, looks as hungry as ever to claim his first win, having come so close on so many occasions.
Piastri has clearly shown his talent, besting Norris on more occasions than the Brit expected. Norris, on the other hand, has been driving at his absolute best recently but has found himself behind his teammate on several occasions, which is undoubtedly frustrating for the 23-year-old.
Towards the end of the race, McLaren told Norris to hold position in P3, behind his teammate in P2. The young Brit questioned the team’s decision to keep Piastri ahead. Ultimately, the two drivers claimed another double podium, with Norris unhappy with his position. However, with two quick drivers so early in their careers, can McLaren keep them at bay?
“That was definitely the hardest race I’ve had in my life!”
