Max Verstappen has taken a surprise win at the Qatar Grand Prix over McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri cutting the championship gap to just 12 points. It all comes down to Abu Dhabi and leaves a lot of work for Lando Norris to do to secure the title.
Max’s Red Bull looked on the back foot all weekend but a strategy error from McLaren handed victory to Verstappen leaving fans scratching their heads.
A big win for Red Bull and Max Verstappen who struggled with the car all weekend but when it came to lap 7 of the Qatar GP, the strategy call was spot on. Lap 7 was the absolute minimum window to dive in, change tires and complete the rest of the race which was burdened with a 25-lap mandatory pit stop due to tire concerns. Red Bull and the rest of the field read the strategy perfectly and Max took the win. Max, effectively, got a free pit stop and never had to face the McLaren’s head-on with sheer pace.
A win for Carlos Sainz and Williams with a podium finish and big points int he constructor’s championship. Carlos drove brilliantly and really put the Williams in a position it most likely had little interest in being. With his teammate, Alex Albon, down in 11th, it’s clear that the Sainz signing is paying dividends.
A win, despite the bobble at the end, for Kimi Antonelli. Even though Helmut Marko accused him of letting Norris by and fans hurling hate toward him on social media, Antonelli drove a great race and finished ahead of teammate Geroge Russell in P5.
Fernando Alonso managed to score a P7 despite the Aston Martin looking a handful and Charles Leclerc and Liam Lawson overcame some adversity all weekend to finish P8 and P9 respectively.
Hard not to consider McLaren’s race a real failure and own goal. Why they didn’t at least cover Max with Lando by having him follow Max into the pits, I am not sure. With Oscar leading, they should have boxed him. Even if they missed that call, Lando should have shadowed Max but neither situation happened. Max never had to overtake them on equal terms and they were in clearly faster cars.
A fail for Pierre Gasly who managed to tap Hulkenberg and end both heir races.
A fail for Alex Albon who is starting to make me wonder if he can hang with Carlos Sainz.
What is going on with Ferrari? Lewis Hamilton n seems to have checked out, not that I can blame him, and Charles is very frustrated. Things are not well. Perhaps since Aston were quick to discount any thoughts of Christian Horner at the team, Ferrari should reconsider?
Pirelli Report:
MARIO ISOLA – PIRELLI DIRECTOR OF MOTORSPORT“All the strategic choices in today’s race were conditioned by the arrival of the safety car. The compound considered to be the best compromise between getting good grip right from the start, and also maintaining an adequate performance level throughout the duration of the stint, was the medium. Although nearly every driver only used the hard for the final stint to the flag, the C1 compound would also have been competitive halfway through the race. The lap times showed that in some cases it offered better performance than the C2 medium in the final laps. All the compounds displayed very limited wear, allowing drivers to push to the maximum. There was a lot less graining compared to previous days, which reduced cases of extreme wear but did not eliminate them entirely. As a result, the 25-lap limit was shown to be appropriate to avoid any issues. The fascinating twists and turns of this race, with unprecedented levels of performance and new circuit records set throughout the weekend, reflect an entire season with closer competition than ever. So it’s perhaps no surprise that the championship now gets decided at the last race, with three very worthy contenders going into battle for the final time next weekend.” |
Qatar GP Results:
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time / Retired | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 57 | 1:24:38.241 | 25 |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 57 | +7.995s | 18 |
| 3 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 57 | +22.665s | 15 |
| 4 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 57 | +23.315s | 12 |
| 5 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 57 | +28.317s | 10 |
| 6 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 57 | +48.599s | 8 |
| 7 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 57 | +54.045s | 6 |
| 8 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 57 | +56.785s | 4 |
| 9 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 57 | +60.073s | 2 |
| 10 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull Racing | 57 | +61.770s | 1 |
| 11 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 57 | +66.931s | 0 |
| 12 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 57 | +77.730s | 0 |
| 13 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Kick Sauber | 57 | +84.812s | 0 |
| 14 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 56 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 15 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas F1 Team | 56 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 16 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 56 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 17 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 55 | DNF | 0 |
| 18 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | 55 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas F1 Team | 41 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Kick Sauber | 6 | DNF | 0 |
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FAIL: Haas for releasing Bearman without a tire on, where he was running in the points.