Away from all of the beef and drama that is currently occupying the paddock, from the discussion of hard racing to a potential rear wing protest, the real stars hit the track at the Losail International Circuit for the first time. With a new circuit comes now challenges, and track limits were a serious topic of discussion with many drivers exploring the limits and returning with their cars damaged.
Valtteri Bottas was the one who came out of the starting blocks the best as his name covered the leading spot in the timings at the end of Friday practice with a comfortable buffer to the chasing ones behind. To the surprise of many, Bottas ended up leading Pierre Gasly by two tenths after AlphaTauri certainly seemed suited to the fast and twisty circuit in Qatar.
Yuki Tsunoda certified the team’s speed by securing seventh place at the end of the day. They are ones to watch this weekend.
Third and fourth saw the two title antagonists split apart by less then a tenth. Max Verstappen would trail Bottas by 0.350s in third. Although his Red Bull seemed smooth, the Dutchman would see the majority of his time lost in the opening sector. Lewis Hamilton seemed at a slight lost at his deficit, admitting he felt slow. Hamilton would lose some track time in the morning session by becoming one of the drivers to suffer damage to their cars, after testing the limits of the track. But, both drivers would manage to match each other to the tenth of a second whilst on their race programmes – however take every Friday with a pinch of salt.
McLaren are a team who need a pick up from this weekend, picking up just two points from the last two races. Lando Norris has started the weekend on the front foot, securing fifth on what seemed to be a calm day despite a hiccup. Norris would run wide onto the brutal exit kerbs at the penultimate corner which triggered a safety system on the car, effectively turning it off – costing him early track time. On the other side of the garage, Daniel Ricciardo saw himself trail down in 14th after a hit and miss day.
Another team who could be one to watch is Aston Martin as Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel occupied positions inside the top ten. Stroll would enjoy one his calmest days in a while with tenth, as Vettel was left trailing his teammate by four tenths in ninth, and had to figure out what parts of the car kept falling loose onto his legs.
Being six tenths away from the top saw Sergio Perez who, similar to Verstappen, seemed smooth with his car but just lacked speed – presumably down to the levels of fuel. Both Red Bull drivers would again suffer the same problem with their DRS flap swinging in the wind, causing the need for the tape.
Ferrari seemed to suffer in Qatar, finding their names down in tenth and 13th. However, different results can be expected at a new track. With Sainz eight tenths away, Leclerc would trail by just an extra tenth but saw both Alpine cars between him and his teammate.
Esteban Ocon led Fernando Alonso for 11th and 12th by just 0.015s. Vettel in ninth to Ricciardo in 14th were covered by just over a tenth as the chequered flag dropped, which could be great news for us viewers come qualifying.
Further away, Kimi Raikkonen fulfilled the 15th slot but a far half a second away from his closest rival in front, and nearly half a second ahead of the ones behind. A lonely Iceman as George Russell split the Alfa Romeo cars with 16th, with Antonio Giovinazzi and Nicholas Latifi trailing the British driver by a couple of tenths.
The afternoon session saw only one Haas car take part after Nikita Mazepin’s side of the garage were forced to change the chassis after the Russian’s damaged it in the morning session, and had to skip the very important afternoon session under the lights. Mick Schumacher found himself bringing out the only real yellow flag of the day in the morning but was able to recover, finishing the day in 19th – a tenth away from Latifi.
The Motorsport Formula 