Lewis Hamilton secured the victory at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar after a simply dominating weekend which saw him take home the pole position and race win, closing the gap in at the top of the Drivers Championship to just eight points with two rounds to go. Max Verstappen would be demoted to seventh on the grid due to a yellow flag infringement at the end of qualifying but would swiftly work his way up to second, and pit an extra time to achieve the all important fastest lap point to maintain his championship lead. Joining the two title antagonists on the rostrum was one Fernando Alonso who managed to hold onto his hard tyres to taste the champagne for the first time in Hungary 2014.
Punctures definitely let themselves be known in this Grand Prix, as the one stop strategy became very risky towards the final stages.
Although the win seemed to already be in his hands before he even made his way onto the grid, Hamilton’s job was made easier after Verstappen, and Valtteri Bottas, were punished after Saturday’s qualifying session. Hamilton pulled away at lights out and was rarely seen again, in what was a lonely yet controlled race for him. Something he would have gladly wished for.
Verstappen was able to make the most out of his damage limitation after the grid penalty. Starting seventh, the Dutchman would find himself fighting for third at turn two after a very strong start, before settling behind Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso. It did not take the championship leader long to pass the named two and make his way into second place. A lonely race for him also, never really putting pressure on Hamilton as the gap remained around the eight second mark before Red Bull pitted their man for an extra third pit stop under the Virtual Safety Car to ensure the fastest lap point – something he had already set on the medium tyres. With two rounds left, Verstappen has an eight point advantage over his rival Hamilton, but will be wary of the high speed nature of the remaining circuits and the new found speed of his rival.
Alonso was the one who most had their eyes on. Starting third on the grid, his highest starting spot in the hybrid era, Alonso would manage to pass Gasly with a daring move around the outside of turn two on the opening lap. Managing to gap the ones behind, Alonso had to make do with his one stop strategy, which was becoming ever more riskier and that was being proven by others. With the help of the VSC, Alonso would manage to hold off the charging Sergio Perez to achieve a popular first Formula 1 podium in over seven years, whilst capping off a surprisingly strong weekend for the Alpine team. Esteban Ocon tried his best to hold off Perez, but was still able to bring home fifth for he and his team, allowing Alpine to jump 25 points clear of AlphaTauri after a mammoth weekend.
Perez will be pleased with his fourth placed finish, contributing to Red Bull closing the gap to Mercedes in the Constructors Championship to just five points. Recovering from 11th on the grid, Perez would cut his way through until he found fourth place after the first pit stops. Then, with a sudden puncture and retirement of Bottas, he would see himself jump up to third, nearly a minute away from the leading two – who were frankly in a different league. He cannot be blamed for being miffed about his chosen strategy, after a second and final pit stop dropped him to seventh and forced him to re-overtake and close a 20 second gap to Alonso, something he would fall short of. Whether or not the strategy change was in case he suffered an all too common tyre delamination in that race, like a few, it certainly cost the Mexican a podium.
A drive that appeared to go unnoticed and under the radar was the one from Lance Stroll, who managed to get his Aston Martin ahead of both Ferrari’s over the line and bring home his best result of the season with sixth.
The Ferrari cars were on for a tough race after qualifying, but managed to extend their gap over McLaren with their drivers bringing home seventh and eighth, just a second away from Stroll. With both drivers on the one stop strategy, Carlos Sainz would manage to finish ahead of Charles Leclerc, with the Monegasque having a new chassis equipped after a crack was found, which contributed to his tough qualifying, but he was able to recover his lost speed in the race.
Behind, Lando Norris will be gutted. Running as high as fifth for large portions of the race, Norris found himself being one of the drivers who were victims of a puncture, but McLaren were able to spot the problem before it completely delaminated – forcing an extra pit stop. This dropped Norris outside of the points, but the British driver was able to recover two points in ninth as a tough triple header comes to an end for the McLaren team. Fortune also did not favour the other car of Daniel Ricciardo who could only cross the line in 12th. Struggling for pace throughout the weekend, Ricciardo would be met with a fuel problem which saw him managing the levels since the opening lap.
Sebastian Vettel had a mixed day in Qatar, despite bringing back the final point in tenth and ensuring his Aston Martin team had a double points finish. Starting tenth, the German found himself wide at the opening corner, dropping him to 17th. But, with his strong pace throughout the 57 laps, Vettel managed to recover a single point after his poor start, but it is a result which could have been more.
One of the most frustrating and confused drivers to leave Qatar will be Gasly. On a weekend that was looking to promise so much for AlphaTauri, including a front row start for Gasly, the team would leave with no points as Gasly quickly slipped down the order into 11th after a forgettable race. Yuki Tsunoda would not fair much better, with an early two stop strategy meaning he would finish down in 13th.
Kimi Raikkonen continued to lead the Alfa Romeo team on his swansong from Formula 1 with 14th, ahead of teammate Antonio Giovinazzi in 15th – both a lap down. Raikkonen would show he still has those cat like reflexes after a dual with Nicholas Latifi saw the two drivers nearly touch, with the Iceman coming out on top.
Speaking of Latifi, the Williams driver would be one that fell foul of the front left puncture, with his tyre deciding to depart the scene coming out of the final corner, leaving the Canadian to trail around the entire circuit on three wheels. Latifi would end up parking up at the side just moments later, bringing out that late VSC. The puncture fate would also strike the other Williams driver of George Russell. Just moments before Latifi, Russell’s tyre would decide to say goodbye in the fast middle sector, leaving Russell to limp back to the pitlane in the later stages of the race. He would end up in 17th.
Mick Schumacher would manage to remain just the one lap down, which can be seen as an ‘achievement’ for Haas, as the German crossed the line in a clean 16th place with Nikita Mazepin would finish a long way away in 17th, over a full minute from his teammate.
Bottas would suffer a disaster day in Qatar. Also finding himself penalised for a yellow flag infringement in qualifying, Bottas would start in sixth place. Whilst Verstappen started alongside and made easy work of Bottas, the Finn’s sixth quickly became 11th after a dreadful start. As expected, the departing Mercedes driver would take his time to cut back through the field, but his progress was halted after a sudden and dramatic puncture to his front left tyre, on the mediums, basically put an end to his day as the team would decide to retire the car shortly after.
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