Joining him in the bottom of the pack was Kevin Magnussen, who cemented his loss in the head-to-head battles against his teammate in qualifying this season as Nico Hulkenberg advanced through to Q2. Unfortunately for Liam Lawson, who is most likely running his last race as Daniel Ricciardo’s interim replacement, he was unable to make it into Q2. However, following final runs, it was Verstappen on top by a slim margin.Īt the other end of the field, the fight to avoid the elimination zone was a tough one. Leclerc set the new benchmark time of 1:25.452, being later demoted by Norris who put a three-tenth margin between his McLaren and the Ferrari, before Alonso came to split the two. With 7 minutes remaining, the Mercedes duo set off on their first flying lap, immediately jumping to P2 and P3, just over two-tenths behind Fernando Alonso. The track limits violations kept rolling in with Leclerc also losing a time during Q1. Lando Norris had his fastest time that saw him in a temporary P1 deleted due to exceeding track limits, dropping him back within the elimination zone with 10 minutes on the board. The Dutchman was unhappy with the treatment he was given on his lap, annoyed by the slow-moving Mercedes of George Russell travelling on the racing line. Verstappen’s first lap was momentarily on top of the timing sheets with a time of 1:26.884, however, as the times began rolling in, it was Charles Leclerc as the quickest. Red Bull were able to capitalise on the pitlane chaos as the first team out of the gates, allowing Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez to set the first attempts ahead of the rest of the grid’s schedules. Qualifying 1:īefore the on-track action could get started, the drivers were at a stand-still in the pitlane, too eager to start their qualifying campaigns and costing one another crucial time at the green light. It’ll be the series’ second of three US stops along with the Miami Grand Prix and the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November.Max Verstappen has claimed his 10th pole position of the season ahead of Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix in a session riddled with tricky conditions and lap time deletions, meddling with the order right down to the wire. They’ll be back in action October 20 through 22 for the United States Grand Prix. The Formula 1 circus is taking a week off. They’ll miss out on millions in prize money if they can’t find a way to stay ahead of the McLarens. They arrived in Qatar 49 points back, and through the sprint and grand prix, that deficit has been whittled down to 11.Īston Martin is in some serious trouble. That’s huge as the team continues its upward trajectory and eats into the gap to Aston Martin for P4 in the standings. In Qatar, they got both drivers on the podium for the second week in a row. McLaren continues to be arguably the second-strongest team on the grid since the summer break. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR / AFP) (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images) McLaren Continues To Shine McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris joined Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on the podium for the second-straight race. Still, the team squandered a real opportunity to pull away from Ferrari even further. The Mercs (or at least one of them) made lemonade out of Lap 1 lemons. While Russell had a strong recovery drive and finished P4 just ahead of Charles Leclerc in P5, it only made for a slight boost to their gap over Ferrari. Disappointing on a day when they could have really made things hard on the Scuderia. Lewis Hamilton to Sky Sports: "I'm happy to accept responsibility" #QatarGP /0NW833ebLW- October 8, 2023 Hamilton retired after losing a wheel and getting beached in the gravel, while Russell a new front wing and dropped to the back of the field. However, Mercedes’ hopes of a big points haul went up in a puff of gravel dust on the opening corner when Russell and Hamilton collided at Turn 1. With Charles Leclerc - the only Ferrari taking part in the race - behind them in P5. This was a huge opportunity for Mercedes to build on their lead with George Russell in P2 and Lewis Hamilton in P3 at the start. They got some good news before the race when it was announced that Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz wouldn’t start the race due to a fuel system leak. Mercedes entered Sunday’s race in a tight battle with Ferrari for second in the constructor standings. (Photo by Kym Illman/Getty Images) Mercedes Misses Out On Possible Double Points Finish That’s always bad, but it also cost the team an important double-points finish. Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell crashed into each other on the opening lap. Perhaps the biggest drama of the day happened just behind him on the opening lap. Sprint race-winner Oscar Piastri came home in P2, while Lando Norris finished in P3. Verstappen drove to a relatively uneventful and was joined by both McLarens on the podium. Max Verstappen Clinches Third-Straight Formula 1 Championship, So Are There Any Reasons To Keep Watching?
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