Qatar Grand Prix – The Tops and Flops

The Top 3

McLaren, a season ending with a bang

The conclusion is irrefutable, in these last races McLaren is the second best team in F1. After a disastrous start in Bahrain and Jeddah, the British team’s return to the leading positions in just a few races is nothing short of a miracle. Zak Brown’s men have managed to make us forget about Aston Martin and have hijacked the Grammy for the surprise of this season.

In Qatar, for the second time in a row, the two papaya drivers surrounded Max Verstappen on the box. This time, it was Oscar Piastri ahead of his teammate. With 7 podiums to his credit, McLaren has the same number as Lawrence Stroll’s team and seems well on its way to dislodge them from fourth place. Only 11 small units separate the two entities in the constructor’s standings.

The Woking team can also boast of having beaten the world record for the fastest pit stop in Formula 1.

Alfa Romeo, we weren’t expecting them anymore

If McLaren is in the running for a Grammy in 2023, it’s rather for a Razzie that Alfa Romeo is competing. The Hinwill team has been languishing in the soft belly of the pack since the start of the season. If Sauber’s future is secured through the partnership with Audi, the atmosphere in 2023 is gloomy. Fortunately for Alessandro Aluni Bravi’s men, the heat of Qatar has brought a positive note to this disappointing season.

At Losail, it is not one, but indeed two Alfa Romeo drivers who scored points. This had not happened since the Canadian Grand Prix 2022. We knew it, in Singapore, Alfa Romeo had brought many improvements supposed to advance the monoplace with the clover in the hierarchy. Ineffective in Singapore and Japan, the question is now whether this double points finish was allowed by the rule concerning the use of tyres or the circuit that matched the monoplace of Bottas and Zhou. In any case, with 6 points accumulated in one race, the team moves back ahead of Haas in the constructors’ standings.

Russell or the art of bouncing back

With Russell and the first turns, we are definitely far from a rose water novel. While Lewis Hamilton had the strategy to compete with Max Verstappen during his first stint, the Briton lacked caution and sent his teammate into a spin.

During the safety car, George Russell was very frustrated by this collision and his mind was clearly not focused on the race. But like every high-level driver, as soon as the panels around the circuit turned green, the Mercedes driver put the pedal to the metal and started overtaking. Spun out on the first corner, he finally overcame the competition to secure a magnificent 4th position.

The Flop 3

Where is Sergio Perez?

The weekends follow one another and resemble each other for Sergio Perez. His early season victories are now far behind. Not passing into Q3 for the 8th time this season, his crash during the sprint race forced his team to start him from the pit lane in order to rebuild his single-seater.

In a race paced by a minimum of 3 stops, the one who knows how to whisper to his tires was forced to drive on the attack. Like an elephant on a unicycle, Perez, delicately handling his single-seater, always seemed reluctant to jostle his single-seater too much.

Despite accumulating off-track exits, he finished in an anonymous 10th place while his garage neighbor did not let up despite acquiring his third title. It is now certain that the Mexican will no longer dazzle us this season.

I don’t care about my job?

Nonchalant behind a microphone and little involved at the wheel, Lance Stroll’s situation seems to be desperate. He again suffered from the comparison with his garage neighbor, was eliminated for the fourth consecutive time in Q1 and again out of the points after having accumulated penalties for going too wide.

At the end of the season, the Canadian will be considered one of the main architects of Aston Martin’s fall in the hierarchy and of their inability to have retained McLaren. His iconic « I love my job » after his pole position in Turkey in 2020 seems to be far behind.

Inhumane racing conditions

Esteban Ocon threw up, Logan Sargeant had to abandon due to a knockout, Piastri mistook the cool room for his bed, George Russell was taking his hands out of his cockpit to get some air, Lance Stroll fainted multiple times, Fernando Alonso’s buttocks burned on his seat and finally, Alexander Albon could not get out of his single-seater. These are just some of the testimonies of how difficult this Qatar Grand Prix was for the drivers. The heat and aridity of the desert completely dehydrated the drivers and turned the race into a 20-driver barbecue.

If we like to see the drivers reach the interview square sweating, evidence that they have given everything on the track, reaching such extremes of physical effort is not normal and is particularly dangerous. Not to mention that the destination, however exotic it may be, has no reason to be on the calendar that we know…