Qatar Grand Prix – Lewis Hamilton unchallenged

On Saturday, Lewis Hamilton totally dominated the qualifying session by outpacing his title rival, Max Verstappen, by 5 tenths. A huge gap that was not a good omen for the Dutchman as his Red Bull seems far inferior since Brazil.

In addition to a relatively disappointing level of performance, Verstappen made a stupid mistake in a title fight context: he did not respect the double yellow flags at the end of the session caused by Pierre Gasly’s puncture. A violation of the rules that cost him a 5-place penalty. The championship leader would therefore have to start in the middle of the pack in 7th position.

The departure

While we were expecting Valtteri Bottas to be an obstacle in Max Verstappen’s comeback, the Dutchman overtook the Finn right at the start. At the first turn, he also passed Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris to reach 4th place.

In the 4th lap of the race, he took advantage of a small mistake by Pierre Gasly at the exit of the last turn to overtake the Frenchman. One lap later, he got rid of Fernando Alonso’s Alpine to be behind his rival, Lewis Hamilton, in 2nd place.

The feedback from the lieutenants

Despite a very poor starting grid position, Valtteri Bottas made a very good comeback after the 9th lap of the race, following an intervention by Toto Wolff on the driver number 77’s radio asking him to increase his pace. The Finn made several overtakes on Yuki Tsunoda, Lance Stroll, Carlos Sainz, and Esteban Ocon to climb up to 6th place.

In the next door garage, Sergio Perez was also showing that he knew how to overtake. Many overtakes since the beginning of the Grand Prix demonstrated the Mexican’s experience in the midfield. Starting 11th on the grid, Perez was 4th after just one third of the race.

The second drivers at Mercedes and Red Bull are delivering great performances, giving their all to help their team in the battle for the constructor’s championship.

Disaster for Valtteri Bottas.

As often this season, Valtteri Bottas was unlucky. Having taken his medium tires for 35 laps, the Finn was on a one-stop strategy unlike his rivals. Unfortunately, this very long stint damaged his tires too much and on the 35th lap, his front left tire burst.

Forced to also change his front wing, Valtteri Bottas came out of the pits in 13th position.

At the end of the race, Mercedes finally decided to ask Bottas to retire in order to preserve the engine.

Second stop for the leaders

Valtteri Bottas’ puncture confirmed the choice of a two-stop strategy for the race leaders. Max Verstappen was the first driver to make a second pit stop by diving into the pits on the 45th lap of the race. The Red Bull driver was followed one lap later by Lewis Hamilton and his garage neighbour, Sergio Perez.

Unlike the Briton and the Dutchman, the Mexican stood out in the pack in 7th position. On the 47th lap, he overtook Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin for 6th place.

After a very good battle between Perez and Ocon for 5th position, the exchange between the two former Force India teammates finally turns in favor of Red Bull.

Punctures for both Williams cars!

On the 51st lap of the race, the front left of George Russell’s Williams explodes. 2 laps later, the same thing happened to his teammate Nicholas Latifi.

If Russell manages to finish the race, Latifi does not have that chance and must park on the side of the track.

Overwhelming victory for Lewis Hamilton

Throughout the entire Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton maintained an 8-second gap with Max Verstappen. The Briton was never worried by his Dutch rival. The Mercedes driver leaves Qatar with just an 8-point deficit to his nemesis.

The fight for the title has never been so close and the fact that there are only 2 races left before the conclusion of this exciting season.

Podium for Fernando Alonso

Starting 3rd on the grid, Fernando Alonso had a superb race and returned to the podium. The first time the Spaniard has finished in the top three since 2014.

A great race for Alpine, as they place their cars 3rd and 5th, while no AlphaTauri finished in the Top 10. A perfect operation for the French team.