Qatar Grand Prix – Qualifying: Lewis Hamilton in great shape!

For the first time in its history, Qatar is hosting a Formula 1 Grand Prix. This first race made predicting which car was the fastest very tedious.

Q1:

From the first qualifying session, the gaps between the top performers of this 2021 season were very close. After their first attempts, only 3 milliseconds separated the two leading Mercedes cars, and Verstappen was only 2 tenths behind.

The midfield was also very hard to read with Alpine, Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin and AlphaTauri all relatively in the same times.

Lewis Hamilton is finally the fastest in Q1 with a 1’21’901, one-tenth faster than Max Verstappen.

Once again this year, both Haas and Alfa Romeo failed to make it to Q2. Fortunately for these two teams, we are reaching the end of what has been a 2021 season poor in points and good results.

List of eliminated drivers in Q1: Nikita Mazepin (20th), Mick Schumacher (19th), Antonio Giovinazzi (18th), Nicholas Latifi (17th), Kimi Räikkönen (16th)

Q2:

Lewis Hamilton started very strongly in this second part of qualifying with a 1’21’6. A lap three tenths faster than his reference in Q1, despite being done with the medium tires and not soft this time.

On Friday, Pierre Gasly had impressed by placing his AlphaTauri in second place twice. The Normandy native repeated this feat in Q2. The French driver was three tenths off the fastest lap.

Struggling since the beginning of the weekend with the track limits, Charles Leclerc was suffering a lot with his Ferrari in the second part of qualifying. Only 15th with 5 minutes remaining in the session, the Monegasque was distraught on the radio, not knowing how to go faster. Even when switching to soft tires, Leclerc couldn’t make it into the Top 10.

Huge disappointment also for Sergio Perez who does not join his teammate in Q3. Even before the Grand Prix tomorrow, Red Bull is already off to a bad start with a second driver who will be absent to protect their leader at the start.

List of eliminated drivers in Q2: George Russell (15th), Daniel Ricciardo (14th), Charles Leclerc (13th), Lance Stroll (12th), Sergio Perez (11th)

Q3:

After their first attempt in Q3, it was Lewis Hamilton who held the provisional pole position with a time of 1’21’262. Just under two tenths faster than his main title rival, Max Verstappen.

While we expected the Dutchman to get closer, the gap finally increased after the last attempts. The fault lies with a masterful Lewis Hamilton on the Losaul circuit who perfectly mastered his subject by setting a 1’20’807. A simply unbeatable time that allows him to finish this Saturday five tenths ahead of his rival’s Red Bull.

Good performance from Pierre Gasly who asserts himself as the best of the rest with a nice 4th place ahead of the two Alpines, Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari, and his teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

An excellent result not without incident for the AlphaTauri driver who, by touching the curb of turn 15 during his last attempt, broke his front wing and shredded his right front tire.