Qatar: The Rundown

Free Practice...

FP1:

The race weekend began with Free Practice 1. This first session was purely exploratory for the drivers and teams, as everyone was still learning the track. The teams also weren’t able to get a spot on reading of how their cars will perform during Quali and the race during this session because the conditions weren’t at all similar to how they would be during those sessions. FP2, Qualifying and the Race would all be held at night, whereas this session was in the warm afternoon with the sun beating down on the track and an air temperature of 28 degrees Celsius.

The three hardest compound tyres were in use this weekend but they were still expected to take a beating throughout the weekend, especially the front left, due to the track temperatures and high speed corners.

When the pit lane opened, the first drivers out were Raikkonen, Schumacher, Mazepin and Ricciardo. Many drivers opted to start the session on the medium tyre. Most drivers would later switch to the soft tyre to make sure they don’t use up their entire allocation of medium and hard tyres, as these were the tyres predicted to be best for the race.

Most of the grid had made their way out onto the track before the session had even been going for two minutes. Daniel Ricciardo was one of the first to set a lap time. “This is fun,” he remarked, his time reflecting just how much fun he was having. He had set the fastest time so far, but we were only 5 minutes into the session. Raikkonen would take that top spot from Ricciardo only a minute later, but the Red Bull’s and Mercedes cars were yet to do a flying lap.

Mazepin went very wide at Turn 4, towards the start of the session. Track limits were still being determined during this session, so his time remained but this was one of the corners speculated to be monitored for the rest of the weekend, along with turns 12, 13, 14 and 16.

Verstappen didn’t set his first time until 8 minutes into the session, he pipped the top spot off of Bottas by more than 8 tenths of a second with a time of 1:26.829. The times were only expected to get faster throughout this session and the rest of the weekend. Ricciardo would soon take the top spot back from Verstappen by a little over 1 tenth, on the hard tyre.

10 minutes into the session, Gasly went fastest with a time of 1:26.233. Meanwhile, Hamilton complained that his car felt “massively down on power.” He was 3.34 seconds off of the leading time, something that doesn’t occur very often for the champion. At this stage, every car was out on track, so he could have also been experiencing a little bit of traffic during his laps.

While Hamilton appeared to be experiencing issues with his car, his championship rival, Verstappen, was busy taking back the top position from Gasly by over half a second. Ricciardo was consistently putting in lap times good enough for the top three, but it was still early in the session and the top spot was soon taken by Norris with a 1:25.215, Bottas only just behind him.

With 45 minutes left in the session, Max set a time of 1:24.998 on a set of hard tyres that were 7 laps old. The medium and hard tyres were holding up better than previously expected.

The drivers were very much exploring the track to see where they would be able to find time in qualifying, but Hamilton seemed to take an off-road approach and ran wide at Turn 5, nearly taking out the 150m braking point board. That move certainly wasn’t going to improve his times.

Between 36 and 28 minutes to go, the action cooled off a bit as the drivers would require a quick break from the heat and time to review the data before heading back out. During this time, only four cars were on track. While Ocon, Alonso, Latifi and Gasly wanted to maximise their time on track, Hamilton and Bottas were having adjustments made to their cars.

When cars finally started to make their way back out, the soft tyre appeared to be the tyre of choice for most. Vettel went fourth fastest on a set of soft tyres. He was less than half a second from Max’s lead time. While one Aston Martin was exceeding expectations, the other was experiencing a hydraulics system failure. Stroll was able to bring his car back into the pitlane safely but that was the session over for him.

With 24 minutes to go, Bottas went fastest with Tsunoda sitting just behind him in P2, surprisingly. Tsunoda was having a phenomenal session, keeping up with his teammate Gasly’s pace, as well as the Mercedes and Red Bulls.

Turn 5, where Hamilton had gone wide earlier in the session, also caught out Sainz and Giovinazzi. This session proved that it would take a lot of work and practice to keep the cars within the track limits, because this track was designed mainly for motorbike use.

With 18 minutes to go, Norris appeared to pick up damage at Turn 15, as a result of going too wide over the curb. Andreas Seidl, McLaren team principal, later confirmed that the bump underneath the car had triggered one of the sensors. The McLaren team worked hard to resolve the issue and Norris was back out on track with 6 and half minutes to go.

Whilst McLaren were fixing Norris’ car, Mercedes had to call Hamilton into the pits for an unexplained “car issue”. They appeared to be fixing his front wing for the second time this session. He would return to the track with 3 minutes to go, just enough time for one more flying lap.

Vettel complained about something flying around loose between his feet. This is an issue that he seems to be cursed by, as he’s had to make similar complaints before, not only in the Aston Martin but also when he was with Ferrari. While Kimi always seems to have issues with his drinking system, Seb has issues with things coming loose at his feet.

The final bit of action for the session was Schumacher causing a yellow flag in Sector 2 for locking up and ending up in the gravel (that was actually more like pebbles).

Some stand out performances of this session came from the Alpha Tauri drivers. Gasly has been towards the top of the grid all season, and continued his form during this session. A big surprise came from Yuki Tsuonda though, who has struggled to match the pace of his teammate in the past, but appeared to be having the time of his life during this session.

The final order of the session was VER, GAS, BOT, HAM, TSU, SAI, LEC, PER, OCO, NOR, RIC, VET, LAT, GIO, RAI, RUS, ALO, MSC, STR, MAZ.

FP2:

The sun had set in Qatar but the action was far from over. The lights were on and Free Practice 2 was underway; the first night session of the weekend. This was the only practice session where the drivers would experience the track as it would be for quali and the race. The decision had also been made that track limits would be defined by the purple and white curbs, rather than the white lines as in previous weeks, to allow the drivers extra margin as the circuit is designed mostly for motorbike use.

Prior to FP2 we had a new installment in the Red Bull vs Mercedes saga. It was announced that the FIA had denied Mercedes’ request for a review of the Turn 4 incident between Hamilton and Verstappen in Brazil. There had also been rumours flying around that Red Bull would be considering a protest in regards to the legality of Mercedes cars. We could only expect more drama throughout the weekend and over the last few races.

The drivers were all quick to leave the garages, wanting to maximise their time on track in the only night time practice session. The only driver who we would not be seeing during this session was Mazepin. Before the session, it was announced that his car required a complete chassis change due to damage being sustained in the first session. Haas decided to change the chassis back to an older one that had been used in previous races this year.

The first drivers out were the two Finns of the grid, Raikkonen and Bottas. Before the first driver had even set a time, a traffic jam began to occur before the final turn, to nobody’s surprise as this has become a consistent issue this year.

Watching the first few drivers go around, it became apparent that there was a glare on the track from the floodlights, due to the track being so smooth. If the drivers hadn’t already considered using a filtered visor, they certainly would after their first few laps.

On Bottas’ first flying lap, he was blocked by his teammate Hamilton, who was on an out lap. Bottas was forced to go wide and his lap was compromised. Verstappen didn’t set his first time until 9 minutes into the session. He went top of the table but Tsunoda, who shone in the first practice session, took that spot from him almost immediately with a time of 1:24.233; both cars were on the medium tyre.

Not long after the 10 minute mark, Norris’ race engineer failed to communicate that Latifi was on a flying lap and quickly approaching Norris. As a result he didn’t get out of the way as fast as he should’ve. Latifi wasn’t too impressed but the replays showed that Norris didn’t impede Latifi as much as originally thought. Norris was quick to let his engineer know that he wasn’t happy with their lack of communication.

With 46 minutes to go, Hamilton went fastest with a time of 1:23.604 but his teammate, Bottas, took the spot from him; he was 2 tenths faster. At about the same time, Perez had decided to switch his helmet to one with a clear visor, wanting to test out which visor would be the better option for qualifying and the race.

18 minutes into the session, the only cars left out on track were of the Alfa Romeo team. This wouldn’t be the case for long, as only a minute later Giovinazzi pitted to have the floor of his car checked after going over one of the white curbs that were proving to be an issue. Another car that required work was Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.

When the drivers were finally back out on track, Gasly nearly put his car into the gravel (that was actually a closer aggregate to small pebbles) but was able to save it from doing so.

Halfway through the session, Red Bull were working on the rear wing of Verstappen’s car after footage showed it was flapping about too much when using DRS. The car was still within FIA regulations but having a rear wing that flaps too much when DRS is in use won’t be beneficial.

While Verstappen was waiting for his car to be ready to go back out, Norris was busy getting his car into third place. His time was only 3 tenths down from the leader, Bottas.

With 27 minutes to go, Perez was forced to back out of a fast lap due to bad traffic. Despite how long the track is, traffic was an issue for a few drivers during this session. The narrowness of the track also wasn’t doing the drivers any favours. Even if a slow moving car were to move out of the way of a driver who is going faster behind them, it was unlikely that they would be able to move out of the way enough to not disturb them, without going off track and making their next lap time not count. Vettel was also interrupted by traffic a few times and Alonso also complained later in the session.

The rest of the session was fairly straight-forward and drama-free. Verstappen was only able to get his car fast enough to go third fastest, he was 3 tenths down on P1, Bottas. Hamilton did almost put his car into the gravel trap, but like Gasly earlier, he was able to stop it from doing so.

The Alpha Tauri drivers were, once again, the stand out drivers of the session, particularly Yuki Tsunoda. He was on a roll on Friday. I’d also like to put forward another name who shone throughout this session: Lance Stroll. He went mostly unmentioned throughout the session, with the damage to Ferrari and Alfa Romeo, and the Red Bull rear-wing drama taking centre stage, but he managed to put his Aston Martin into sixth place. He was very much a silent achiever during this session.

The final order was BOT, GAS, VER, HAM, NOR, STR, TSU, PER, VET, SAI, OCO, ALO, LEC, RIC, RAI, RUS, GIO, LAT, MSC, MAZ.

FP3:

The first Saturday session, and the final practice session, was underway with the first drivers out being the Haas’ of Schumacher and Mazepin. The issues came immediately for Mazepin when his car appeared to have an electronics system issue and he was forced to stop at the pit exit. Due to the location of the car, the session was red flagged so the Haas’ mechanics could safely push the car back to the garage. Mazepin was out of the session and would be going into qualifying having only completed 16 practice laps.

During the red flag, Red Bull worked on the rear wing of both cars, apparently still having not fixed the issue from the previous sessions.

The red flag was quick and the session resumed after about 4 minutes. The first car out was the Haas of Schumacher; he was alone on the track until 8 minutes in when Ocon joined him, though he abandoned his first flying lap by diving into the pits instead. When the session hit the 10 minute mark, only those two drivers had been on track. It may have still been too warm for the drivers to spend too much time out of the garage. The teams would also want to spend as little time on track during this session as possible to reduce the risk of something happening to the car before qualifying later in the day.

11 minutes in, Norris joined Ocon on track. The McLaren driver's first time was 8 tenths off of Ocon’s 1:24.864. Other drivers had begun making their way out by the time Norris had set his time but it wasn’t until 15 minutes into the session when the Mercedes drivers joined the track. Bottas’ first time was 1:24.019 but Hamilton beat it by 7 hundredths of a second straight after it was set.

Raikkonen was sitting in 4th place after 20 minutes, 1.432 off of Hamilton, but there were many faster cars who were yet to set a lap time such as the Red Bulls. Perez’s first fast lap was compromised when understeer forced his car wide. His time was still fast enough for 4th place, about 6 tenths off of Hamilton. Perez was pitted after this lap to have the front wing/nose of his car changed.

22 minutes in, Alonso takes the top spot off of Hamilton with a time of 1:23.904. Around the same time, Gasly lost the rear of his car, seemingly with no cause, and spun. He was able to return to the track safely. Gasly’s first lap time was fast enough for 4th, only 6 tenths off of Bottas, who was now in the lead.

Hamilton would take the top spot from his teammate, 27 minutes into the session. His time was 1:23.152. As Hamilton was finishing his lap, Verstappen was starting his first flying lap. He went purple in the first sector, green in the second sector, and yellow in the third sector. His time of 1:23.121 put him ahead of Hamilton.

Sainz went third, halfway through the session. He was 0.238s off of Verstappen’s first place time. Leclerc went fifth just after him, about 2 tenths off of his teammate. Latifi went tenth fastest with 28 minutes to go, his time was 1.378 seconds off of Verstappen.

Hamilton retook P1 with 26 minutes to go, but Bottas stole that position off of him by 8 hundredths not long after with a time of 1:22.573. Both cars went back to the garage after setting these times.

With 18 minutes to go, Verstappen was back in the garage and his team were, once again, working on that rear wing. It was crucial that they fixed any problems before qualifying because they would not be allowed to do anything to the car after qualifying because the car would be under parc ferme conditions.

With 17 minutes to go, Bottas and Ricciardo rejoined the track, after being in the garage. Norris abandoned his flying lap after understeer caused him to go wide on the exit of Turn 15. Sainz also went wide at 15 just after his former teammate and asked his team to check the floor of the car for damage.

In the final stages of the session, Leclerc veered off at Turn 3 and caused a yellow flag. He was able to rejoin the track though, and the yellow flag cleared. Hamilton pitted for a new nose with 8 minutes to go, and in the final bit of action for the session Schumacher caused a yellow flag in Sector 3 after oversteer caused him to spin.

The final order of the session was BOT, HAM, VER, GAS, PER, SAI, ALO, OCO, LEC, TSU, RIC, VET, NOR, RUS, STR, RAI, GIO, LAT, MSC, MAZ.

Qualifying...

Traffic was a predicted issue heading into qualifying. Viewed as a track with limited overtaking opportunities, the circuit isn’t the widest, meaning when 20 cars were in session traffic may cause problems.

FP2 was the most representative of qualifying conditions, as the daylight faded and the flood lights came on.

Q1:

The backmarkers were the first to set their laps, unsurprisingly on the softs, but their runs were not without incident. Having damaged his chassis earlier in the week and consequently missing out on FP2, Mazepin accumulated more damage as his front wing dragged along the track and sparked. The Haas driver managed to return to his garage for a front wing change, but his start to qualifying only added to his rough weekend- disappointing considering only he and Sergio Perez had raced at this track before.

As the midfield teams emerged, initial runs had Ferrari at the top of the timesheets, followed by Vettel, Gasly and Stroll. With a time one tenth ahead, Perez assumed the top spot as his Red Bull teammate and the Mercedes flew round the track for their first runs. Hamilton would be the first to cross the line out of the three, and Verstappen was setting his lap roughly 4 seconds behind. The Brit started strongly, putting in a purple first and second sector which cemented his place at the top of the timesheets, Norris previously having been P1. Max’s lap landed the Dutchman 0.215 seconds behind his rival, with Bottas making up the traditional top three.

The midfield teams were firmly locked in battle flying into Qatar: Ferrari and McLaren trying to get the upper hand on the other, whilst Alpine and Alpha Tauri were even closer in the standings. With a new track to contend with, opportunities were perhaps slightly wider open, and Alonso slipped into P3 with Gasly behind in P4.

On the soft tyres, Bottas finished his second run with the fastest sector one to put him top of the board with a 1:22.016. It wasn’t long before Verstappen and Red Bull bit back and going fastest in sector two, the championship leader set a 1:21.996. This created a magnificent 0.023 second gap between the top three drivers in the championship.

At the slightly riskier end of the timesheets, Leclerc and Norris had times deleted for pushing track limits at Turn 16. The Ferrari driver would have more pressure to make Q2 in a very uncomfortable P15, but Norris sat in P8 with only one minute before the session’s end. As expected there was traffic as every driver attempted to complete a final lap. Charles Leclerc improved to P10, and Lance Stroll leapt from the elimination zone to P8. In what Andreas Seidl described as “A bit messy”, Norris almost collided with Alonso as he tried to sneak past the Alpine to ensure he could begin another lap.

The top ten consisted of both Mercedes, Red Bull, Alpha Tauri and Aston Martin cars, with Sainz in P4 and Alonso in P6. McLaren were notably absent- having a weaker end to the season at a time where they desperately needed a rebirth in the fight for P3.

Eliminated were Raikkonen, Latifi, Giovinazzi, Schumacher, and Mazepin, with Russell just making it through to the next stage in P15.

Q2:

It’s become the norm for George Russell to move into Q2 in his Williams car, and the Brit was the first to set a time- a 1:22.925, quite a few tenths slower than the fastest in Q1. Along with the Alpha Tauri team (who unusually had sent Gasly out on mediums for Q1), he sported the soft tyre, whilst the others opted for the medium tyre.

The McLarens didn’t look particularly strong in Qatar, and Ricciardo went 0.062 seconds slower than George, but as the laps came pouring in, Norris went quickest before his old teammate turned Ferrari rival went quicker. However it was still Mercedes dominating the field as Hamilton set a lap 0.559 seconds ahead of Sainz. Gasly in his Alpha Tauri continued to look strong (on those softs) in P2, with Verstappen and Bottas eyeing them up. Verstappen’s teammate Perez meanwhile was only in P8.

Having decided to wait in the first part of the session, Alpine and Aston Martin eventually released their drivers onto the track with the soft compound booted on. The Alpines snatched P6 and P7, and after everybody had finished a run the drivers in trouble were Norris, Perez, Russell, Ricciardo and Leclerc. This would be a big worry for Red Bull, and a concern for McLaren if they wanted to chase down Ferrari, regardless of a struggling Leclerc- who sounded not confident at all on the radio. With reaching Q3 clearly a priority, all 5 cars came back out for their last chance on the soft tyre.

Fortunately, Norris and Leclerc improved, and whilst Lando managed P8, the Ferrari driver could only scrape P11, and his teammate Sainz would fall into P9. Ricciardo also fell at Q2 into P13 despite improvement. Perez would also improve, but even on the red-walled tyre could only grasp P11. Whilst Ferrari and McLaren would arguably be level-pegging, Perez’s elimination would immediately mean advantage Mercedes.

Hamilton would once again top the session, with Verstappen and Bottas a little way back in P4 and P5.

Q3:

Norris, Tsunoda, Vettel and Ocon all exited the pit lane on used soft tyres, whilst Alonso (who finished a eyebrow-raising P3 in Q2) chose to wait it out. When he too made an appearance, it was on a fresh set of softs. After the initial runs, the four on used softs were at the back of the pack.

Focusing on the battle up the front, the traditional three were trading fastest sector times. With clean air, Hamilton was the first car to set a lap time, going purple in sector one, before this was taken by Bottas, and then Verstappen. Hamilton would then go purple in sector two, and his end time would be a 1:21.262. Bottas landed in P2 and 0.216 seconds back, before being jumped by Verstappen who was 0.162 back on Hamilton.

After every car had returned to the pits and prepared for their second and final run, it was Hamilton again who was out front, whilst Max Verstappen was later in the queue- last, in fact. Clearly favouring the clean air, the champion in his Mercedes car went faster again in the first two sectors, improving his time in P1 to 1:20.827, a great 0.455 seconds quicker than Verstappen!

The session was then disrupted by another incident with the curbs. The yellow flag was waved in sector 3 after Pierre Gasly had run far too wide for his car’s liking, ripping off his front wing and puncturing a tyre in the process. The Frenchman came to a stop on the start / finish straight- causing more controversy (as if we hadn’t had enough this season!)

The Saturday grid finished as follows: Hamilton, Verstappen, Bottas, Gasly, Alonso, Norris, Sainz, Tsunoda, Ocon and Vettel. Norris was speedy enough in the first two sectors to improve to P6, even though he lifted off down the start / finish straight due to Gasly’s car. However, other drivers went on to be investigated.

The Race...

The sun was set and the lights were on, the fans had packed the grandstand and were all waiting for the 3rd last race of the year to begin. It was only about two hours before the race when drama ensued. What a shock?!

Did you sense my sarcasm in that statement?

Verstappen and Bottas were both handed grid penalties just prior to the broadcast beginning. Verstappen received a 5 place grid drop for ignoring double-waved yellows in the qualifying incident involving Gasly. Bottas got a 3 place grid drop for ignoring a single waved yellow flag for the same incident. Sainz had also been called to the stewards but was reprimanded as Ferrari presented evidence that he had arrived on the scene just as the flags began waving and were able to prove that he did slow down before crossing the finish line, which was only a few metres after the spot where Gasly had parked up.

The Verstappen penalty split opinions amongst commentators and spectators. A single Marshall was seen waving the flags but there was no other signs to tell Verstappen that the area was under yellow flag conditions; DRA had been reenabled (it is usually disabled during yellow flags), there was a green light in the pit lane that caused confusion, and Red Bull claim they were given the all clear. Red Bull principal, Christian Horner certainly had some choice words about the situation.

There was some confusion about the starting grid that lasted right up to when the drivers had begun to make their way to the grid. The confusion mostly came from whether Bottas would be starting 5th or 6th. He was meant to be startin P6 but the Mercedes mechanics had set up on the P5 grid spot. Sainz was meant to be P5. The lineup was eventually confirmed by the FIA and Mercedes had to move all of their equipment one grid spot behind.

Pitstop and tyre strategy were going to be crucial in the race, particularly because the tyres were expected to degrade quite easily. Pirelli recommended a two stop strategy for all drivers, no matter which tyre they were starting on.

The lights finally went out on the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix and Hamilton had a fantastic start from the front of the grid. The only pressure he had came from Alonso, just behind him. Despite the pressure, Hamilton kept track position going into turn one and started to separate himself from the rest of the pack, who were stuck behind Gasly.

Verstappen, who started in 7th, had moved up to fourth before even getting to turn 3. He would’ve been wanting to get on Hamilton’t tail as quickly as possible to make sure he wouldn’t get too far in front that the chance of winning was out of reach. By the time Lap 3 was coming to an end, Gasly - who was now in third - was told that his race was not with Verstappen. Gasly then went wide on the exit of turn 16, gifting Verstappen an overtake on the main straight. The very next lap, Verstappen was able to overtake Alonso in the same spot to reach P2, a position he would stay in for the remainder of the race.

While Verstappen was making moves at the front of the grid, Perez was picking off the midfield. He started 11th and by lap 9, he was 6th. While Hamilton was storming away at the front, Bottas - who had a terrible position and lost places, putting him outside of the points - wasn’t able to make his first overtake until lap 9, moving him from 11th to 10th.

When lap 16 came around, Perez overtook Norris on the main straight, with DRS, to take 4th place. Norris was on soft tyres that were 16 laps old and would need to be changed very soon. Perez was on the medium tyre.

It appeared to take Bottas a while to really get into the race but by lap 17, he moved up into 6th place.

Lap 29 brought us an epic battle between Alonso and Perez. Alonso did not want to give up his podium position, as it would be his first in 7 years. Perez also needed to get his car as high into the points as possible to help Red Bull in the constructors championship. Going into turn 1, Perez tried to go around the outside of Alonso, but the Spaniard defended brilliantly. Perez was then in the best position to overtake into turn 2, and despite Alonso’s efforts, Perez made the move stick and was now running in a podium position.

Four laps later, Bottas had moved up to third place, He was still on his first stint, with medium tyres. As previously mentioned, Pirelli had recommended these tyres only be used for 31 laps, so they had already passed their suggested life. His front left tyre suddenly blew and he went into the gravel in sector 2. He was able to return to the track but was chucking stones all across the surface. He had to slowly get his car around half of the track to get back to the pits. Sparks flew into the faces of drivers who were able to catch up to him and overtake him. Bottas would end up 13th by the end of his pitstop.

Red Bull brought Perez in for his second pitstop on lap 42, putting him to the back of the points positions. By lap 46, he was on the tail of Stroll. Ocon was just ahead of the Canadian, Alonso got on to the radio to tell his team to tell Ocon to “defend like a lion.” Alonso was expecting a return of favour for what he did for Esteban in Hungary. Ocon did the best he could but Perez had DRS down the main straight and overtook him on lap 47. Ocon went back at Perez over the next few turns though, not wanting to give up the position too easily.

With 10 laps to go, the grid was HAM, VER, ALO, NOR, PER, OCO, STR, SAI, LEC, VET, GAS (who wasn’t able to really do much following his pitstop), BOT, RIC, TSU, RUS, RAI, LAT, GIO, MSC, MAZ (who was over a full minute behind his teammate.) The order wouldn’t stay like this for long though as chaos would ensue over the next few laps.

On lap 49, Norris pitted after he and his team noticed a decrease in tyre pressure due to a small puncture in the front left tyre. He was on the hard tyre and attempting a one stop race, despite the advice of Pirelli. To avoid an incident like Bottas’, Norris changed his tyres to the medium compound and dropped to 9th place.

On lap 51, George Russell had a puncture on his front left tyre but he wasn’t able to catch it before his tyre completely blew. He was also on the hard tyre and attempting a one stop race. He was able to make it back to the pits for a change of tyres. On this same lap, Bottas was back in the pits and retiring from the race.

On lap 52, the other Williams of Latifi had a front left puncture that completely delaminated the tyre. Much like Norris and Russell, he was on the hard compound tyre and attempting a one stop race. He has only just begun the lap and if he wanted to finish the race he would’ve had to have completed a whole lap with only 3 tyres and possibly cause damage to other parts of the car. He found a space to retire his car instead. A virtual safety car was then deployed to slow the drivers down enough for the Marshals to safely load the car onto the tow truck. During the VSC, Verstappen had enough of a lead from Alonso that he could pit for soft tyres without losing his track position. He was going to try and steal the fastest lap point away from Hamilton.

Following all of these cars getting punctures, teams started telling their drivers to be cautious of their front left tyre to avoid any issues that could prevent them from finishing the race.

When the chequered flag was waved. Hamilton came home for back-to-back wins, Verstappen P2 and Alonso scored his first podium in 7 years. The rest of the grid was Perez, Ocon, Stroll, Sainz, Leclerc, Norris, Vettel, Gasly, Ricciardo, Tsunoda, Raikkonen, Giovinazzi, Schumacher, Russell and Mazepine. Latifi and Bottas both did not finish. Verstappen ended up getting the fastest lap point and Alonso was voted driver of the day by the viewers.

Verstappen hangs on to the lead of the drivers championship, only 8 points separate him and Hamilton. Mercedes were able to keep their constructors championship lead and only 5 points separate them from Red Bull. You’ll definitely want to tune in to the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, because there is a chance that the title could be won by Verstappen.