Verstappen Wins Manic Qatar Grand Prix
In a Race that was incredibly unpredictable, the one man who kept calm more than anyone else was Max Verstappen as the Dutchman took his first victory in the dry since June! Charles Leclerc picked up a much-needed P2 for Ferrari whilst Oscar Piastri rounded out the Podium after an awful lot of controversy!
The Biggest Talking Points
This could be a long one! For the second straight day, George Russell didn’t get a particularly good start as he was passed by both Max Verstappen and Lando Norris! A Safety Car was then brought out pretty quickly as both Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto were out in Turn 1 in an incident that also involved Nico Hulkenberg! I think everyone was a bit unlucky here, particularly Franco, and yeah, another accident for Williams to repair! There was also another incident involving a Williams as Alex Albon and Lance Stroll came together, and this ultimately resulted in a 10-second penalty for Lance (who quickly retired afterwards)! When the Race got back underway, not much really happened, it was honestly a bit dull besides the fighting for the lower places (and an incident between Valtteri Bottas and Liam Lawson)! I mean, the only real talking point was things were not going well at all for George Russell as a really slow stop put him in an awful lot of traffic which he just couldn’t clear!
However, everything changed when Alex Albon’s wing mirror fell off on the Start/Finish straight. Honestly, this should’ve been a Virtual/Full Safety Car straight away, it was so obvious, but no, the FIA wasn’t having any of it! Things then got worse as Valtteri Bottas completely ran over it which caused even more debris on the track, giving both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz punctures! Finally, finally, a Safety Car was deployed, but this just shafted over Oscar Piastri who’d pit the lap before! When the Race got back underway again, heartbreak ensued for Sergio Perez who had a mechanical fault from P5 (poor bloke) before Max Verstappen and Lando Norris got awfully close to touching into Turn 1! On the same lap, another Safety Car was deployed as Nico Hulkenberg spun himself into the gravel trap (and out of the Race) in what was a pretty poor day for the German!
On the next restart, things got even crazier as Lando Norris was hit with a 10-second/Stop Go penalty for failing to lift under Yellow flags! Firstly, it’s definitely a penalty, no one can say otherwise because it is a form of dangerous driving! However, it should’ve been a 10-second penalty, simple as that, but to get a penalty that’s equivalent of 35 seconds is absolute madness! Genuinely, this was wrong! However, that wasn’t the only penalty that was handed out as Lewis Hamilton was given a Drive Through penalty for speeding in the Pitlane (what a shocking day for Lewis), Alex Albon was given a 10-second penalty for forcing Kevin Magnussen off the track, and George Russell was given a 5-second penalty for a Safety Car infringement! Pierre Gasly was also doing a terrific job to keep Carlos Sainz at bay whilst Kick Sauber were finally running in the points, with Zhou Guanyu scoring a special P8 whilst Valtteri Bottas was sadly passed late on by the charging Norris!
The Standout Drives in the Race
I’ve given out three 10’s for the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix and the first one is obviously for Max Verstappen! Given how the Sprint went yesterday, no one expected Max to stay at the front, but that’s exactly what he did as the 4-time World Champion controlled the Race to take his 9th victory of the season! The second driver I’ve given out maximum points to is Pierre Gasly, and my oh my is Pierre on it right now! P5 and another 10 points for Alpine, mega! And the final driver I’ve given a Perfect 10 to is Zhou Guanyu and all I can say is well done Zhou! In what has been a pretty atrocious year for both Zhou and Kick Sauber, this is a moment they can cherish for an awfully long time! Charles Leclerc also deserves a lot of praise for making his way onto the Podium, Fernando Alonso did a terrific job to score 6 points for Aston Martin, and Kevin Magnussen did well to score points for Haas given he lost out with all of the Safety Cars!
Drivers Who Had a Shocker
In total, I’ve given out two 1’s for this Race, and the first one is for Nico Hulkenberg! Whilst Nico technically caused the Lap 1 incident with Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto, I think it was the right call to not give out a penalty! However, Hulkenberg’s pace was still pretty disappointing, and then he lost the car all on his own so I can’t give him anything else honestly! The other driver I’ve given the lowest possible grade to is Lance Stroll and that’s simply because his Race was a mess. Lance had an incident with Alex Albon on the opening lap, and even though I think the penalty was harsh, it still ruined his Race, and he retired early on in a day where points were possible! I also thought Lewis Hamilton had a bit of a disastrous day, even though I’ll cut him a little bit of slack for the unfortunate puncture whilst both Liam Lawson and Alex Albon were pretty disappointing (they also got penalties too)!
Overall Race Results and My Ratings
Max Verstappen: 10
Charles Leclerc: 9
Oscar Piastri: 8
George Russell: 7
Pierre Gasly: 10
Carlos Sainz: 7
Fernando Alonso: 9
Zhou Guanyu: 10
Kevin Magnussen: 9
Lando Norris: 7
Valtteri Bottas: 8
Lewis Hamilton: 2
Yuki Tsunoda: 3
Liam Lawson: 2
Alex Albon: 2
Nico Hulkenberg: 1 (DNF)
Sergio Perez: 7 (DNF)
Lance Stroll: 1 (DNF)
Franco Colapinto: - (DNF)
Esteban Ocon: - (DNF)
Credit: The New York Times
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