Photo credits: Red Bull Racing
Formula 1 is back on track at Losail International circuit this weekend, for what is set to be the Grand Prix that crowns Max Verstappen world champion for the third consecutive time.
Only a three points lead on his teammate Sergio Perez are separating him from the title, points he could secure even on Saturday’s Sprint race.
After this morning’s first free practice session – in which Verstappen led followed by the two Ferraris – drivers are now ready to battle for the best spot on Sunday’s starting grid.
So let’s take a look at how things played out in a rather sandy Doha.
Q1
First timed lap is Verstappen’s who opens a tight line of times that see Leclerc, Alonso and the two Alpines alternate in second place.
The track appears tricky as the first attempts are deleted for both Lance Stroll and Lando Norris for infringing track limits, while the Mercedeses are out on medium tyres for a first brief outing.
Late comers but rather fast as it’s P2 for George Russell and P3 for Lewis Hamilton, leaving Alonso behind.
If things look difficult for Stroll struggling on the elimination zone, the McLarens debut with quite a good pace with Norris taking the top spot and Piastri in fourth ahead of Carlos Sainz.
Alex Albon brushes track limits to make the most of his Williams and puts himself just out of the drop zone, leaving his teammate Logan Sargeant out. Instead it’s P10 for Nico Hulkenberg, while Fernando Alonso closes the session overtaken on track by Leclerc.
Out in Q1: Sargeant, Stroll, Lawson, Magnussen and Zhou.
Q2
The session starts with the stewards announcing an investigation – for infringing maximum laptime directions – that will be evaluated at the end of the session for Piastri, Tsunoda, Lawson and Hamilton.
This time around it’s Oscar Piastri’s McLaren opening the leaderboad, only to be beaten by Leclerc first and Gasly right after.
The top spot is quickly taken by Verstappen, while Ocon gets his first attempt deleted for going over track limits and the Mercedeses take second and third ahead of Pierre Gasly.
A difficult first sector for Ferrari, as both drivers struggle with oversteering, with Leclerc ending up in the run off, meanwhile Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri sprint up to first and second.
Verstappen overtakes Carlos Sainz who is trying to make it into the last round of qualifying, a P9 for the Spaniard that is soon pushed back into P12.
It’s Lewis Hamilton appearing at the top taking P1 from Max, while it’s his former teammate Valtteri Bottas to make the cut last minute, kicking Tsunoda out of the top 10. Sergio Perez had just made it to tenth, but his lap time was deleted Perez for exceeding track limits out of Turn 5.
Out in Q2: Tsunoda, Sainz, Perez, Albon, Hulkenberg
Q3
Last runs of qualifying start with Leclerc and Norris going over track limits, as Verstappen immediately puts his Red Bull in provisional pole with a 1m23.778s lap, with Hamilton quite close behind.
Oversteering is looking worse for Ferrari as Leclerc struggles to go fifth, a whole different story for Red Bull, as Max Verstappen doesn’t go for a final run after aborting his last try for going off the limits. It’s pole position for the Dutchman.
Same faith for Lewis Hamilton, but more costly as he loses P2 and ends up down in fifth. Even worse closing lap for Lando Norris who has time deleted and leaves second place to George Russell as he drops back into P10.
At the end of the session Piastri’s time is also cancelled, yet again for exceeding track limits and he leaves P3 to Lewis Hamilton.
