Max Verstappen led the one and only practice session for the 2023 Qatar GP, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez, in a session that proved very tricky for drivers and teams given the slippery and dusty nature of the Lusail International Circuit, with all drivers struggling to keep their cars on track at various points.
Photo Credits: Red Bull Content Pool
With just one practice session to prepare the drivers ahead of the all important qualifying session later on, most drivers headed out early on, despite the session starting in the afternoon, in very different conditions to those that will be seen in qualifying, sprint and race day. The track proved to be very dusty, with clouds of sand being thrown up as the cars went by.
Winner in Singapore, Carlos Sainz was told to “not push” early in the session, but the Ferrari team quickly addressed the problem which was related to a faulty sensor, with no major problems for the Spaniard.
Max Verstappen, who can be crowned a three-time F1 World champion on Sprint Saturday, reported over the radio that the surface around Lusail was “so slippery” due to the sand – and Sainz joked “his dad would go quick” in these conditions [ in reference to his father and rallying legend Carlos Sainz Snr].
Lando Norris went off the track and hit one of the brake marker boards with his front wing, but no damage done to his McLaren – which is expected to go well in the high-speed Qatari circuit.
With the slippery surface, even Max Verstappen in his all-conquering Red Bull was struggling to stay on track, also hitting one of the brake marker boards.
After the first quarter of the session, the order of the top 10 was: Russell, Alonso, Verstappen, Hamilton, Norris, Leclerc, Piastri, Perez, Bottas and Stroll – all on the hard tyres except Bottas, who was on mediums in his Alfa Romeo.
After a bit of a low of on-track action, Fernando Alonso went to the top of the times, but was quickly replaced by Max Verstappen and then by Charles Leclerc, who set a 1:29.082 to go quickest by nearly a quarter of a second from the reigning world champion, as the session passed one third of its duration.
The wind also played a part in the struggles of many drivers, with a cross wind down the main straight of over 34km/h.
Fernando Alonso continued to show impressive pace in his AMR23, setting a new benchmark of a 1:28.624 to go to the top of the timings, over four-and-a-half tenths clear of Leclerc.
With just half of the session remaining, the order of the top 10 was: Alonso, Leclerc, Verstappen, Russell, Norris, Ocon, Stroll, Sainz, Hamilton and Perez – all on the hard tyres still.
Interestingly, the bottom five drivers at this point coincided with the drivers that haven’t been to Lusail in F1 machinery before, with Alex Albon, Lawson, Sargeant, Zhou and Magnussen rounding out the field.
Carlos Sainz got his Ferrari up to second place on the medium tyres, just over four tenths behind Alonso.
Max Verstappen had a hairy moment on the exit of turn six, catching a massive snap of oversteer and almost spinning his RB19, and then almost going into the path of Nico Hulkenberg as he rejoined the circuit.
As the session hit its two-thirds mark, Oscar Piastri shot to the top of the timings, with a a lap of a 1:28.380 putting him a quarter of a second clear of Alonso. He was soon joined by his team-mate Lando Norris, who was just 0.061s slower than the Australian, both on the hard tyres.
The two Ferraris set their times on medium tyres, but could only manage fourth and fifth place against the hard tyre runners, four-and-a-half tenths back in the case of Leclerc, and nearly seven tenths in the case of Carlos Sainz – but a second try from the Monegasque got him to the top of the times, with a time of a 1:28.104 putting him nearly three tenths clear of Piastri. Sainz also managed to improve his time, but remained down in fifth and over seven tenths back from his team-mate, also on the mediums.
As the session reached its final 10 minutes, with the sun now completely setting and conditions similar to those that will be seen in qualifying, drivers started to head out onto the track on the soft compound tyres, with Alex Albon being the first to try a fast lap on the red-marked tyres – but a snap of oversteer ended his lap before it really got going.
The Thai driver suffered from the same fate on his next try, leaving him frustrated and putting his hands in the air, reporting over the radio he’s got “zero accommodation” with his car. His team-mate Logan Sargeant was able to complete a competitive lap on the soft tyres, which got him sixth fastest as the session reached its final eight minutes, just over one second off the pace.
Nico Hulkenberg jumped up to second place in his Haas, with his lap on soft tyres getting him just 0.06s behind Leclerc’s earlier benchmark. His team-mate Kevin Magnussen had a mistake on the penultimate corner, leaving him down in 14th and over 1.2s behind the German.
Fernando Alonso reclaimed the top spot he held for much of the session with a time of a 1:27.919 on the medium tyres, with Sergio Perez slotting behind him by nearly a tenth of a second despite using softer tyres.
Normal service resumed as the session reached its final three minutes, with Max Verstappen setting a lap nearly half-a-second clear of the rest on the soft tyres, despite catching a whole load of traffic in the middle sector, ending the session on the top spot.
The Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc slotted into P2 and P3 at the end, also using the softest compound. George Russell moved into P8 with the last true flying lap of the session.
Source: Formula 1
