A week after celebrating in style winning his fourth World title in Las Vegas, Max Verstappen raised his arms at the top of the podium as the winner of the Qatar F1 GP, something completely unexpected before a classification to which Max arrives without much hope. And a day later, Verstappen prevailed Leclerc (2nd) and Piastri (3rd) in another disastrous day for Norris.
The Dutch driver did a lot of work to win a dream time trial, taking advantage of the fact that the team completely changed the settings of his car and that this desperate change worked. He placed the rest with his golden hands. Both that led him to another victory this Sunday that speaks volumes about the reasons why he is champion and why Lando Norris didn’t capture the title. Max doesn’t disappoint, while Lando does it again, and again, in Qatar.
Whatever he does, the Dutchman always maximizes his results. And starting from the front row, that means going for the win. The reigning champion had to watch as the direction of the race took him from pole position to start 2nd due to a rather incomprehensible penalty. And Max, fired up, went all out from the start to get back what was his.
Great start for Max and Norris took 2nd
In a race where overtaking will be difficult, the start is crucial. The reigning king of F1 knew this, as he pulled out all the stops from the first meter to secure the inside of turn 1. He tried to make himself a little wider to trouble Russell to prevent him from going out on the inside of turn 2. And Norris took advantage of that fight to finish second behind Max who played his cards perfectly to take the lead.
On lap 1 the first safety car of the three will appear in the race. And on the first relaunch, Max was given no options.
A race of pure pace management ensued, with Verstappen battling what should theoretically be the best car on the track this Sunday.a McLaren that fits this circuit like a glove. Norris tries but Max keeps holding him back between 1.8 and 2 seconds to prevent Lando from trying to undercut. (stopped to the pit earlier to leave the front when Max entered) which in Qatar has little effect. He nailed it in everything. Great start, perfect management of starts and races, better in close quarters, without piloting errors and withstand the pressure of a Lando who wants to succeed after clearly losing the battle for the World Cup against Max.
However, it still needs to be finished. Two safety cars in a row late in the event again gave Norris a double chance. But he didn’t take advantage of it. Yes, a seamless Max did it. That explains why he is a champion, a total champion who has achieved a victory in all letters.
Sainz and Hamilton punctures: 2nd safety car
Another ‘Safety Car’ smiled on Verstappen on lap 35. The drivers extended their first stop so much that C’s front left tireArlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton couldn’t resist when they found pieces of glass left in the middle of the track. and Bottas had stepped on it earlier.
Race Direction opted for a ‘Safety Car’ after Carlos stopped and as Hamilton lost time for half a lap. A disaster for both. After that warning, everyone decided to stop to take advantage of the departure of ‘Salvation’.
That dropped Sainz who was up to 6th, behind Leclerc (5th). Carlos moved into 8th place and Hamilton sank 16th. And that was wonderful for Max. In this way, Lando avoided a possible attack by stopping sooner or later with the strategy and he ensured to keep the first place even after losing the 2-second margin. Norris was reunited safely. Max had only one thing to do: defend his spot again on the second restart of the day when the safety car left.
Norris tried it in turn 1. He paralleled Max taking advantage of the slipstream and tried to work the outside of turn 1 to get the inside of turn 2. But Max stuck his elbows out again, grew bigger, and Lando bit the dust again.. He closed the door again, again, a full bolt, to keep that first place. Verstappen is better than Norris in every way, and in hand-to-hand battles he has not had many years.
Sanction for Norris and third Safety Car
However, unbeknownst to him, Lando has lost any chance of winning because of a serious mistake. It is not reduced His speed on the straight with a yellow flag on the track was enough and he would incur a subsequent 10-second penalty..
Destiny may have given Lando Norris a second chance, but that penalty changed everything. An off-track trip by Hülkenberg caused the car’s third safety. Norris falls asleep at the start when Max attacks and has to defend himself even against Charles. That action said it all about Verstappen. Earlier he made the mistake of pulling last in the last corner. He learned his lesson and others did it so as not to suffer one bit. Amazing.
As they say, mistakes do not define people, but how they respond to them. Max makes some mistakes, and when he does he always learns and corrects them. Besides, Norris found out he was going to have a ‘Stop and go’ after that third restart. Having to follow after the ‘Safety’ grid was compressed, he moved into 14th place. All gone.
Leclerc found himself with a big prize
Leclerc had the gift of opportunity in Qatar to achieve a perfect result that Ferrari could not imagine before the race.
On that third restart, Leclerc won the game against Piastri to finish 3rd in a good battleand following the sanction of Norris given to him Charles the second position. before, George Russell walked away from that fight due to failure to fit a tire at his first stop, when George was fighting oscar for third place on the podium.
George had to go back to fix his front wing because he had no rhythm on the hard rubber and Mercedes failed again by not putting the medium rubber on it.
All this gave wings to a lucky Leclerc, who managed to score some important points for Ferrari in the Constructors’ World Championship.with those in red and McLaren fighting for it until the last appointment.
All the luck that Leclerc had was lost on Sainz, with a puncture that left him with no options. The Madrid native saved the day by finishing 6th and scoring some valuable points for Ferrari in that battle against McLaren.
Aston Martin, brilliant approach to Alonso
Fernando Alonso was 9th in the race before Carlos Sainz and Hamilton’s tire problem. And there, Aston Martin pulled an ace from its sleeve by exploiting the ‘Safety Car’ who stopped twice: they put the difficult, mandatory to use two different compounds in the race, and Alonso stopped again on the next lap to place in the middleknowing that rubber has more rhythm.
Due to the car’s lack of pace, which had problems at the start on the straight, which cost Alonso four places after the first restart, the genius of the strategy was the weapon of Aston Martin and Alonso, who finished 7th, gaining another extra position due to Norris’ late penalty. A good haul of points for Fernando.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
