Once again Max Verstappen has proved that why he is arguably the greatest of this generation, as he emerged victoriously at the Qatar GP. Max Verstappen started the Qatar GP as a 3-time World Champion and had the best seat in the house. The Mercedes cars started 2 and 3 in the race. Meanwhile, the McLaren drivers started down the order. Lando Norris started 10th and Oscar Piastri started in 6th. However, a lot of what was to come in this Formula 1 race was decided in the first corner.
Mercedes cars breaking the Golden Rule
One unintentional event that took place in the Qatar GP is that, the Mercedes cars broke the Golden Rule of the Formula One sport as they tangled with each other during the during the opening lap of the race. George Russell got boxed behind Max Verstappen and one the other hand, Lewis Hmailton started on th softs tried to swoop in. This resulted in a collision which took Lewis out of the race and left George dead last. The Mercedes threat was neutralized.
A good day for McLaren
Though the day wasn’t good for for Mercedes, it was fully opposite for McLaren. Though Red Bull got first in the likes of Verstappen, but McLaren got double podium which is even more remarkable for the brand. Surprisingly O.Piastri secured the second position which hardly any one expected before the start of the race, and Lando Norris came third.
Max Verstappen reigns again
Red Bull covered off all other cars with their strategy at the Qatar GP. They maximized each of the stints for Max Verstappen. This meant he pitted later than others around him every time. Therefore, he had less traffic to cut through.
However, at the Qatar GP, Max Verstappen couldn’t use his car’s superior tyre degradation to his advantage. Therefore, by the end, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were within 5 seconds of him.
However, at a Qatar GP littered with track limits, Max Verstappen didn’t even get one of them. This shows just how in control he was. In the end, we will never know what would’ve happened had Mercedes not taken themselves out. But for now, Max Verstappen wins once again.
Standings
Check out the standings of the race below –
- Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:27:39.168 57 Laps
- Oscar Piastri McLaren +4.833
- Lando Norris McLaren +5.969
- George Russell Mercedes +34.119
- Charles Leclerc Ferrari +38.976
- Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +49.032
- Esteban Ocon Alpine +62.390
- Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +66.563
- Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +76.127
- Sergio Perez Red Bull +80.181
- Lance Stroll Aston Martin +81.652
- Pierre Gasly Alpine +82.300
- Alex Albon Williams +91.014
- Kevin Magnussen Haas +1 Lap
- Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +1 Lap
- Nico Hulkenberg Haas +1 Lap
- Liam Lawson AlphaTauri +1 Lap
- Logan Sargeant Williams DNF
- Lewis Hamilton Mercedes DNF
- Carlos Sainz Ferrari DNS
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