INDIA in F1

Tag: Qatar Grand Prix

  • Marc Marquez wins Sprint to take back championship lead; Alex takes P2: Lusail Sprint

    Marc Marquez wins Sprint to take back championship lead; Alex takes P2: Lusail Sprint

    Doha, 12 April 2025: The scintillating 2025 Saturday streak continues for Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) as the #93 completed a pole position and Tissot Sprint double at the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar to wrestle back the Championship lead from second place finisher Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP). The bronze medal went the way of Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), as fellow Italian Francesco Bagnaia’s (Ducati Lenovo Team) evening ended with a disappointing P8 in Doha. 

    THE START: MARQUEZ VS MARQUEZ, BAGNAIA STRUGGLES

    The top three on the grid all launched off the line very well but it was polesitter Marc Marquez who grabbed the holeshot ahead of Alex Marquez and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). Morbidelli and Fermin Aldeguer exchanged P4 at Turn 4, before the rookie got a little bit beaten up as Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Johann Zarco (LCR Honda Castrol) forced their way through.

    Meanwhile, at the end of the first lap, Bagnaia’s progress was P11 to P8. Not bad, but the Italian needed more. At the front, Alex got the better of Marc at Turn 1 on Lap 2, but the red corner bit straight back. And what were we saying about Pecco needing more? That’s exactly the opposite of what happened on Lap 2.

    First Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), then Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and then 2023 and 2024 title rival, Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing), were ahead of Bagnaia. What was going on with the #63?

    MARC PULLS CLEAR AS PODIUM FIGHT HOTS UP

    At the front, Marc continued to lead Alex, with the gap between the two hovering around the 0.3s mark. Morbidelli was third, 0.7s further back, with Quartararo 0.3s away from his former teammate in P4. Viñales was well in touch in P5, as a mistake from Zarco cost the Frenchman a place to Aldeguer on Lap 4 of 11.

    A fastest lap of the race was then set by Marc Marquez, seeing his lead stretch to 0.5s, but Alex Marquez responded with his personal best lap on the next lap to maintain that half a second. Elsewhere, Aldeguer was flying. The Gresini rider quickly reeled in Viñales and made a move stick with five laps left, with Bagnaia still outside of the points in P11. That was then P10 as Zarco lost more ground after running wide at the final corner, with Bagnaia now facing the tailpipes of Acosta and Ogura.

    Three laps to go. Marc Marquez was now 1.2s up the road and looked set to keep his 100% Sprint record, while Morbidelli was keeping Quartararo half a second behind him. Bagnaia passed Acosta at Turn 4 to climb into P9 – in other words, a point-scoring position.

    Last lap time! The victory fight seemed over, but the podium battle certainly wasn’t. Morbidelli’s margin had disappeared as Quartararo and Aldeguer swarmed. Could they do anything to pinch a podium from the Italian? Not quite. A small error at the final corner saw Quartararo hand Aldeguer a free pass into P4, but for the fourth Grand Prix in a row, Marc Marquez doubled up on a Saturday. Alex Marquez’s P2 run continued and Morbidelli did just about hold onto a bronze medal.

    THE POINTS SCORERS

    Aldeguer’s mid to late Sprint pace was nothing short of sensational as the rookie bagged a very impressive P4, with Quartararo backing up his front row with a hard-earned P5. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) was 0.5s adrift of the Yamaha star in P6, Ogura was the lead Aprilia in P7, with Bagnaia having to settle for a low-key P8. Work to do for Bagnaia ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix.

    Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) earned the final point in P9 as Viñales’ soft tyre gamble failed to pay off in the second half of the Sprint – the KTM rider slipped from P5 to P10. And speaking of Aprilia, in his first Sprint appearance since the 2024 Solidarity GP, World Champion Martin crossed the line in P16 to get crucial mileage under his belt after his injury layoff. How good was it to see the #1 back in the battle?

    So once more, Saturday belongs to Marc Marquez. Can anyone find a way of beating the six-time MotoGP World Champion on Sunday evening? We’ll find out at 20:00 local time (UTC +3). 

  • Verstappen takes controlled Qatar Grand Prix win after Norris was penalised: F1

    Verstappen takes controlled Qatar Grand Prix win after Norris was penalised: F1

    Lusail (Qatar), 1 Dec. 2024: Max Verstappen took a controlled Qatar Grand Prix after chief race rival Lando Norris dropped to last place and recovered to 10th following a penalty for failing to heed yellow flags. Second place for Charles Leclerc ahead of Oscar Piastri means that Ferrari clawed points back against McLaren to take the fight for the Constructors’ Championship to the final round in Abu Dhabi next week. 

    When the lights went out, Mercedes’ polesitter George Russell made a good start from pole, but Verstappen swiftly drew alongside and then outdragged the Mercedes driver into Turn 1. As the battling pair edged towards the outside of the corner,  Norris, starting from third, tried to sneak through on the inside. The McLaren driver was briefly ahead as he and Verstappen went towards Turn 2 but the Red Bull driver resisted to held the lead. 

    However, at the rear of the field, Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg lost control in Turn 1 and hit the Alpine of Esteban Ocon and the Williams of Franco Colaptino. The latter two ended up beached and the Safety Car was deployed. 

    Verstappen controlled the lap 4 restart perfectly to hold the lead ahead of Norris and Russell and Piastri, who made his way back past Leclerc after losing the position at the start. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was in sixth place ahead of the second Red Bull of Sergio Pérez. 

    Verstappen then settled into his first stint, though the champion was never truly comfortable as Norris repeatedly nibbled away at a gap that hovered around 1.6 seconds for the first 20 laps. 

    Russell was the first of the front runners to make a pit stop, on lap 24, but a stuck right rear wheel mean that after spending seven seconds in his pit box, the Mercedes driver dropped down to 11th place. 

    Tyre changes for the other front runners should have followed, but before any other pit stops could take place there was drama. On lap 32 Alex Albon’s Williams shed a mirror on the pit straight and while there were yellow flags in place Verstappen noted that Norris had closed the gap. He asked his team to check whether the McLaren driver had reduced speed for the flags. 

    Two laps later, though, Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas ran over the mirror, and debris was strewn across the track. Both Sainz and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton picked up punctures and the Safety car was deployed. 

    Verstappen pitted for Hard tyres and emerged in the lead behind the SC. His rivals also made their pit stops and Norris slotted back into second. Leclerc, however, managed to jump in front of Piastri, while Pérez also profited from the timing of the SC and he made his way to P5 ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Russell and Sainz. 

    The Safety Car left the track at the end of lap 39 and Verstappen was almost caught out by Norris. The McLaren driver stuck with the leader and aided by a slipstream on the straight he attacked around the outside. Verstappen defended hard and he was able to hold the lead as they went through the opening corners. Behind them Leclerc fought off the hard-charging Piastri but Gasly was passed by Russell. 

    There was disaster for Pérez though. Just ahead of the SC leaving the track the Mexican seemed to lose power and then suddenly spun in the final corner. He was forced to retire from the race.

    At the back of the field, Hülkenberg spun off and the SC was released yet again. This time Verstappen’s getaway was flawless and he his lead comfortably as Norris was forced to resist pressure from Leclerc. 

    Norris’ challenge then evaporated. The Briton was hit with a 10 second stop/go penalty for failing to slow for the yellow flags ahead of the first SC period and after pitting on lap 45 he dropped to last place. He would recover to 10th place at the flag. 

    At the front, Verstappen was comfortable and with no further incidents he was able to cruise home six seconds ahead of Leclerc and Piastri, who were separated by less than a tenth of a second. 

    Fourth place went to Russell, while Gasly took a well worked fifth place. Sainz crossed the line in sixth ahead of Alonso, Guanyu Zhou took Sauber’s first points of the season with eighth place and Kevin Magnussen finished in ninth place ahead of Norris. 

    2024 FIA Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix – Race 
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 57 – 
    2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 57 6.031
    3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 57 6.819
    4 George Russell Mercedes 57 14.104
    5 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 57 16.782
    6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 57 17.476
    7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 57 19.867
    8 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 57 25.360
    9 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 57 32.177
    10 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 57 35.762
    11 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 57 50.243
    12 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 57 56.122
    13 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 57 – 
    14 Liam Lawson RB/Honda RBPT 57 – 
    15 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 56 – 1 lap
         Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 39 – Retirement
         Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 38 – Retirement
         Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 8 – Retirement
         Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 0 – Retirement
         Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 0 – Retirement

  • Norris on pole for Sprint ahead of Russell and Piastri: F1 Qatar GP

    Norris on pole for Sprint ahead of Russell and Piastri: F1 Qatar GP

    Qatar, 29 Nov. 2024: McLaren’s Lando Norris will start the Sprint at the Qatar Grand Prix from the front of the grid with the McLaren driver beating Mercedes’ George Russell to top spot by just 0.063s in a tight Sprint qualifying session at Lusail Circuit. Oscar Piastri took third in the other McLaren as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished fourth and fifth respectively. 

    At the start of the session, in SQ1, Norris topped the timesheet, posting a lap of 1:21.356 to beat Sainz by almost half a second, with Russell third ahead of Verstappen.

    At the wrong end of the order, Sergio Pérez once again failed to match the pace of his Red Bull team-mate and he exited the session in P16, just over a hundredth of a second behind Williams’ Alexz Albon. Pérez Red Bull stablemate Yuki Tsunoda was another surprise faller and the RB driver, who complained of a “rushed” final run finished in P17, 0.04s behind the Mexican. Esteban Ocon was eliminated in 18th place ahead of Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu and last place Williams driver Franco Colapinto. 

    Verstappen set the opening pace of S2 with a time of 1:22.188, but that was quickly eclipsed by Leclerc who went five hundredths of a second quicker to take P1 and by Norris who slotted into second place 0.015s ahead of the Dutchman. Piastri was going quicker than all three, however, and he claimed top sport with a lap of 1:22.050. 

    Norris’s second run was even quicker and the Briton moved to the top of the order with a lap of 1:21.231 that put him ahead of Russell who climbed to second thanks to a lap of 1:21.4988. Piastri went again but time lose when he went wide late in the lap saw him take third place just over three tenths off his team-mate. Hamilton took fourth ahead of Verstappen and Sainz, with Leclerc in P7 ahead Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and RB’s Liam Lawson. 

    However, there was no place in the top-10 shootout for Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who exited in P11, just four hundredths of a second off Lawson’s time. Also eliminated at the end of SQ2 were Williams’ 12th-placed Alex Albon who went out ahead of Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen. 

    Norris was in imperious form in the opening runs of SQ3. The McLaren driver set a blistering lap of 1:21.012 on his first attempt on Soft tyres, more than 0.015s clear of team-mate Piastri and almost three tenths ahead Russell. 

    Norris pushed more on his second run but the Briton clipped the gravel at Turn 2 and he backed out the attempt. That left the door slightly but while no one could go quicker, Russell close to within a tenths and Piastri ended the session just 0.159s off his team-mate. 

    Sainz will start the Sprint from fourth ahead of Leclerc, with Verstappen in sixth place. Hamilton was seventh fastest, half-a-second clear of Gasly. Hülkenberg was ninth ahead of Liam Lawson, who had a better lap deleted for a track limits violation. 

    2024 FIA Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying
    1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:21.012 – –
    2 George Russell Mercedes 1:21.075 0.063 0.078
    3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:21.171 0.159 0.196
    4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:21.281 0.269 0.332
    5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:21.308 0.296 0.365
    6 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:21.315 0.303 0.374
    7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:21.474 0.462 0.570
    8 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:21.978 0.966 1.192
    9 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:22.088 1.076 1.328
    10 Liam Lawson RB/Honda RBPT 1:22.577 1.565 1.932
    11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:22.433 1.421 1.754
    12 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:22.526 1.514 1.869
    13 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:22.538 1.526 1.884
    14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:22.599 1.587 1.959
    15 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:22.738 1.726 2.131
    16 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:22.718 1.706 2.106
    17 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:22.722 1.710 2.111
    18 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:22.906 1.894 2.338
    19 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:22.948 1.936 2.390
    20 Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 1:23.423 2.411 2.976

  • Max Verstappen takes pole at Qatar Grand Prix

    Max Verstappen takes pole at Qatar Grand Prix

    Qatar, 6 October 2023: Max Verstappen took his 10th pole position of 2023 with his opening lap of Q3 in a tough qualifying session for the 2023 FIA Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix in which McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both had their final lap times deleted for track infringements. Norris’ fall from P2 to P10 meant that George Russell claimed a front-row start, while the Mercedes’ driver’s team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, inherited third when Piastri then dropped from third to sixth. 

     At the start of the opening session, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the pace with a lap of 1:26.444. Versatappen then slotted into P2, just 0.044s off the Monegasque driver, but both were soon beaten by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who stole top spot with a lap of 1:25.685. 

    With four minutes to go, Leclerc vaulted from sixth back to P1 with a lap of 1:25.452, a little over two tenths of a second clear of Alonso. The final flyers were starting to come in, however, and a flurry of improvement saw Verstappen jump back to P1 with a final lap of 1:25.007 ahead of Norris, Alonso and the second McLaren of Piastri. 

    At the bottom of the order, there was no room in the second session for 16th-placed Logan Sargeant, who was denied a Q2 spot by Williams team-mate Alex Albon, who was less than a tenth of a second quicker than the American. Also ruled out at the end of the session were Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, AlphaTauri’s Liam Lawson, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu. 

    At the start of Q2, Verstappen was quickly into gear and he claimed top sport with a lap of 1:24.758 on used Soft tyres that out him four tenths of a second ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. 

    In the final runs, Norris was first across the line and he set the P1 pace at 1:24.685. Piastri then slotted into second place, 0.039s off his team-mate. However, Verstappen was just starting his final flyer and the Red Bull bypassed both to once again take top spot, this time with a lap of 1:24.483. 

    Further back, though, two expected front runners were in trouble. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz couldn’t find pace on new softs late in the session and he was eliminated in P12 behind AlhaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda. Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez looked safe in P10 thanks to a lap of 1:25.275, but soon after crossing the line his time was deleted for a track limits transgression at Turn 5. He slid to P13 behind Sainz and was eliminated ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon and Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg. 

    When the top-10 shootout got underway, it was Piastri who took the initiative, setting a lap of 1:24.540, as Leclerc and Norris had their first flyers deleted for track limits, Leclerc due to a lurid snap at Turn 5. 

    Verstappen was flying on his first run, however, and the Dutchman set a tough target time of 1:23.778 as Hamilton took second place, over half a second adrift of the champion. Russell took third after the opening runs, ahead of Piastri and Leclerc.

    And there was no getting close to that time in the final runs – even for Verstappen. The champion had a moment of oversteer early in his final flyer and was forced to abandon his lap. But it was a similar story elsewhere, as Norris and Leclerc had their final laps deleted for track limits, while Hamilton also had a slide midway through his lap. It meant that the Dutch driver’s opener was enough to hand him his 10th pole of 2023, over four tenths of a second clear of Russell.

    Elsewhere, Hamilton finished third ahead of Alonso, with Leclerc in fifth place. Sixth place went to Piastri, who also had a lap time deleted, with Gasly in seventh ahead of team-mate Esteban Ocon and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas. 

    2023 FIA Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:23.778 – –
    2 George Russell Mercedes 1:24.219 0.441 0.526
    3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:24.305 0.527 0.629
    4 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:24.369 0.591 0.705
    5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:24.424 0.646 0.771
    6 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:24.540 0.762 0.910
    7 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:24.553 0.775 0.925
    8 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:24.763 0.985 1.176
    9 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:25.058 1.280 1.528
    10 Lando Norris McLaren – – –
    11 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:25.301 1.523 1.818
    12 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:25.328 1.550 1.850
    13 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 1:25.462 1.684 2.010
    14 Alexander Albon Williams 1:25.707 1.929 2.303
    15 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 1:25.783 2.005 2.393
    16 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:26.210 2.432 2.903
    17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:26.345 2.567 3.064
    18 Liam Lawson AlphaTauri 1:26.635 2.857 3.410
    19 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:27.046 3.268 3.901
    20 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:27.432 3.654 4.362