The inaugural Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix turned out to be an exciting affair with Lewis Hamilton converting his pole position into a victory at the Losail International Circuit. The race also turned out to be a memorable one for Fernando Alonso in the Alpine car who finished third, bagging his first podium ever since his return to the championship. Max Verstappen, who started seventh on the grid after receiving a penalty from the stewards yesterday, recovered to finish second in the race. The victory has helped Hamilton narrow the gap for the world title with Verstappen, even as the latter leads by eight points.
Also Read: F1: Lewis Hamilton Storms To Pole Position For Qatar GP
Max Verstappen started at P7 and was quick to move the order to take P3 in the opening stages
The Qatar GP made its debut on the F1 calendar this year and drama began right after the qualifying session. The stewards penalised Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas for failing to slow down under the yellow flags. While Verstappen was handed a five-place grid penalty and started seventh, Bottas was handed a three-place grid penalty and started sixth.
On the grid then, Hamilton was joined by AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly on the front row with Alonso starting at P3. Hamilton was quick to dominate the race as the lights turned green, followed by Gasly and Alonso following closely. At the back, Verstappen made the most out of a strong start and immediately moved up to P4, while Bottas had a slow start.
Verstappen was now gunning for P2 and made an attempt to pass Alonso but the driver did not push the Red Bull off onto the AstroTurf runoff. Nevertheless, Verstappen stayed close to Alonso with Lando Norris gaining ground behind. Meanwhile, Alonso was fighting it out with Gasly for P2 and was managed to move up to second soon after.
Fernando Alonso defended P3 from an aggressive Sergio Perez in the closing stages, securing the podium finish
Verstappen was now looking to pass his Red Bull stablemate and Gasly did provide that opportunity on Lap 4 when he ran wide, allowing Verstappen to move up to P3 behind Alonso. The Red Bull driver closed in on Alonso on Lap 5 using DRS and passed the Alpine on Turn 1 braking zone. He now set his sights on Hamilton who held a lead of 4.4s at this point.
Verstappen soon found the momentum to catch up on Hamilton and the drivers soon separated from the rest of the pack with Alonso holding on to a lonely third by Lap 10. Verstappen was the first one of the top leaders to pit a couple of laps later and switch to hards after a damaged front wing meant he wasn't able to keep up with Hamilton's pace. He was quick to join ahead of Alonso, while Mercedes decided to pit Hamilton one lap later mirroring Verstappen strategy and switching the driver to hard tyres.
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Tyre woe for several drivers as Russell, Norris and Latifi all reports problems
A crazy finish to this one with three laps to go in Qatar #QatarGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/JZTK13Ik7k
The new tyres though helped Verstappen gain on the Mercedes reducing the gap to 8.3s at the end of the Mercedes driver's out-lap. He further shaved it down to 6.7s as the race reached the halfway point. However, the real battle was for P3 at this stage. Alonso pitted from soft tyres to hards on Lap 23 and rejoined in front of Ricciardo and Sergio Perez. The latter had already made the switch from mediums to hards as he moved up from 11th on the grid.
While Ricciardo headed to the pits, Alonso was now battling it out with Perez for the next few laps. The Red Bull driver drove incredibly well but Alonso held his own as he defended P3 taking his first podium since returning to F1. Perez settled for P4 securing strong points for Red Bull and ahead of Esteban Ocon in the Alpone and Aston Martin's Lance Stroll finishing at P6.
Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished at P7 and P8 respectively, while Lando Norris in the McLaren took P9. Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel took the final point at P10, ahead of Pierre Gasly who started at P2 but a two-stop strategy turned out to be counterproductive for the driver and he settled for P11.
The Qatar GP saw several punctures as the track turned out to be notorious for the tyres. Bottas, Williams' George Russell and Nicholas Latifi, all suffered punctures with Bottas retiring in the closing stages of the race.
