The 2021 Qatar GP saw Lewis Hamilton secure an undisputed victory starting from pole position and reducing the world title gap with Verstappen to eight points.
see photosLewis Hamilton won the Qatar GP by a margin of 25.743 seconds, with Verstappen second
The inaugural Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix turned out to be an exciting affair with Lewis Hamilton converting his pole position into victory at the Losel International Circuit. The race was also a memorable one for Fernando Alonso in an alpine car, taking his first podium since his return to the championship and finishing third. Max Verstappen, who started seventh on the grid after receiving a penalty from the stewards yesterday, finished second in the race. The win has helped Hamilton narrow the world title gap with Verstappen, while the latter leads by eight points.
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Max Verstappen started on P7 and was quick to move up the order taking P3 in the early stages
The Qatar GP made its debut on the F1 calendar this year and play began right after the qualifying session. The stewards punished Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas for failing to slow down under the yellow flag. While Verstappen was handed a five-place grid penalty and started seventh, Bottas was handed a three-place grid penalty and started sixth.
Then on the grid, Hamilton was joined in the front row by Alphatauri’s Pierre Gasly, with Alonso starting on P3. As the lights turned green, Hamilton dominated the race, closely followed by Gasly and Alonso. At the back, Verstappen made the most of a strong start and went immediately to P4, while Bottas had a slow start.
Verstappen was now gunning for P2 and attempted to pass Alonso but the driver did not push Red Bull over the astroturf runoff. Still, Verstappen stayed close to Alonso, with Lando Norris gaining ground. Meanwhile, Alonso was fighting it out with Gasly for P2 and managed to move to second place shortly thereafter.
Fernando Alonso defends P3 from aggressive Sergio Perez in the closing stages, securing a podium finish
Verstappen was now looking to pass his Red Bull stablemate and Gasly provided that opportunity on lap 4 when he ran wide, allowing Verstappen to go up to P4 behind Alonso. The Red Bull driver closed on Alonso on lap 5 using the DRS and crossed the alpine at the Turn 1 braking zone. Now his eyes are on Hamilton, who is currently leading by 4.4 seconds.
Verstappen soon found the pace to catch Hamilton and the drivers soon broke away from the rest of the pack and Alonso took third place alone from lap 10. Verstappen was one of the top leaders who took a few laps later and switched to hard after a damaged front wing meant he was not able to keep up with Hamilton’s pace. He was quick to join ahead of Alonso, while Mercedes decided to put Hamilton on lap one, later reflecting on Verstappen’s strategy and switching the driver to hard tyres.
lap 54/57
Tire problems report all problems for many drivers like Russell, Norris and Latifi
A crazy finish for this with three laps to go in Qatar #QatarGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/JZTK13Ik7k
– Formula 1 (@F1) November 21, 2021
However the new tires helped Verstappen gain on Mercedes, reducing the margin to 8.3 at the end of the Mercedes driver’s out-lap. As the race reached the halfway point, he further reduced it to 6.7. However, the real fight was for P3 at this stage. Alonso pitched from soft tires to hard on lap 23 and rejoined in front of Ricciardo and Sergio Pérez. The latter had already switched to medium hard as he moved up from 11th place on the grid.
While Ricciardo headed for the pits, Alonso was now battling with Perez for the next few laps. The Red Bull driver drove incredibly well but Alonso defended P3 taking his first podium since returning to F1. Perez settled for P4 to score strong points for Red Bull ahead of Esteban Ocon at Alpone and Lance Stroll of Aston Martin to finish on P6.
Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished on P7 and P8 respectively, while Lando Norris at McLaren took P9. Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel took the final point on P10, ahead of Pierre Gasly, who started on P2, but the two-stop strategy proved counterproductive for the driver and he settled for P11.
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The Qatar GP saw many punctures as the track was notorious for tyres. Bottas, Williams’ George Russell and Nicholas Latifi, all suffered punctures as Bottas was retiring in the closing stages of the race.
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