With two races left in the season, Red Bull’s Verstappen leads Mercedes’s Hamilton by eight points in the Driver’s Championship, while Mercedes leads Red Bull by five points in the battle for the Constructor’s Championship.
LOSAIL, Qatar—Even with a virtual safety car just one lap from the finish of Sunday’s Ooreddo Grand Prix of Qatar, Lewis Hamilton took the race, leading from start to finish with a 27-second victory over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. For Fernando Alonso, the third-place finisher in his Alpine, it was a historic evening–his first podium appearance since 2014.
Lewis Hamilton: It was pretty straightforward (yet) it was pretty lonely at the front, But we needed those points today. It puts us in a good place for the next two. I’m really happy with the car, and I’m fitter than I’ve ever felt. Bring on the next two!
Hamilton had a very lonely evening indeed, leading as many as 34 seconds before coming in for a late tire stop. Verstappen could not get close. He started from seventh as a result of a penalty levied the previous evening in qualifying when the Dutchman failed to slow for yellow flags when Pierre Gasly’s Alpha Tauri suffered a puncture on the straightaway minutes from the end.
Verstappen was reflective about Sunday’s result, and he looked forward to the final two races of the year. “It keeps things exciting, and it’s going to be a tight battle until the end.” For Alonso, Sunday’s race was a milestone event. “We were close in a couple of races, but here today, I thought I could be leading, and I am so happy for the team. The race was well executed, the pit stop was fantastic, and the team was great. I was waiting so long for this, so I am happy.”
Verstappen began the race well but stopped Alonso early before eventually passing the Spaniard for second place early on. From that moment, Hamilton wasn’t challenged by either driver.
At that point, Verstappen set his sights on another goal. He pitted near the end of the race to get newer tires to set the fastest lap of the race. That took one point from Hamilton and kept Verstappen eight points ahead of Hamilton in the world championship chase.
For other drivers, tire issues they feared all week surfaced during the race. Pierre Gasly had problems, and so did Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas, who lost his front left tire on lap 33. He eventually retired the car. The Williams duo of George Russell and Nicolas Latifi encountered the same issue. Although Russell was able to nurse the car back for another tire, it was not so lucky for Latifi. He pulled his car off the track for the second retirement of the race.
Sergio Perez began the race far back but pitted for new tires late in the race, nearly catching a one-stop Alonso. But he fell short by a couple of laps when the incident with the two Williams drivers forced a virtual safety car to come out with two laps to go. That outcome ruined Perez’s chances to get on the podium, forcing the Red Bull driver to take fourth.
In the mid-field group, several teams left Qatar in style. Alpine gained double points, with Esteban Ocon finishing in fifth. Aston Martin did well, too, with Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel taking sixth and tenth, respectively. Ferrari edged closer to finishing third in the Constructor’s Championship with double points from Carlos Sainz Jr. (in seventh) and Charles Leclerc (in eighth). Lando Norris was ninth in his McLaren.
Teams now take a week off, gathering during the week of November 28 to participate in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which will take place in Jeddah as a street circuit race. Free Practices are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, December 3 and 4, with Qualifying set for December 4. The ESPN Network will carry all the action, including the race, on Sunday, December 5.
It all starts with Friday’s First Practice televised at 8:30a Eastern time on ESPNU, with the Second Session scheduled for 12p Eastern on ESPN2.
