Tomorrow the Sprint then the official tests for the Grand Prix grid. The Australian rises again, holds Lando and Max is forced to attempt yet another comeback. Leclerc ninth, Hamilton embarrassing: he is eighteenth
The surprise you don’t expect in Saturday’s Sprint tests in Qatar. Oscar Piastri is alive and wants to fight for the world title which for many months he thought he had in his hands. The Australian takes pole position for the mini-race which will award 8 points but which with the minimum distances between the three leading riders could be decisive. The Mc Larens return to dominate even if George Russell’s Mercedes creeps in among the “papayas”. leaving third position and therefore the second row to Lando Norris. It will be a very hot weekend (also and not just due to the temperatures) started very badly for Max Verstappen, McLaren’s antagonist desperately trying to catch up to Lando Norris. Verstappen complained throughout the test session about his car, made several mistakes on the track and he finished in sixth place, also preceded by his teammate Tsunoda. It had never happened that Max was slower than his teammate. The angry Dutchman is even more dangerous and will certainly give his all in the Sprint and in Saturday’s official tests to undermine the Mc Larens. Piastri’s forceful return puts the papaya team in an embarrassment; it seemed like the right opportunity to bet everything on Norris as first driver and instead Piastri’s pole position in the Sprint will probably convince the team to leave the drivers free. With all the risks that such a situation can entail.
Ferrari isn’t healing
Not even the heat in Doha brought the Ferraris back to their performance. Lewis Hamilton still disappointing, eliminated in Q1, the Englishman will start in the sprint race from eighteenth place, an embarrassing position. Lewis continues to complain about the car, but in the meantime his teammate Charles Leclerc without doing anything transcendental he qualifies for Q3 e closes in ninth place cwhich is worth the fifth row on the starting grid. Nothing special, but with all the difficulties the SF-25 has had and is having this season you can’t think it’s worth the penultimate row. Hamilton’s statement on the radio team is therefore surprising: “Ah guys, the car can’t go any faster than this”. It’s a shame that Leclerc, with 1’20″622, set a lap faster than Hamilton by one second and four tenths. An enormity. At this point Hamilton should at least avoid commenting on the car’s performance, given that Leclerc, despite being in difficulty, has never made the impression the Englishman made, sometimes even fighting for the podium. Even John Elkann’s invitation to the two drivers to speak was evidently not accepted by the seven-time world champion.
