Formula 1: Max also wins the Qatar Grand Prix, overtakes Piastri in the standings (second) and is ever closer to Norris who finishes fourth. The World Cup will be decided next Sunday in Abu Dhabi
“Now anything can happen.”. Max Verstappen smiles happily on the podium of the Qatar Grand Prix. The Dutch in Doha signs another extraordinary feat and continues to keep the world drivers’ championship alive. After Zandvoort, Piastri’s Mc Laren had a 104 point lead over Verstappen, on the eve of the last grand prix which will be held next weekend in Abu Dhabi the Dutchman from Red Bull is only twelve points behind the current world championship leader Lando Norris. If Verstappen wins in Saudi Arabia, Norris must finish at least third, but if Piastri were to win, fifth place would be enough for Lando to be world champion, but at this point nothing is taken for granted why Verstappen’s run-up is amazing and Mc Laren is losing confidence, race after race. In 24 hours in Doha everything turned upside down: the Mc Larens seemed to be the dominators and they were in the Sprint and in the official tests, but then the race told a completely different story because already from the first corner Max Verstappen had put the nose of his Red Bull in front of Norris’ Mc Laren, proving lap after lap to keep up with the “papayas”. The Mc Laren team’s strategic error did the rest, at this moment giving even a minimal advantage to Verstappen is suicide. Max is a foaming lion just waiting to tear his opponent to pieces. He doesn’t make mistakes, he takes the car beyond its performance. There is no doubt that he is the strongest rider. but it’s not a given that he will win because in any case 12 points to recover in a single race is not a small thing. But if there is anyone who can do it right now among Formula 1 drivers it is only Max Verstappen.
The race
In Doha Lando Norris was playing the first match ball of the season, but he sensationally failed even though on Friday and Saturday the Mc Larens seemed to be the fastest cars so much so that they occupied the front row on the starting grid. The two Papaya drivers missed the chance to win the Grand Prix already on the seventh lap when after an accident involving Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg the entry of the safety car onto the track ruined the cards in terms of strategies: in fact, all the drivers returned for an initial pit stopavoiding one of the two mandatory ones introduced in Qatar (due to an FIA rule which requires the maximum total laps on each compound to be 25), except the McLarens of Piastri and Norriswho were in first and third position at that time. McLaren was forced to pit on lap 25, and returned behind Verstappen, Sainz and Antonelli. Max’s second pit stop came on lap 32, while the two papayas returned in 43rd and 44th with Piastri second and Norris even fifth. Only an error by Antonelli on the last lap allowed Lando to overtake the Italian and finish in fourth place. Drivers’ world ranking: Norris 408, Verstappen 396, Piastri 392.
Ferrari what a disaster
With theeighth place for Charles Leclerc and twelfth for Lewis Hamilton a disastrous weekend for the Ferraris ended. The performance of the Monegasque was barely decent, that of the Englishman was embarrassing, who for the third time in a row was eliminated in practice after Q1.
