Tag Archives: Losail International Circuit

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Qatar — Results & aftermath

Hamilton romps to win inaugural Qatar GP but Bottas DNFs; Verstappen P2, Perez P4 as Championships tighten yet again; savvy Alonso earns first podium since 2014

Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton continued his late season push for a record shattering eighth Formula 1 Championship by taking a dominant win at the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday night. Starting from the pole, Hamilton’s raw pace made easy work of the illuminated Losail International Circuit and left his competition in the dust, earning his second win on the trot with only two contests remaining to pull closer to his main rival and current points leader, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. But despite Hamilton’s supremacy in Qatar it was not all good news for him and Mercedes on the day. With Max Verstappen being demoted down to P7 on the grid instead of alongside Hamilton where he qualified just before the race after the stewards somewhat dubiously decided that the Dutchman failed to slow properly under double yellow flags at the end of Saturday Qualifying, Hamilton could be forgiven for hoping Verstappen might get mired in the pack of reasonably fast cars in front of him and somehow leave a large haul of points on the table. It didn’t happen and instead Verstappen once again delivered a virtuoso performance in damage limitation, steaming through the field and into P2 by Lap 5 of the race, a position he would easily retain at the end of this 57-lap contest. Combined with his setting the fastest lap of the GP for the bonus point, Verstappen was able to keep Hamilton behind him by 8 points going into that final brace of races in the 2021 campaign. But Hamilton did nick 6 points back with his win and his newer-engined Mercedes is also genuinely streaking away from everyone on track. So Verstappen is going to need to somehow win one of the last contests or hope that Hamilton has some sort of unexpected issue that pushes him down the order because if Hamilton wins the last two races and Verstappen finishes second in both, the Englishman will steal back the title from him in heartbreaking fashion. As the saying goes, there is truly all to play for.

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2021 F1 Grand Prix of Qatar — Qualifying results

Hamilton blisters field for pole at inaugural Qatar GP; Verstappen P2, Bottas P3 while rest of grid jumbled by unpredictable results at Losail

Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton gave his very best effort to keep his title hopes alive and the momentum going after last week’s win in Brazil by laying down an untouchably fast lap in Saturday Qualifying, seizing the pole position for tomorrow’s inaugural Qatar Grand Prix. With the entire field coming to grips with the first time use of the Losail International Circuit for a Formula 1 race, Hamilton proved to be the fastest learner in the bunch, setting a track record 1:20.827 time, some .455 seconds faster than his closest competitor, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. It was a fairly whopping advantage in Formula 1 terms that earned Ham the Man his first pole since way back in Round 11 at Hungary and sees him peaking at the right time as the season rushes to its conclusion. With only three races remaining in the 2021 campaign including tomorrow’s final leg of a grueling, multi-hemisphere triple header and Hamilton trailing Verstappen by 14 points in the Drivers’ standings, victory will be crucial for the legendary English pilot if he is to secure his unprecedented eighth world title and hold off the Dutch wunderkind who is more than a little hungry to score the first of his already impressive career.

While the second Silver Arrow of Valtteri Bottas did his part for the team by setting the third fastest time, thereby putting him in a position to harass Verstappen from behind and support Hamilton’s quest for victory in tomorrow’s race, the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez struggled mightily at Losail. Despite having raced here back in his GP2 days, Verstappen’s Mexican wingman was unceremoniously bounced out of Q2 with only the eleventh fastest time. While this will give Checo and the team some extra tires and strategic options, starting from P11 with a ton of competitive cars in front of them can hardly be what they were hoping for on the day. In fact, perhaps due to the unfamiliarity of the circuit, there were numerous unpredictable qualifying results up and down the field. Continue reading →