Verstappen Cruises To Qatar GP Victory Over Piastri And Norris After Mercedes Drivers Collide

Formula 1 Report

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen continued his title celebrations with a dominant performance during Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix, leading home the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris following a first-lap collision between Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

Hamilton and Russell went wheel-to-wheel moments after the lights went out at the Lusail International Circuit, the seven-time world champion attempting to go around the outside of his team mate through Turn 1, only for the duo to dramatically make contact in the bottleneck.

With Hamilton out of the race on the spot, and Russell forced to pit for a new front wing at the end of the opening lap, two of Verstappen’s main rivals had already fallen by the wayside and the now triple world champion never looked back, romping to win number 14 of 2023.

McLaren backed up an impressive Sprint race display as Piastri and Norris came home second and third respectively for another double podium finish, rising from their P6 and P10 grid slots after losing lap times over track limits violations in qualifying.

Russell put in a fine recovery drive to take fourth at the chequered flag, getting the better of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who was hindered by an off-track excursion and an overheating seat.

Esteban Ocon came home seventh for Alpine, while Alfa Romeo logged their first double points finish of the season as Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu took P8 and P9, ahead of the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez.

Perez made the points despite starting from the pit lane thanks to major car changes in the wake of his Sprint race accident, and an action-packed evening that saw him pick up three penalties for exceeding track limits.

Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) had crossed the line in the points-paying positions but dropped to 11th after the chequered flag for his own track limits violation, with Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Alex Albon (Williams) also penalised in P12 and P13.

Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg and AlphaTauri pair Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson were the final drivers to make it to the finish in a race that saw the entire field complete at least three pit stops due to tyre-related safety measures.

Hamilton watched from the sidelines following his clash with Russell, while Logan Sargeant retired in the other Williams during the closing stages after reporting that he was feeling unwell at the wheel amid the intense heat.

Before the race had even started, Carlos Sainz was ruled out of proceedings due to a fuel system problem developing on his car that could not be resolved in time, meaning Leclerc was the sole Ferrari driver in action.

FORMULA 1 QATAR AIRWAYS QATAR GRAND PRIX 2023 – Race results

1	1	Max Verstappen	RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT	57	1:27:39.168	26
2	81	Oscar Piastri	MCLAREN MERCEDES	57	+4.833s	18
3	4	Lando Norris	MCLAREN MERCEDES	57	+5.969s	15
4	63	George Russell	MERCEDES	57	+34.119s	12
5	16	Charles Leclerc	FERRARI	57	+38.976s	10
6	14	Fernando Alonso	ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES	57	+49.032s	8
7	31	Esteban Ocon	ALPINE RENAULT	57	+62.390s	6
8	77	Valtteri Bottas	ALFA ROMEO FERRARI	57	+66.563s	4
9	24	Zhou Guanyu	ALFA ROMEO FERRARI	57	+76.127s	2
10	11	Sergio Perez	RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT	57	+80.181s	1
11	18	Lance Stroll	ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES	57	+81.652s	0
12	10	Pierre Gasly	ALPINE RENAULT	57	+82.300s	0
13	23	Alexander Albon	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	57	+91.014s	0
14	20	Kevin Magnussen	HAAS FERRARI	56	+1 lap	0
15	22	Yuki Tsunoda	ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT	56	+1 lap	0
16	27	Nico Hulkenberg	HAAS FERRARI	56	+1 lap	0
17	40	Liam Lawson	ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT	56	+1 lap	0
NC	2	Logan Sargeant	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	40	DNF	0
NC	44	Lewis Hamilton	MERCEDES	0	DNF	0
NC	55	Carlos Sainz	FERRARI	0	DNS	0

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Formula 1 – Report