Lap 23/57: Piastri is doing everything to get past Russell, even at the detriment of his tires. And the Mercedes driver is struggling a bit as he is in the pit and on go the hard tires. He was stationary in there for about seven seconds – way too lengthy. It costs him several places and gives an opening for Ferrari. The replay shows that they struggled to get one of the rear wheels off.
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Qatar Grand Prix: Formula One – live | Formula One Key events Lap 22/57: Bottas is all by himself and he goes wide. All because of the lack of grip that all the drivers are somewhat struggling with. Lap 19/57: Hamilton is shocked when he is told about the the top six’s pace compared to his own. “Mid 25s?! That’s a second [faster]!” Lap 18/57: Verstappen now marks the fastest lap in response. Norris now back to two seconds behind, Russell over four seconds in third. Lap 17/57: Leclerc asks for a check on his tire pressure, saying that there are likely to be punctures but he is told that it is all good for now. He clearly feels he is being aggressive on the turns. Lap 16/57: Norris again races the fastest lap. Gap between first and second is now around 1.6. Lap 15/47: Zhou also passes Tsunoda. He of course does not have a contract for next season. Tsunoda is struggling, though. He tells his team that he is pushing 100% and he gets a reply to hang in there. Lap 14/57: Huge from Alonso! Beautifully navigates around Tsunoda when staying on the track to get to 11th. Confirmed that Hamilton gets a five second penalty. Lap 13/57: On Norris’s radio, we hear his team say that Verstappen’s tires are in the same condition as his and Russell’s are a bit worse off. Lap 12/57: Magnussen goes ahead of Tsunoda. Lap 11/57: Norris has now the fastest lap but Verstappen is still just under two seconds ahead of him. Lap 10/57: Stroll has officially retired. He rejoined just so he can serve the 10 second penalty so that it would not affect him in a future race. Lap 9/57: Hamilton has now officially been noted for a false start. That is usually a five second penalty. The replay shows that it is tight and he does apologise on the radio. He is currently in 8th. Lap 8/57: Alonso is not happy. He swears on the radio, saying that there is issues on the straights. And an incident for him has been noted for rejoining the track unsafely. He might be in trouble for that. Lap 7/57: Huge gaps between Verstappen, Norris and Russell. Stroll retired but then he rejoins the race. Lap 6/57: Lawson spins off as he tries to get past Bottas. Lawson lost grip and starting spinning. Lap 5/57: Verstappen opens up the gap between him and Norris. Piastri manages fourth from Leclerc – big for McLaren’s chances in securing the Constructors’ Championship today. Lap 4/57: The safety car is ending … we have only had about half a lap of racing but here we go. Lap 3/57: Safety car is still out. There are murmurings on the grid about Hamilton and if he made a false start but nothing official yet. Hugh gets in touch by email:
Still confused myself as to why he backed off! Did he feel something in his car? Or was he thinking Verstappen would push him off. Very strange. Lap 2/57: Safety car remains out as we catch some replays of the crashes and the leaders in the race. Norris looked to creep to first on turn one but he backed off a bit as Verstappen came through. Stroll has had to pitt to change tires. Lap 1/57: Russell is on the outside line to start. The track temperature is only 23 C, a lot cooler than previous years. Verstappen swoops in and takes the lead within the first turn and Norris speeds to second. Safety car comes out after Colapinto and Ocon, the 16th crash for Williams this season. Hülkenberg also had an incident and he has continued but his rim is popping out of his car. Qatar Grand Prix race beginsOff they go for the formation lap! We are underway at the Lusail International Circuit. We are a couple minutes away from lights out in Lusail. We have just heard of from the national anthem performed by the Qatar Music Academy Choir. Here is our starting grid.
The Red Bull team principal Christian Horner tells Sky Sports that George Russell was speeding himself during the sprint, and likens it to a “football player taking a dive in the penalty box”. “Not quite sure why we ended up with a one place penalty but if Max needed any extra motivation it has given him it for this. He is wound up for this one.” Our first email of the day! Louise writes:
The other driver was Fernando Alonso and you are right, he was going the exact same speed as well. Verstappen kept the same distance through both turns, he did not just decide to brake right as he was turning a corner. Certainly bizzare and I think that is why they minimised the penalty for Verstappen. Usually this situation would be a three-place grid penalty. McLaren could clinch their first Constructors’ Championship since 1998 today if they:
A look back on how Verstappen became the 2024 champion. Max Verstappen speaking to Sky Sports on qualifying and his penalty:
Ben Sulayem: 'None of your business how FIA is run'The FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has told Formula One drivers to mind their own business after they asked where money from race fines was going and why senior figures had left the governing body. In an interview before today’s race, Ben Sulayem suggested the drivers should stick to what they know best. “Do we have to tell them? When something in the teams changes, do they tell us?” Ben Sulayem said when asked about the surprise departure of the race director Niels Wittich before last weekend’s title-deciding Las Vegas Grand Prix. “We have the rules, we follow our rules. We don’t follow someone else’s rule. Simple as this.” Wittich has said he did not resign and the FIA have given no public explanation as to why he suddenly left beyond saying it was to pursue new opportunities. Media reports have said he was sacked. The Mercedes driver George Russell, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), said on Thursday drivers wanted clarity and understanding “of what’s going on and who’s getting fired next”. Ben Sulayem, a former rally driver who was elected as FIA head in 2021, responded: “Do we tell them how to drive? Do we tell them what to have as their strategy? It’s none of their business. Sorry … I am a driver. I respect the drivers. Let them go and concentrate on what they do best, which is race.” The GPDA issued a remarkable statement last month, in response to an FIA clampdown on swearing, in which they asked Ben Sulayem to treat them like adults and mind his own language towards them. They also requested financial transparency and said all stakeholders, including drivers and teams, should jointly determine how and where the money from fines was spent – with some suggesting it could help fund professional stewards. “They talk and then they say, where are you putting the money? Why we don’t do this? I don’t say ‘Oh, sorry, what about you?’” said Ben Sulayem. “The drivers are getting over 100m. Do I ask where they spend it? No. It’s up to them. It’s their right … we do whatever we do with the money. It’s our business. It’s also with them and their money. It’s their business.” Ben Sulayem said the drivers had his mobile number and he had nothing to hide. He said he “lived free of charge” in the brains of critics in the media and did not need them or care what people said. He also rejected any suggestion that the FIA was in crisis and suffering a staff exodus under his leadership. Despite his “none of your business” stance, the Emirati said later that €10.3m had been invested in grassroots single-seater racing last year. “You really think I would waste the money? This is not commercial. This is the money of the members, and I have been elected to safeguard that,” he said. He added that 64 employees had joined the FIA in 2023 and 92 in 2024. “I have been elected to fix the FIA. and I am fixing it. I am very happy with our new team. Very happy. I inherited an FIA with an operating cost of €23m. And where is it now? This will be the first year that we are plus.” Reuters PreambleRed Bull’s Max Verstappen may already be our 2024 Formula One champion but the fight for second in the drivers’ standings and top honors in the constructors’ standings is still very much alive in the second to last race of the season. Mercedes’ George Russell will start from pole position in Qatar after Verstappen was given a one-place grid penalty for impediment during qualifying. In the final laps of qualifying, Verstappen slowed in the third sector, forcing Russell onto gravel. Verstappen’s alleged offence was “driving unnecessarily slowly” and after Russell gave his version of events, a decision was communicated more than three hours after the end of the session. It wouldn’t be F1 without drama, right? Verstappen’s points tally is 404 points. McLaren’s Lando Norris is second with 347 points and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is third with 323 points. For constructors, McLaren leads with 623 points. Ferrari is second with 593 points and Red Bull is third with 556 points. As always, if you have any thoughts, questions, predictions, complaints or jokes you would like to share, then send me an email. Source link Posted: 2024-12-01 17:44:34 |
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