Qatar Sprint : McLaren shines, Max 3 Time Champ

McLaren does an incredible job in the Sprint shootout at Qatar with rookie Oscar Piastri taking pole as well as the win in the Sprint. Max Verstappen wins his 3rd World Championship with 6 races to spare.

McLaren Shines in Qatar

McLaren have a strong car and their drivers – Oscar and Lando both are firing all the guns. Qatar is no exception. Lando and Oscar did a great job in the Quali but lost their position for exceeding track limits. One can still expect them to do well in the race as the Sprint showed that overtaking is certainly possible if you have a fast car.

Sprint was a different game altogether. With the setting sun, the McLarens put in a great show. This time however it was the rookie Oscar Piastri who stole the show and put his car on pole for the Sprint. Lando was doing even better but then he lost at the final turn of his final lap of the shootout, still managing P2. Lando lost it when the Sprint started but did a good job to recover well and finish P3. Oscar held on to his nerves and had a great start. However after a safety car restart caused by Logan, the McLaren driver slipped behind George Russell but was calm in the situation. He knew that the Softs of Russell would fall down and he will get back to the top. Lando did a great job too and managed P3 in the Qatar Sprint.

3rd World Championship for Max

The limelight for Oscar’s rookie win in the Sprint was overshadowed by Max winning his 3rd World Championship, even with his P3 finish. While 2021 was too tight and 2022 was smooth, the 2023 season was just at another level for Max and Red Bull. Milton Keyes gave an incredible rocket-ship to Max and he mad the most out of it. To call him dominant would be an under-statement. He has been simply inevitable this season. There was competition to him. Singapore was an exception but things went back on track in Japan. Even in Qatar he is on pole for the main race and has the highest chance of winning the race. Other teams and Checo and a lot of work to do to catch up in the 2024 season.

Mercedes meanwhile did a decent job to finish P4 and P5. Sainz secured P6. Charles was originally P7 but lost positions due to track limit infringements. Albon then finished P7 and Alonso got the final point scoring position P8 in the Qatar Sprint Race.

Qatar Sprint : McLaren shines with two podiums