Qatar GP : Max wins, McLaren-Ferrari battle close

Max wins the race in Qatar, starting from P2. McLaren and Ferrari are close now and the fight will go down to the last race.

Max wins in Qatar

It was not expected for Max to snatch another victory after having already won the Driver’s Championship and the pace nowhere to be found in the Sprint Quali and Sprint Race. However, trust Max to turns things up a notch when it matters. He pulled off a stunning Q3 lap to take the pole position, only to be given a one place penalty for slow driving. He made up for it immediately as the race started and took the lead, never to look back from that point. There were a couple of Safety Car re-starts but Max was able to maintain his lead throughout the race. It was one of those classic races from 2023 or the first half of 2024 where Max was simply unstoppable. Lando kept pace with Max for most of the race but he never seemed to be able to overtake at any point.

Meanwhile Sergio Perez had another race to forget. He was doing well till the middle and was in the points. However he fell back when the safety car came and then had a mechanical issue, forcing him to retire the car. He has to two year contract with Red Bull but it seems impossible to continue this way and if Red Bull are serious about the Constructor’s title.

Lando disaster in Qatar

Things were going well for McLaren in the Sprints and they seemed to have the upper hand. However the advantage seemed to have vanished for the main Quali. Max took a stunning pole and George had some solid pace in his Mercedes. This meant that Lando started from P3. However he was able to quickly make places and stuck behind Max at P2 for most of the race. A small mistake by Lando and not lifting up at the Yellow flag cost him dearly. He was given a 10 second stop go penalty and that effectively ended his race, still getting a final point and one more for the fastest lap. The misery for Lando keeps on piling. Oscar meanwhile did another average job but managed to get the P3 position.

Ferrari still in the hunt

Disaster for Lando meant that the title fight for Constructors is still going on. Ferrari are 19 points behind McLaren. One race is left. A DNF here or a mistake there could very well turn things around. Both McLaren and Ferrari have to be on their toes and leave no stone unturned. Charles got a good haul of points at P2 and even Carlos did well at P6, despite not having the fastest car.

Mercedes would want to forget Qatar

It was a weekend to forget for Mercedes despite having a very good car. George started from Pole but quickly slipped down to P3. A botched pit-stop meant that he fell behind further and the car was just not working on the Hard tyres. Still he managed to finish P4. Hamilton struggled even more and he finished P12.

The best was for Zhou Guanyu who finally managed to get points for himself and the team this season. Gasly also had a very good race as he finished P5. Alonso finished P7 and K-Mag P9.

Qatar GP : Max Wins another race