Qatar GP : Max wins, Championship on

Max won the race in Qatar after a good strategy call by Red Bull. Oscar would be disappointed with P2 while Carlos would be super elated with his second podium this season.

Max Magic in Qatar

You can never count out Max Verstappen in any race. The Red Bull was not in good performance window this weekend. Both the Sprint Quali and Sprint Race did not go well for Max. However expect Max to make the most come race day. McLarens seem utterly dominating with a front row start. Max was starting P3 and jumped Lando to go P2 in the race. Things turned when Nico bumped into Gasly, bringing in the safety car. This changed the game completely as Max went for a pitstop but the McLarens preferred track position. This meant that Max eventually got to lead the race and he kept the position while McLarens struggled to fight back. Right now Max is just 12 points behind Lando and the Championship is very much on. A bad Quali or a DNF from Lando means that Max will be a 5 time World Champion. He certainly has the mentality to stay calm and take things down the wire.

Yuki San had his ups and downs this weekend. For the first time he was ahead of Max in Sprint Quali and did well in the Sprint race too. However the performance was good for the main race as he was out in Q1 and then did not impress much. His seat is very precarious right now and he would be expected to help Max as much as possible for the final showdown in Abu Dhabi next week.

McLaren fumble in Qatar

McLaren had everything to lose this weekend and lose they did. This is the weekend when Oscar found his form back, although it might be a bit too late in the season. The Sprint went well for Oscar and he got the maximum points. The Quali went well too and he got the Pole. Even the race start went well as he was comfortably ahead after the start. However the McLaren at lap 7 when the Safety Car came meant that everything went out for the toss. Instead of winning the race Oscar finished P2, a good 7 points behind Max. Lando finished P4 and he would not be happy with that either.

This was the race where Lando could have sealed the Championship. Instead it is wide open now with Max 12 points behind Lando. Given it is his first time, there would be immense pressure on Lando. He needs to make sure that he doesn’t make any mistake in Abu Dhabi and then it is all down to pure luck. A Latifi like incident in 2021 Abu Dhabi can change everything. Then it was Lewis on the other end but the same Max who is willing to pounce on any mistake you make.

Carlos P3 in Qatar

Carlos was over the moon with his second podium finish. It is something he had not imagined when signing the contract with Williams. Mercedes had the pace but still did an ok job with Kimi finishing P5 and George P6. Alonso came a respectable P7, Charles P8, Liam P9 and Yuki got the final point position.

Qatar GP : Max and Oscar still in the hunt