With only two Grands Prix left to contest this season, we thought that the race in Qatar was going to be completely calm. But it was QUITE THE OPPOSITE. And once again, Pierre Gasly and Alpine did not respect our editorial line.
A monumental departure in Qatar
The race begins, and some drivers take Julien Fébreau’s “meeting at the first corner” a bit too seriously. Among them, Esteban Ocon who gets sandwiched and goes out in the first corner. But we can also highlight the considerable work of Lance Stroll who plays bumper cars, eats a 10-second penalty and ends up giving up in the following laps. Talent.
But Ocon and Stroll are not the only ones to dynamite the start of the race. Lewis Hamilton gives us a sublime false start, a slight movement which causes him to lose his momentum and receive a penalty too. The end of the story at Mercedes resembles that of Alonso at McLaren-Honda. Speaking of the Spanish rogue, he managed to lose 4 places in a single restart, almost shouting a “GP2 engine” into his radio. Adrian Newey has work to do.
A rearview mirror that changes the race
In 2021, we experienced the plastic packaging of a club sandwich which cost Fernando Alonso to retire. But 2024 is a historic year in many ways. A stationary mirror on the finish straight will shake up the race all by itself. By not deciding to bring out the safety car, or put in the VSC, no commissioner can go and pick it up. The rest is gigantic:
- Bottas rolls over and blasts him.
- Hamilton rolls over debris and punctures.
- Sainz imitates him and dies.
Welcome to Formula 1.
Ferrari calls Sainz back to the pits, and takes the opportunity to screw up his stop (10 seconds). Well, for once, there are extenuating circumstances. The safety car is finally on the track, and with so many twists and turns, we would almost miss Sergio Perez's latest exploit; go out on your own when you restart. Immense. We therefore witness the third restart of the race, and Lando Norris has the happy surprise to learn that he receives a 10-second stop and go for not having slowed down under a yellow flag. A dumpling brought back by Max Verstappen cannot be invented.
But let Lando Norris not feel alone; his compatriot Lewis Hamilton also received a drive-through for having been at fault in a break test. Incident reported by… Lando Norris himself. We won't hide the fact that the bag of popcorn didn't last long. If the blow is hard for Lando Norris, he has not lost everything either; he will at least have won the drive-through against Hamilton.
“Alpine”, this word that is on everyone’s lips in F1
While Max Verstappen wins and not many people care, Pierre Gasly replays the dark 2020 Monza Grand Prix by frustrating Carlos Sainz and his DRS. The Frenchman finished in a horrible 5th position, allowing Alpine to recover 6th place in the manufacturers' standings. The double blade… well, that doesn't remind you of anything?
Alpine was quick to ride on this odious performance to oust Ocon and replace him with Jack Doohan for the last Grand Prix. In any case, this is what is being whispered in the paddock, without anyone at Alpine taking care to deny this rumor. We might as well tell you that the veracity of this information is close to 100%. Even in our wildest dreams we would not have imagined a better outing for Esteban Ocon with the French team. Alpine is truly the role model she thinks she is.
In all this noise, we almost forget that Sauber scored its first points of the season with Guanyu Zhou's 8th place, having waited 23 Grands Prix. News which undoubtedly moves the three supporters of the Chinese pilot in France.
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