A week after winning his fourth consecutive world title, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) won the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday, 23e of the 24 rounds of the season, while Ferrari closed the gap on McLaren in the constructors' standings.
The Dutchman, leader from start to finish, beat the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and the Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren), while the Briton Lando Norris (McLaren), second for a long time, finished only 10e after receiving a penalty.
« It was a very good race. I was very fast during the first stint and I had a lot of fun on this circuit. Despite the interventions of the safety car, I managed to stay in front. I am very proud of the team because after the sprint, we managed to reverse the trend to have a much more efficient car “, savored Verstappen.
“Mad Max” had won pole position but started in second place, penalized with a place on the grid for having hampered George Russell (Mercedes) during qualifying. He then landed 63e victory of his career in F1, the 9e this season.
Many racing facts
The race was marked by three safety car interventions and numerous penalties, including that imposed on Norris for failing to slow down under yellow flag conditions. This changed the situation since the Briton came out of the pits in 15e position and was only able to move up to tenth place.
This suited Ferrari, who were virtually on the verge of losing the constructors' championship at the start of the race and eventually closed the gap to McLaren by nine points. The British manufacturer, however, remains 21 lengths ahead, with a maximum of 44 points remaining to be won next weekend in Abu Dhabi.
Gasly very fit
Russell, who started in pole position, had to settle for fourth place, ahead of the surprising Frenchman Pierre Gasly (Alpine), who started in 11th place.e place and had a very good race, masterfully resisting the Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) in the last ten laps.
Thanks to the ten points pocketed under the floodlights of the Losail circuit, Alpine regains sixth place in the constructors' standings with five lengths ahead of Haas, who only scored two points on Sunday with the ninth place of Dane Kevin Magnussen.
The other event of this Grand Prix with twists and turns was the unexpected eighth place of the Chinese Zhou Guanyu, who offered the Sauber team its first points (4) of the season, during the penultimate round .
The race
Ranking: 1. Verstappen (Redbull), 2. Leclerc (Ferrari) at 6''031, 3. Piastri (McLaren) at 6''819, 4. Russell (Mercedes) at 14''104, 5. Gasly (Alpline) at 16''782, 6. Sainz (Ferrari) at 17''476, 7. Alonso (Aston Martin) at 19''867, 8. Zhou (Sauber) at 25''360, 9. Magnussen (Haas) at 32''177, 10. Norris (McLaren) at 35''762… 20. Ocon (Alpine) abandon.
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