After 20 races in the 2021 Formula One season, 7-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton remains relentless in his determination to take the title fight to the final race of this scorching season. With his dominant victory in the first-ever Qatar Grand Prix, Lewis cut down Max Verstappen’s lead to just eight points. Verstappen who was given a 5-place grid penalty recovered well to finish second with more points for Fastest Lap and it was Fernando Alonso’s Alpine that came home to take P3, marking his first podium in 104 races. So, let’s have a look at some of the men who shined and the men who left us wanting more from the Qatar Grand Prix.
MEN WHO SHINED
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An energized Hamilton enjoyed back-to-back race wins after starting on pole and remaining ahead of Verstappen till the chequered flag. This race win helped him cut the lead to the Dutchman from fourteen points to just eight. Max Verstappen, who was given a 5 place grid penalty, did extremely well to overtake four cars through the first few laps. Although he grabbed the fastest lap, his pace wasn’t enough to catch Lewis Hamilton and had to settle for a P2 finish. After starting on the second row, Fernando Alonso rolled back the years as he secured a third-place finish marking his first podium in 104 races, the last one coming for Ferrari at Hungary 2014. The Spaniard was also voted as the driver of the day. Overall, it was a great day for Red Bull Racing as their other driver, Sergio Perez who started the race from P11 did extremely well to chase down the cars ahead as he crossed the chequered flag with a brilliant P4 finish which was very important for Red Bull in the constructors’ championship. Next to cross the line was Estaban Ocon who was told to ‘Defend like a Lion’ against Checo Perez by his team-mate Fernando Alonso, despite the pace advantage for the Red Bull, Ocon did give his everything but had to yield and settle for a P5 finish. Right behind him was Lance Stroll (P6) in his Aston Martin who kept the two Ferrari’s of Carlos Sainz (P7) and Charles Leclerc (P8) at bay.
MEN WHO LEFT US WANTING MORE
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After starting the race from the front row, Valtteri Bottas had one of the worst race starts of his career as he dropped out of the points before getting into turn 1. As the race proceeded, things got worse for the Mercedes driver as a puncture saw him drop to P20 before the team decided to retire the car. Tire punctures were a real problem as the same thing happened with Nicholas Latifi’s Williams. Lando Norris who had a decent start to the race was called into the pits for a second stop as the team detected a drop in tire pressure which cost him 4 places as he had to settle for P9. Pierre Gasly who started the race from P3 committed to a double-pit stop strategy which cost him a lot of points as he finished outside the points (P11).
STANDINGS:
Drivers
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With 52 points available of the final two races in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, Lewis Hamilton (343.5) reduced Max Verstappen’s (351.5) lead to just eight points. A DNF for Valtteri Bottas saw him being stuck on 203 points and a P4 finish for Sergio Perez (190) saw the battle for P3 intensify as Checo closed the gap to just 13 points. In P5, we have Lando Norris with 153 points who’s being closed down by the two Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc (152) and Carlos Sainz (145.5) followed by the second Papaya car of Daniel Ricciardo with 105 points. Pierre Gasly slots in right behind him with 92 points and a podium finish for Fernando Alonso helped him enter the top 10 of the driver’s championship.
Constructors
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The Qatar Grand Prix didn’t go as planned for Mercedes as Hamilton may have walked away with the win but Bottas’ retirement helped Red Bull close the gap to Mercedes to just five points. In the battle for P3, Ferrari (297.5) increased their lead to McLaren (258) to 39 points as Ricciardo finished outside the top ten. Alpine (137) took home a lot of points with a podium finish for Fernando Alonso and increased their lead to Alpha Tauri (112). A point finish for both the Aston Martin drivers took them to 77 points. Next on the board is Williams with 23 points followed by Alpha Romeo with 11 points and at last, it’s Haas who are yet to score points this season.
The Formula One caravan now travels to Saudi Arabia for the Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix for its penultimate race of the season and with both the championships yet to be divided, it’s a race you simply cannot miss.
[Featured Image Credit: Lewis Hamilton]
Shashank Iyer