Max Verstappen Wins Chaotic Qatar Grand Prix

Max Verstappen took his ninth win of the season at the end of what was a dramatic Qatar Grand Prix, especially the second half. The Dutchman took the lead going into the first corner after the start, passing George Russell (Mercedes) and from then on he stayed in front all the way to the chequered flag. Joining him on the podium were Charles Leclerc second for Ferrari and Oscar Piastri third for McLaren.

This was the 63rd win of Verstappen’s career, the second out of three editions of this Grand Prix, while for Red Bull it was win number 122. Piastri took his tenth podium finish today from 45 race starts.

All the drivers opted to start on the Medium tyre with the exception of Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) who went for the Hard. As expected, the one-stop was the preferred choice for all teams. Apart from those drivers involved in collisions on the opening lap, who had to pit immediately, everyone tried to extend the first stint on the Mediums as much as possible, getting to over half-distance. There were a few exceptions: George Russell (Mercedes) pitted after 23 laps, Valtteri Bottas switched to the Hard on the following lap and Kevin Magnussen (Haas), pitting after 27 laps. For the rest of the field, the run of pit stops began on lap 34, some coming in when the race was neutralised, to switch to the Hard tyre. Hulkenberg had already pitted to take on Mediums after lap 30.

The Safety Car made three appearances. At the last two, the chance to pit costing less time, induced Williams and Racing Bulls to gamble on the Soft, but it did not pay off, as the characteristics of this track meant the C3 proved to have too much of a drop in performance.

Max Verstappen – P1

“I enjoyed the race quite a lot overall, especially at the beginning with Lando and I pushing each other quite hard. We were leading by turn 1 after starting P2, and were able to maximise and get the tyres in the right window. The car felt much better and I enjoyed it a lot out there today. It was nice to win in the dry as well, it has been quite a few races since we’ve achieved that. It was definitely not a boring race and there was a lot to manage with the restarts and safety cars throughout, but we learned from that and were able to stay in front. I am very proud to win here in Qatar, and proud of the Team for our performances this weekend, it is a great track and one of my favourites on the calendar. We have to make sure we nail our setup in Abu Dhabi and to hopefully finish the season with another great race.”

Charles Leclerc – P2

“We expected this to be a difficult weekend for us so I’m happy with how the race went today, having made up some points on McLaren. We had some luck on my side and a bit less on Carlos’ with the puncture. We may have been able to finish second and third had it not been for that, which is a shame teamwise, but overall, it was positive to be this competitive here. Driving for such an iconic team as Ferrari, it would be amazing for us to finish the season by bringing the constructors’ title back to Maranello. It won’t be easy to score the points we need to win the title in a single weekend, but everything is still possible and we will do absolutely everything to achieve it.”

Oscar Piastri – P3

“I am happy with that. I enjoyed the race and it’s a mega track, so it’s nice to come away with another podium. There were some good battles on track, but it was challenging as the cars at the front seemed to have very similar pace to each other. It was tough to get into DRS, and then far enough into DRS to overtake but it was still fun, nonetheless. We were just unlucky with the timing of the Safety Car, but that’s racing. It’s going to take everything we’ve got to seal the deal next week. It’s going to be an exciting one.”

Christian Horner – Red Bull Team Principal

“That was another masterclass from Max. He was focused and in control throughout the race, his management of the tyres in that first stint was exceptional. I think the Team did a wonderful job in turning around and delivering a car that Max could really put his stamp on. It was a shame to lose out on Pole but if anything it gave Max more determination and motivation to lead into turn 1, it was an unbelievable performance by Max and the Team. Full credit to the engineering staff for making some big decisions and unlocking the potential of the car here, it meant Max had Lando covered throughout the race. It was a little bit crazy here with the punctures but the Team reacted and dealt with everything that came their way, the crew and everybody did a super job.”

Mario Isola – Pirelli Director Of Motorsport

“As expected, this was a very busy weekend for us. In today’s race there were two front left tyre punctures on Sainz’s and Hamilton’s cars. As per procedure, we will now analyse in detail the damaged tyres, as well as a selection of other tyres. Along with the telemetry data we have acquired and on-board footage from the cars, they will be sent to our laboratory in Milan. In addition, we will carry out all the usual checks on the stresses to which the tyres were subjected.

This track has some rather peculiar characteristics: it is very severe in terms of the energy exerted on the tyres and in terms of tread wear, while not leading to a drop in performance. Clearly, this combination of factors can create a situation in which wear levels reach their limit, while the teams however try to lengthen the stint as much as possible in order to get the best possible result and we saw that confirmed today.

In yesterday’s Sprint, in some cases the level of wear had reached 100% on cars that had started with about one third the fuel load they took on board for today’s start. At this track, the left front is the tyre subjected to the greatest load and it’s no coincidence that both punctures were on this tyre. When you reach a certain level, then even the smallest piece of debris can cause a situation like the one we witnessed today.

As for the rest, the performance levels of the most used compounds – the C1 and the C2 – were very similar and, as mentioned earlier, with hardly any degradation. Therefore, the level of tyre management required was practically zero, with the drivers able to push as much as they liked, even though they were in fact running a one-stop strategy.”