© Vladimir Rys
Qatar Qualifying Sees Max Put It P2Bulls to start P2 and P11 for the first ever Qatar Grand Prix.
MaxVerstappenwillstarttheQatarGrandPrixfromthefrontrowaftertitlerivalLewisHamiltonclaimedpolepositioninFormulaOne’sfirsteverqualifyingsessionattheLosailInternationalCircuit.SergioPérezmeanwhilewillstarttomorrow’sracefromP11aftermissingthecutforQ3inatrickysessionfortheBulls.
Q1
In Q1, Hamilton set the early pace with a lap of 1:22.019, with Max slotting into second place, just over two-tenths of a second off the pace of the Mercedes driver. Checo meanwhile found himself sixth after the early runs thanks to a lap of 1:23.224. However, as better times came in he began to slip down the order and with six minutes remaining he was in P12.
He bounced back soon after, jumping to fourth with a lap of 1:22.398, but Max was also on track and the Dutchman took P1 and became the first driver under 1m22s thanks to a lap of 1:21.996.
At the other end of the order Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen was the first man eliminated in P16 and he exited ahead of Williams’ Nicholas Latifi, who missed out on a final run, the second Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi, and the Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
Hamilton also put in a late flyer to nudge Max out of 1:21.901 and the Dutchman went through in second place ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who also made a late improvement to push Checo down to fifth place.
Q2
In the first runs of Q2, Hamilton set the pace with a lap of 1:21.682 and while Max initially slotted into P2 he was edged out by AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly who posted a time four-hundredths of a second quicker than the Dutchman’s 1:21.984. Checo, though, was struggling and at the end of the first runs he was languishing down in 12th place. He was sent out on soft tyres for the final runs.
But despite the softer compound, the Mexican again struggled for pace and though he set two personal best times in the opening two sectors, he flagged in the final third of the track and was unexpectedly eliminated in 11th place.
He wasn’t the only usual frontrunner to be ruled out of the top 10 shootout, however. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was eliminated in 13th behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo exited in P14 ahead of the Williams of George Russell.
At the top of the order Hamilton took P1 with his first run time ahead of Gasly with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso in an impressive third place. Max therefore progressed in fourth spot with his medium tyre time of 1:21.984. Also through to the final segment were Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in sixth ahead of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, Norris and Sainz.
Q3
Checo’s unexpected exit left Max as the only Bull in the final top-10 shootout. And though the Dutchman pushed hard, he couldn’t match the pace of Hamilton whose final lap of 1:20.827 was good enough to secure pole by 0.455s ahead of Max.
Valtteri Bottas took third place for Mercedes, with Pierre Gasly an excellent fourth for AlphaTauri, although the Frenchman had a scary moment at the end of his lap when he hit the kerbs hard in turn 15. His front wing collapsed and the debris punctured the AlphaTauri driver’s front right tyre. He did well to hold the car before grinding to a halt on the pit straight. His car was well off the racing line, though, and the yellow flags were withheld.
Fernando Alonso was fifth for Alpine ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. Yuki Tsunoda will line up in eighth place ahead of the second Alpine of Esteban Ocon and the final top 10 position was taken by Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel.
Qatar Grand Prix 2021: Qualifying
WhatMaxSaid
Max VerstappenMax Verstappen
Quote iconI’ll try to do the best I can, as always.Max Verstappen Signature
“It’s been a bit of an up and down weekend so far, I was happy in quali but just not quick enough. I thought I had quite a decent lap but then heard the gap difference and I was a bit shocked, it's been really difficult to match them. In a way I’m happy to be second but the gap to Lewis is very big.
Qualifying has been more of a struggle for us over the past few races so we definitely need to have a look into it. I don’t expect miracles tomorrow but we are on a new track and a lot of things can happen, we never give up. It’s very quick around here so it will be difficult to follow, it also depends on what tyres we will be on and those around us. I’ll try to do the best I can, as always.”
WhatChecoSaid
“It was a crazy qualifying for me, I think we have been there all weekend and after FP3 we were really confident with the changes we were making. We had everything in hand to really have a strong qualifying but we didn’t put it together when it mattered. We changed our approach with the tyre prep going into the evening conditions and we were not able to do the laps we wanted to, I hit a lot of traffic and going out in Q2 is the price we paid, we didn’t put it together when it mattered.
We are a Team so we are all in it together, it is a shame we didn’t make it but we are looking forward to tomorrow now. I think without that issue the pace was in the car, we have been up there all weekend, so I see no reason why we shouldn’t have been there today and therefore can’t fight tomorrow.
It has been a disappointing day but Sunday is what matters and hopefully we are able to recover and minimise the damage. We will try to make overtaking possibly here, I really hope that come race day we can be strong and come through the field to be in the mix for big points.”
WhatChristianHornerSaid
Christian Horner
Quote iconWith both title contenders starting next to each other it should be a great race.Christian Horner Signature
“It’s great to be on the front row with Max, he got the maximum performance out of the car today and has an opportunity down into turn one tomorrow, but it’s going to be very difficult to follow closely after that with the speed of these corners and mount an overtake.
So the first 500m are going to be crucial and then it will come down to strategy, pit stops and reliability, all of those factors, and the tyres are under constant load at this track, so it’s going to be fascinating to see how they last tomorrow.
It’s a shame not to have Checo in the top ten, but it’s a long Grand Prix and he can still be a very important factor for us in the race tomorrow. With both title contenders starting next to each other it should be a great race.”
QatarGrandPrixQualifying
PositionDriverTeamTime
1234567891011
Lewis HamiltonMax VerstappenValtteri BottasPierre GaslyFernando AlonsoLando NorrisCarlos SainzYuki TsunodaEsteban OconSebastian VettelSergio Pérez
MercedesRed Bull Racing HondaMercedesAlphaTauriAlpineMcLarenFerrariAlphaTauriAlpineAston MartinRed Bull Racing Honda
1.20.8271.21.2821.21.4781.21.6401.21.6701.21.7311.21.8401.21.8811.22.0281.22.7851.22.346
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