Valtteri Bottas drove superbly to eighth place in Qatar. In warm weather, the drivers pushed themselves to the limits. The winner, Max Verstappen, made the race one of the five toughest in his career.
Valtteri Bottas his best result of the season in the Formula Ones, when Alfa Romeo’s Finnish driver finished eighth. Bottas started the race from the second best starting grid of the season, ninth place.
– It was probably the hardest race of my career in terms of temperatures. The humidity was intense. The body doesn’t just freeze. It feels like being in a sauna that you can’t get out of, Bottas said on Viaplay.
A top race for Alfa Romeo for a long time anyway, because team matei Guanyu Zhou grabbed two more points after coming from ninth place.
– It was a really good race from us. We can be satisfied. Cheers up a bit. We also passed Haas in the team points. It was a clean race and the tactics worked, Bottas stated.
At the start of the race, the Mercedes immediately crashed George Russell and Lewis Hamilton crashed. Hamilton fell behind Russell and turned too greedily in front of Russell. After that came a hit. Hamilton’s race ended at the opening corner. Russell was able to continue.
Russell was hot on the radio. Mercedes boss recovering from knee surgery Toto Wolff had to intervene in the game despite not being present in Qatar.
– George, let’s race now! Let’s make the best of this situation, Wolff commented on the team radio.
Hamilton later apologized to Sky Sports for crashing his team and took the situation personally.
– I don’t think that George had the guts to go anywhere in the situation. This was one of those unfortunate situations. I can take responsibility for this because I’m older,” Hamilton said on Sky Sports.
It was really tough to race in Qatar in hot and humid conditions. Williams’ American newcomer Logan Sargeant had to stop the race due to ill health.
Bottas was not surprised by Sargeant’s suspension.
– It’s a miracle that so many made it to the finish line, Bottas said to Viaplay.
Bottas was seen raising his left hand in the cockpit while racing.
– I got air in the cockpit. Otherwise there would be no air. It didn’t help much, but a little, Bottas laughed.
Verstappen celebrated the victory – Sainz was unable to compete
Red Bull Max Verstappen started from the pole position and held the top position throughout the race. Team mate Sergio Perez instead took time penalties for track violations and finished tenth.
The McLarens stung again when the winner of Saturday’s sprint Oscar Piastri was another and Lando Norris third.
The top three also weathered tough conditions. Verstappen held his race among the five toughest in his career.
– This was certainly the hardest race in my life. With three stops, we basically went full speed the whole time. It was like 57 qualifying laps. It was really hard, Australian rookie Piastri, who has been impressive this season, said in a track interview.
In the back room before the podium celebration, the winner Verstappen aptly summed up how tough the race was.
– Is there a wheelchair? Verstappen threw at Piatri and Norris.
Sky Sports published a picture of Lando Norris in the back room on the X-message service, where the Brit was taking oxygen while lying on his back.
There was an exception rule in the race, because there had been safety risks with the tires in Qatar. You could drive 18 laps with one set of tires, which means at least four sets of tires were used in the race. Each driver had to make three pit stops or be disqualified.
Ferrari, who was called Red Bull’s toughest competitor before the start of the season, had a difficult weekend. Charles Leclerc was fifth. Carlos Sainz couldn’t compete at all. According to Ferrari, Sainz’s car had suffered a technical fault preventing the race. Ferrari’s spokesperson clarified that it was a leak in the fuel tank.
Qatar GP, final results
Points standings of the teams
Drivers’ point standings