Valtteri Bottas his best result of the season in Qatar, when he finished eighth. The last time the Finn had been as tough in the final results was in the season opener in Bahrain.
The competition in Qatar provided plenty of talking points anyway.
What solved it?
The winner of the F1 race in Qatar was a familiar name, securing his third world championship in Saturday’s sprint Max Verstappen.
The race was decided right at the start, when the Mercedes that started behind Verstappen from the second and third grid 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 and moved up to fourth in the final results.
– Hamilton was overoptimistic and made an error of judgment. Lewis dived into the curve quite daringly. Russell had no room to maneuver when he was next to Verstappen. Lewis got on the road, but it was his own fault, Mildh estimated.
Fresh off the team radio, Hamilton complained that Russell had pushed him off the track. Later, however, the Brit took the situation into his own stride, first in an interview with Sky Sports and then also confirmed the matter on his own social media accounts. Hamilton had watched a replay of the situation and took full responsibility for the crash with his teammate.
– It was pretty great that Hamilton turned around his statement. It was quite clear that Hamilton was the only one who could have done something in the situation. All in all, a pretty amazing solution from such an experienced driver in the first corner, Mildh summed up.
For the same expert, Hamilton was the flop of the F1 weekend in Qatar. The expert reminded that Hamilton is fighting Red Bull for second place in the World Series Sergio Perez against.
– This was a pretty tough fight in that fight, Mildh described.
What spoke?
Tire problems became the biggest talking point of the F1 weekend in Qatar. Officials of the international motor sports federation FIA found safety risks during tire checks on Friday evening. The tires were worn so much on the Qatar track that the risk was too much lowering of the air pressure and dangerous situations.
The background of the problems are the sharp curbs of the Losail track.
Sunday’s race had an exception rule due to safety risks. 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 the driver would be disqualified.
– The competition became really interesting as a result, but this rule caused quite a lot of pressure on the teams. Such a situation has never existed before, Mildh estimates.
The situation boiled over for many reasons. The motorsport media referred to the fact that the tire scandal was the biggest since the US GP in 2005. At that time, only six drivers using Bridgestone tires competed, while Michelin tires had such serious safety risks. Qatar’s situation was therefore very exceptional.
The current F1 drivers were also not satisfied with the handling of the matter, as it took more than half a day for the FIA and the F1 bosses to inform about the problems. For example Valtteri Bottas said that he found out about security risks from the media.
In addition, the wallpaper has also featured the continuation of Pirelli as a tire manufacturer. The latest uproar may be the new reputational blemish.
According to the expert, what kind of mess will this commotion cause?
– There is a lot of discussion about tires anyway. The tire concepts of the formulas have been changed a couple of times in recent years at the request of Pirelli. Pirelli has not been able to make a perfect tire, Mildh reminded of Pirelli’s problems even before the uproar in Qatar.
Another big talking point was the numerous track violations during the race weekend. Track faults seem to come up in formula one at regular intervals in different races. Earlier this season in Austria, the race jury investigated 1,200 possible track violations, found 83 violations and issued 15 penalties.
This weekend, track faults caused confusing situations, when, for example, after the qualifying sessions on Friday from Oscar Piastr was deprived of a ranking among the top three only in the track interview. Piastr’s fastest lap was abandoned due to a track fault several minutes after the end of qualifying.
The attitude of drivers towards lane violations varied in Qatar. Some complained about the borders. Some of them weren’t even mad. Valtteri Bottas was one of the four drivers whose times were not rejected in Friday’s qualifying. Bottas clearly stated on Viaplay that staying inside the tracks is not difficult. According to the Finn, he can stay between the lines if he wants to.
Expert Mildh’s view is similar to Bottas’s.
– On the Qatar track, the track faults were highlighted because there were a lot of fast and short corners. The reason may be trying too hard or the fact that the car’s characteristics are not suitable for the track. In the end games, however, the driver should adapt so that there are no lane breaks, Mildh emphasized.
What about Bottas?
Valtteri Bottas drove a strong weekend and was eighth on Sunday. In the last races, there has been time to doubt whether Alfa Romeo’s upgrade parts have been successful. The team has been left behind in many competitions despite the reforms.
Now, however, Bottas’ teammate too Guanyu Zhou scored points. The Chinese finished tenth, but moved up to ninth after Sergio Perez’s time penalties for several track violations. According to Mildh, Zhou’s ranking underlined Alfa Romeo’s previous better car.
– The best thing was that the Alfa Romeo car was very good. It looked efficient to an outsider’s eyes. Alfa Romeo is one of the few teams that will bring upgrade packages for this season. Now they seemed to work. It cheers up, Mildh marveled.
Even financially, the successes of Bottas and Zhou were significant. Alfa Romeo took eighth place in the teams’ points battle, ahead of Haas. Bottas’ four points would have been enough for that, but Zhou’s points were the icing on the cake. Successes can have far-reaching consequences.
F1 teams receive part of their prize money based on team championship positions. An increase of one place in the team championship can comfortably increase the team’s purse. According to estimates, that means about ten million dollars more in prize money at the end of the season. The amount can also increase from here.
– According to estimates, the performance could have been worth tens of millions of dollars at best, depending on how high Alfa Romeo ranks at the end of the season, Mildh said.
– The money would be important, because the transition to the team under Audi will still take some time. Larger prize money gives resources to develop the car. Now the team’s car has developed very slowly, but this race in Qatar was a good boost.
Alfa Romeo team management your line after the race, that the goal for the rest of the season is to finish seventh in the team battle and even pass Williams. Williams is seven points away.
Surprise?
Jukka Mildh raises as the biggest surprise how the hot and humid conditions in Qatar affected the F1 competitors. of Williams Logan Sargeant had to stop the race early due to feeling unwell. Williams reported that Sargeant was severely dehydrated and had also had flu-like symptoms earlier in the week.
– The gravity of the competition surprised the F1 people. Formula Ones are driven in tough conditions. We are preparing for that. However, when the driver gets out of the car semi-conscious and very nauseous, it’s a big surprise, Jukka Mildh, on the other hand, estimates.
Viaplay’s F1 editor Mervi Kallion according to Williams team manager James Vowles had told him that many drivers were in the same situation as Sargeant.
Kallio stated on Viaplay’s broadcast that many drivers took a really long time to come to the interview area. An experienced F1 reporter thought the situation was exceptional.
When the drivers got to the interview point, according to the RaceFans website, many told about the violent ordeal. Alpine Esteban Ocon said he threw up inside his helmet. Lance Stroll said he was close to passing out in the car.
According to Mildh, the teams did not necessarily manage the heat in Qatar in the best possible way. The expert, who has been involved in the sport for a long time, has seen numerous tight spots, but he does not remember witnessing a situation like Qatar before.
F1 drivers were also seen taking their hands off the wheel and out of the cockpit mid-race, even though they could be driving 300 kilometers per hour at the same time. For example Valtteri Bottas and George Russell caught on TV doing a special move.
– I got air in the cockpit. Otherwise there would be no air. It didn’t help much, but a little, Bottas told Viaplay.
According to Mildh, the background of movements like raising hands is the development of F1 cars.
– The aerodynamics of an F1 car have been massaged to such an extent that there is no proper air flow in the cockpit. That’s a significant thing. The drivers just can’t get air. Many also opened their visors to stay conscious. This development is quite dangerous, says Mildh.
In the past, Singapore has been considered the toughest of the current F1 races, but now there is a new hot and humid number one on the list.
– They say Singapore is nothing compared to Qatar, Mildh concluded.
Qatar GP, final results
Points standings of the teams
Drivers’ point standings