Autobayng News Team
The Qatar Grand Prix was the usual procession between pit stops, which meant the qualifying sessions was where the drivers could make a difference.
Here’s our verdict on the full field.
Lando Norris
Sprint race start: 3rd
Sprint race finish: 3rd
Qualified: 2nd (1 place behind team mate, +0.108s)
Grid: 2nd (1 place behind team mate)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-M-H)
Finished: 4th (2 places behind team mate)
▼ Missed final lap in sprint race qualifying after letting Albon through
▶ Finished where he started in sprint race as most drivers did
▼ Error on final Q3 lap cost him a shot at pole for the grand prix
▶ Lost place to Verstappen on dirty side of track at start
▶ Couldn’t match Piastri’s pace in grand prix
▼ Potentially damaged car with error at turn 14
▶ Took advantage of Antonelli’s mistake for fourth but couldn’t pass Sainz for last podium place
6/10: Team’s error was costly but he made several of his own
Oscar Piastri
Sprint race start: 1st
Sprint race finish: 1st
Qualified: 1st (1 place ahead of team mate, -0.108s)
Grid: 1st (1 place ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-M-H)
Finished: 2nd (2 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Revelled in high-grip Losail track and converted sprint race pole to victory
▲ Excellent final lap in Q3 took pole off his team mate
▶ Kept his lead at the start
▶ Pushed hard to pull out gap over Verstappen after not pitting under the Safety Car
▶ Fell to second through final pit stop
9/10: Consistently excellent pace squandered by team’s poor strategy
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Charles Leclerc
Sprint race start: 9th
Sprint race finish: 13th
Qualified: 10th (8 places ahead of team mate, -0.343s)
Grid: 10th (7 places ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-M-H)
Finished: 8th (4 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Frustrated by Sainz’s sprint race qualifying tactics as he fell to ninth
▼ First-lap mistake ended slim hope of points in sprint race
▲ Dragged his evil-handling car into Q3
▼ Had to settle for 10th on grid after high-speed double spin
▼ Lost a place to Hulkenberg as lap two began
▶ Promoted to eighth by problems for drivers ahead
7/10: Battled valiantly in a difficult car
Lewis Hamilton
Sprint race start: 18th
Sprint race finish: 17th
Qualified: 18th (8 places behind team mate, +0.343s)
Grid: 17th (7 places behind team mate)
Start: +3 places
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-M)
Finished: 12th (4 places behind team mate)
▼ Eliminated in first round of sprint qualifying
▶ Made almost no progress in sprint race where overtaking was largely impossible
▼ Missed the cut for Q2 again for grand prix
▲ Used soft tyres well at start to gain three places
▶ Delay at first pit stop cost him two places and ended his chance of points
▶ Couldn’t make any progress after first pit stop, though this was true of almost everyone
4/10: Leclerc showed what the Ferrari could do, which wasn’t much
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Max Verstappen
Sprint race start: 6th
Sprint race finish: 4th
Qualified: 3rd (13 places ahead of team mate, -0.289s)
Grid: 3rd (12 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-M-H)
Finished: 1st (9 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Struggled with car’s handling in sprint race qualifying and was unusually out-qualified by Tsunoda
▶ Tsunoda eased his way into fourth at the start of the sprint race, where he finished
▲ Set-up improvements for grand prix qualifying helped him beat Russell to third
▶ Passed Norris at the start and took the lead thanks to McLaren’s strategy
▶ Excellent pace on hard tyres ended McLaren’s hopes of victory
8/10: Rebounded from a difficult start to the weekend to capitalise on McLaren’s error
Yuki Tsunoda
Sprint race start: 5th
Sprint race finish: 5th
Qualified: 16th (13 places behind team mate, +0.289s)
Grid: 15th (12 places behind team mate)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-M-H)
Finished: 10th (9 places behind team mate)
▶ Easily his best qualifying performance of the season so far in sprint race qualifying
▼ Fortunate not to lose a place after penalty for track limits breaches in race
▼ Resumed normal service in qualifying for the grand prix, dropping out in the first round
▶ Gained four places through his first pit stop and collected final point when Hadjar retired
5/10: Pity he couldn’t duplicate his Friday qualifying performance
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Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Sprint race start: 7th
Sprint race finish: 6th
Qualified: 5th (1 place behind team mate, +0.184s)
Grid: 5th (1 place behind team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-M-H)
Finished: 5th (1 place ahead of team mate)
▶ Scraped into final round of sprint race qualifying after Hadjar’s penalty
▲ Qualified seventh and produce race’s only pass of note to overtake Alonso
▼ Missed chance to gain a place from Tsunoda by collecting a track limits penalty of his own
▶ Passed Russell at the start but dropped behind Sainz in the pits
▼ Made a mistake under pressure from Norris which cost him fourth
6/10: Good pace in qualifying but race errors cost him
George Russell
Sprint race start: 2nd
Sprint race finish: 2nd
Qualified: 4th (1 place ahead of team mate, -0.184s)
Grid: 4th (1 place ahead of team mate)
Start: -3 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-M-H)
Finished: 6th (1 place behind team mate)
▲ Superb run in sprint race qualifying allowed him to split the McLarens
▶ Converted front row start into second place finish
▶ Doing an extra preparation lap at end of Q3 appeared not to pay off and left him fourth
▼ Made a particularly poor getaway from the dirty side of the grid, losing three places
▶ Lost another place when he pitted
▶ Gained places from Alonso (spin) and Hadjar (retirement) to finish sixth
7/10: Q3 tactics look very costly in hindsight
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Lance Stroll
Sprint race start: 17th
Sprint race finish: 19th
Qualified: 19th (11 places behind team mate, +0.46s)
Grid: 18th (10 places behind team mate)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: Three-stop (M-M-M-S)
Finished: 17th (10 places behind team mate)
▼ Qualified 13 places behind Alonso for sprint race
▶ Started sprint race from the pits and finished 19th after pitting for softs
▼ Almost half a second slower than Alonso when he went out in Q1
▶ Tried to break the mould with three-stop strategy in race but dropped back in final stint on softs
4/10: Was never going to recover qualifying losses in race at Losail
Fernando Alonso
Sprint race start: 4th
Sprint race finish: 7th
Qualified: 8th (11 places ahead of team mate, -0.46s)
Grid: 8th (10 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +2 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-M-H)
Finished: 7th (10 places ahead of team mate)
▲ Beat the Red Bulls to fourth on the grid for the sprint race
▼ Struggled with tyre degradation in sprint race and couldn’t stay close enough to Antonelli to benefit from his penalty
▲ Reached Q3 but ran out of new soft tyres which left him eighth on the grid
▲ Picked up two places at the start to run sixth
▼ Costly lap 40 spin dropped him to eighth
7/10: Was on course for a superb result before spinning
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Franco Colapinto
Sprint race start: 20th
Sprint race finish: 20th
Qualified: 20th (11 places behind team mate, +0.624s)
Grid: 20th (11 places behind team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (H-M-M)
Finished: 14th (2 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Damaged his floor in practice and qualified last for the sprint race
▶ Unsurprisingly couldn’t make any gains from there
▼ Went off twice in Q1 as he dropped out in the first round again
▶ Started the grand prix from the pit lane after suspension changes
▶ Was happier with car’s balance and picked up a couple of places from delayed rivals
5/10: A few too many off-track excursions but kept it clean in the race
Pierre Gasly
Sprint race start: 19th
Sprint race finish: 18th
Qualified: 9th (11 places ahead of team mate, -0.624s)
Grid: 9th (11 places ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-M)
Finished: 16th (2 places behind team mate)
▶ Struggled for grip on Friday and joined Colapinto on the back row of the sprint race grid
▶ Finished 18th from the pits in the sprint race
▲ Excellent qualifying effort netted ninth on the grid for the grand prix
▼ Tangled with Hulkenberg early in race and dropped to rear of field
6/10: A fine Saturday performance but should have been more circumspect with Hulkenberg
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Esteban Ocon
Sprint race start: 15th
Sprint race finish: 15th
Qualified: 17th (4 places behind team mate, +0.316s)
Grid: 16th (3 places behind team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Three-stop (M-H-M-H)
Finished: 15th
▶ Dropped out in the first round of sprint race qualifying, lacking confidence in the car’s high-speed balance
▶ Collected 15th in uneventful sprint race
▶ Eliminated in Q1, saying the car still felt too loose on entry
▶ Baffled by penalty for allowing his car to move before the start
▶ Dropped to last after delayed first pit stop
5/10: Bearman showed slightly better pace in the Haas
Oliver Bearman
Sprint race start: 12th
Sprint race finish: 12th
Qualified: 13th (4 places ahead of team mate, -0.316s)
Grid: 13th (3 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-M-H)
Finished: Not classified
▶ Beat Ocon into Q2 but couldn’t get in contention for sprint race points
▶ Seventh in Q1 but couldn’t repeat it in Q2, taking 13th on the grid
▶ Was on course for final point before team’s error at his final pit stop
7/10: Deserved to keep his points run going
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Isack Hadjar
Sprint race start: 11th
Sprint race finish: 9th
Qualified: 6th (6 places ahead of team mate, -0.083s)
Grid: 6th (6 places ahead of team mate)
Start: -2 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-M-H)
Finished: 18th (9 places behind team mate)
▼ Turn eight track limits penalty cost him a top 10 start in the sprint race
▶ Started well but lost out in first-lap scrap with Antonelli and Sainz, leaving him ninth
▲ Turn 10 error spoiled his final lap in Q3 but he was still quick enough for sixth
▶ Another driver who lost places from the dirty side of the grid
▶ Moved ahead of Russell through first pit stop
▶ Gained another place when Alonso spun ahead of him
▶ Cruelly lost sixth place when bodywork failure caused a puncture
7/10: Pace was great, errors were minor, luck was absent
Liam Lawson
Sprint race start: 16th
Sprint race finish: 14th
Qualified: 12th (6 places behind team mate, +0.083s)
Grid: 12th (6 places behind team mate)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-M-H)
Finished: 9th (9 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Made a big change to his set-up between practice and sprint race qualifying but was eliminated in first round
▶ Passed Leclerc off-track in the sprint race and returned the position on his way to 14th
▶ Said set-up was better in grand prix qualifying but couldn’t join Hadjar in Q3
▶ Passed by Bearman at the start but regained the place when his rival retired
▶ Team mate’s misfortunate promoted him to ninth
6/10: Never looked quite as settled in his car as his team mate
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Alexander Albon
Sprint race start: 10th
Sprint race finish: 10th
Qualified: 15th (8 places behind team mate, +0.378s)
Grid: 14th (7 places behind team mate)
Start: -3 places
Strategy: Two-stop (H-M-H)
Finished: 11th (8 places behind team mate)
▶ Claimed 10th on the sprint race grid after unexpectedly strong start to weekend for Williams
▶ One of many drivers who finished the sprint race where he started
▶ Reproduced his Q1 time to within a thousandth of a second in Q2 and dropped out
▶ Lost three places at the start on hards
▶ Early Safety Car ruined his strategy and ensured he wouldn’t score points
6/10: Not quite on Sainz’s pace this weekend
Carlos Sainz Jnr
Sprint race start: 8th
Sprint race finish: 8th
Qualified: 7th (8 places ahead of team mate, -0.378s)
Grid: 7th (7 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +2 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-M-H)
Finished: 3rd (8 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Aggravated Leclerc with his tactics on his way to eighth on the sprint race grid
▶ Claimed the final point in the sprint race
▶ Went one better in qualifying for the grand prix
▲ Gained two places at the start to run fifth
▶ Got ahead of Antonelli and Russell through the pits
▶ Out-ran Antonelli despite a problem developed on his car late in the race
9/10: Did a terrific job to deliver Williams’ second podium this year
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Nico Hulkenberg
Sprint race start: 14th
Sprint race finish: 16th
Qualified: 11th (3 places ahead of team mate, -0.181s)
Grid: 11th (8 places ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Finished: Not classified
▶ Had a touch of oversteer on his final lap as he qualified 14th on Friday
▶ Dropped back two places in the sprint race to finish 16th
▶ Happier with his car in grand prix qualifying and narrowly missed a place in Q3
▲ Passed Leclerc soon after the start
▶ He and Gasly could have given each other more space to avoid costly contact
6/10: A missed opportunity in the grand prix
Gabriel Bortoleto
Sprint race start: 13th
Sprint race finish: 11th
Qualified: 14th (3 places behind team mate, +0.181s)
Grid: 19th (8 places behind team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-M-S)
Finished: 13th
▶ Pipped Hulkenberg to 13th on the grid for the sprint race
▶ Gained two places at the start of the sprint race and finished 11th
▶ Qualified 14th for the grand prix but took five-place penalty from Las Vegas
▶ Patiently worked his way up to 13th in a race of few opportunities
7/10: Needed a solid, calm weekend and produced one
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Over to you
Vote for the driver who impressed you most last weekend and find out whether other RaceFans share your view here:
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