“Key Points to Watch on Race Day at the Lusail International Circuit:
1. Verstappen’s Pressure: Despite winning the Sprint race and clinching his third drivers’ championship, Max Verstappen faces a threat from George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
2. McLaren’s Challenge: McLaren, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, will face a tougher time starting from lower grid positions due to track limit violations.
3. Sainz and Pérez’s Redemption: Carlos Sainz and Sergio Pérez will be aiming to bounce back after disappointing qualifying sessions for different championship reasons.
4. Stroll’s Turnaround: Lance Stroll, frustrated by poor qualifying, hopes to turn his weekend around and score points for Aston Martin.
5. Tire Concerns and Track Limits: Changes to the track layout were made to prevent tire damage, and track limit violations could result in penalties for drivers.”
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From the newly crowned world champion heading into a fight to the fast drivers charging up the field; And from the battles for the constructors’ championship to the track changes to adapt to, Chris Medland highlights five of the key things to look out for on race day at the Lusail International Circuit…
1. Verstappen faces a threat
Saturday night was time to celebrate for Max Verstappen, as he clinched his third drivers’ championship at the first mathematical opportunity.
READ MORE: Verstappen secures third F1 world title as Piastri takes Sprint victory in Qatar
In the Sprint Shootout, Verstappen was passed by both McLaren drivers, and although he had his best lap time removed for exceeding track limits on his first attempt in SQ3, Verstappen would still have been third on the grid if it had counted.
In the sprint itself, Verstappen was unable to catch up to Oscar Piastri once they both ran first and second in the closing laps and it was the Australian who took the win, while Lando Norris finished third.
That didn’t stop the party for Verstappen, however, as the Dutchman was crowned champion once Sergio Perez retired, and claimed earlier in the weekend that he would still find a way to mark the occasion even with a race in which concentrate the next day. And it is a race in which there could be pressure on several fronts.
The McLaren pair face a tougher time on Sunday (more on that below), but Verstappen didn’t get away with it in the sprint and with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton directly behind him, he will be keen to get away quickly to make sure. Piastri, in particular, cannot re-enter the scene from the beginning to challenge him for the victory.
Qatar Sprint GP 2023: Max Verstappen crosses the line to win his third world championship
2. McLarens in motion
As highlighted in Saturday’s race, McLaren has an extremely fast car in Qatar, continuing its form from Japan, where Lando Norris finished second and Oscar Piastri third. The pair had started in those positions, albeit in the opposite order, at Suzuka, but this time they will not have the same luxury.
Track limits violations in Friday’s Q3 saw Piastri lose his best lap and drop from third on the grid to sixth, and he had only moved up to the top three when Norris, originally second in qualifying, was penalized. in both rounds for the same indiscretion. .
READ MORE: Piastri excited after overcoming ‘very stressful’ Qatar Sprint race to claim first F1 win
Excluding lap time, Norris has to start from 10th place on Sunday and although McLaren is clearly the second-fastest car in terms of pace at Lusail, it is a difficult task trying to climb positions without a significant performance advantage.
Fernando Alonso was one of many drivers to benefit from those lap time eliminations, as he starts fourth, ahead of both McLarens, having originally qualified sixth, and will be the initial target of Piastri and Norris as McLaren look to reduce the gap with Aston even further. Martin in the constructors’ classification.
3. Sainz and Pérez on the charge
There are two other drivers looking to bounce back after disappointing results in qualifying, but with different championship reasons in mind.
For Carlos Sainz, a challenging Q2 session saw him retire without making the top 10, and then Sergio Perez also joined him as one of the big names eliminated early after having his final lap time erased.
Sainz has been in good form since the summer break and has helped Ferrari get closer to Mercedes in the battle for second place in the constructors’ championship, with a gap after the Sprint result of 26 points despite that the Scuderia lost some ground. Saturday.
WATCH: Pérez, Ocon and Hulkenberg crash in Qatar Sprint and give Verstappen his third title
High track temperatures don’t usually favor Ferrari, but they have clearly made progress in recent months and the last time we raced under the lights and in warm conditions, Sainz took victory in Singapore. While a repeat is not on the cards this weekend, any kind of counterattack will help his team’s cause.
Perez may be a little more selfish in his reasons for wanting to make up the points, as he is trying to retain second place in the drivers’ standings. The Mexican failed to achieve a one-two with Red Bull at the final round last year and this season he has a bit of a gap over Lewis Hamilton, but starting from 13th, with Hamilton third, means he has everything to do to stop him. the gap is narrowing this weekend.
4. Walk turning your weekend around
There was clear frustration from Lance Stroll on Friday night when he was eliminated in Q1 and proceeded to take the wheel out of his car before handing over to his performance coach because he wanted to head to the back of the garage to cool off.
His post-qualifying interview (see below) included three questions and a total of eight words in response, as he used a word we would have to censor to describe his emotions after the tough session, and on Saturday things didn’t get any better when Stroll was also eliminated in the first part of the Sprint Shootout.
But he has mostly advanced in races after struggling in qualifying, making up multiple scoring positions in Canada and Hungary, and failing to do the same after starting 18th in Miami.
The Sprint showed some potential for Stroll to repeat that type of performance, as he moved up from 16th to initially finish just three seconds behind teammate Alonso in the 19-lap race (before a time limit penalty in the track), and hopes that this will be carried out. until the race if he wants to help Aston Martin’s cause in the battle with McLaren.
Lance Stroll was left speechless after abandoning the Qatar classification in Q1
5. Stop problems and control limits
An unusual measure was taken on Saturday when the track layout was changed at the exit of Turns 12 and 13 to prevent drivers from using much of the exit curb, with the intention of keeping cars off the highest part. from the curb when traveling at high speeds.
The reason was because Pirelli’s regular Friday night checks highlighted the initial stages of damage to the tire construction across all compounds, and concerns that there could be failure after long periods if the curbs were used. in the same way during the rest of the year. weekend.
READ MORE: FIA announces additional practice sessions and safety measures for Qatar GP weekend
The tire supplier and the FIA worked together to try to find a solution, with an additional 10-minute familiarization session for the drivers before the Sprint Shootout and then a more detailed analysis of the tires after the Sprint.
At the time of writing, Pirelli is carrying out a more detailed analysis of the tires used on Saturday to understand whether the changes have had the desired effect for Sunday’s race to take place as normal.
But if not, then the contingency is to require three pit stops per driver, ensuring there is still room for strategic flexibility, and a maximum stint length of 20 laps on new tyres.
Either way, drivers who use the exit curb too aggressively during the race could risk running into trouble, and track limit penalties could also come into play.
WATCH: DNA of a champion: Verstappen’s journey to win his third F1 world title
There were two penalties in the Sprint after 31 lap times were eliminated in the Shootout and 22 in Friday’s qualifying on the original layout.
Drivers face time penalties if they exceed track limits more than three times during the race.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.verstappen-celebrating-his-title-and-mclarens-on-the-move-what-to-watch-for.2cm1OqaQo5DJ7jVkeMTMjZ.html
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