“It was probably the hardest race. We started from the pit lane to see if we could improve the car (with modifications that made it leave the pit), but the opposite happened: we made it worse. Even Pierre (Gasly) told me the car looked bad, and I told him yes, I know,” were the sad comments, with some humor, from Lewis Hamilton after he finished 17th in the sprint race. The English Ferrari cannot find his way.
There are three drivers with a chance to win the championship this season, but only one can do so on this date. Lando Norris leads with 398 points, and will be enshrined if he ends the weekend more than 25 points ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri, who closed the gap to 22 by winning the sprint. Max Verstappen is 25 years old and needs to outpace the Briton to keep his hopes alive in Abu Dhabi. This classification, given the road conditions, is almost vital.
“We’re not going fast, that’s the most frustrating thing. Unfortunately, when we changed the tires he was behind Stroll and I couldn’t do a clean lap. It was still positive. I think Pierre found more good things in the car. We eased it too much and it didn’t work. We have to see if we can solve the problem for quality,” Colapinto described after the sprint.
“We’re not going fast, that’s the most frustrating thing.” Franco Colapiente analyzes Alpine’s performance in the Sprint Race.
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On a track where it is difficult to overtake a competitor, due to the few overtaking options and two mandatory stops, overtaking at Losail is subject to keeping the car within limits to avoid being penalized. Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) and Italian Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) failed to race in more than three corners, and that meant a five-second penalty. But ironically, they retained fifth and sixth places, given the difference between them and the rest. But these classification errors would mean losing the round, adding sporting drama to the qualifiers.
After starting from pole position, Oscar Piastri led the race from start to finish, achieving a comfortable victory, and the Australian deducted two points in the championship race from his British McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who finished third and was 22 points ahead of him in the championship, two races before the end. Among them was another Englishman, George Russell, who also maintained his starting position. Behind that, changes occurred, as Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull) rose to fourth place, after gaining two positions in the first turns and then losing his speed in the middle of the competition. For him, in the title fight, it was like conceding points to the McLaren drivers, as he got 5 points, three less than Piastri and one less than Norris.
Franco Colapinto started from the pits, like teammate Pierre Gasly, Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll, and finished twentieth and last in the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race. With Alpine breaking through the park barriers to receive adjustments after Friday’s problems, the Argentine used 19 laps as a test bed for qualifying. Pit stops included to change vehicles.
Starting at 3:00 pm. (Argentine time), qualifying for the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix will take place on Sunday at the Losail Circuit. Franco Colapinto takes part in one of the two Alpine cars in qualifying broadcast live on Disney+ and Fox Sports. from NationWe will follow the most important events minute by minute.