Written by Owen Bradley
Credit: Qian Jun
FULL PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS
1st Max Verstappen
2nd Oscar Piastri
3rd Lando Norris
4th George Russell
5th Charles Leclerc
6th Fernando Alonso
7th Esteban Ocon
8th Valtteri Bottas
9th Guanyu Zhou
10th Sergio Perez
11th Lance Stroll
12th Pierre Gasly
13th Kevin Magnussen
14th Alex Albon
15th Yuki Tsunoda
16th Nico Hulkenberg
17th Liam Lawson
18th Logan Sargeant
19th Lewis Hamilton
20th Carlos Sainz
F1 Returned to the Losail Circuit in Qatar for the second time, with the inaugural race in 2021 being an iconic one, mostly for a lot of the wrong reasons, but an iconic one nonetheless.
The Grand Prix started with an absolute bang, quite literally. Lewis Hamilton went sweeping around the outside of Turn 1 on his Soft compound tyres, but with George Russell pinched between Hamilton and Verstappen on the inside, he had absolutely nowhere to go and the pair made contact, sending Hamilton straight off and destroying the car in the process, Hamilton was forced to retire from the race - and then proceeded to cross a live race circuit as well, this incident is to be investigated after the race.
Credit: Qian Jun
As the race restarted, Verstappen lead the way and managed to pull out a 2 second lead over Oscar Piastri. Every driver had to pit before Lap 18, a mandatory 3-stop race issued by the FIA due to Pirelli's fears of the tyres failing. Piastri came in, but was released into traffic unfortunately, costing him a few seconds. Alonso, Leclerc and Norris were all battling for position, eventually with Norris overtaking Leclerc eventually, and chasing down Fernando Alonso. McLaren very much, have a lot of pace at Qatar.
George Russell began climbing through the field, as Alex Albon and Liam Lawson picked up early Black and White flags, a warning for Track Limits which F1 Gamers might well be familiar with. Sergio Perez would also pick up a Black and White flag, before even the half distance of the race. Alonso eventually would complain on the radio of the seat burning up.
Credit: Kym Illman
Perez would be the first driver to pick up a penalty for track limits, with many others very close to getting penalties as well. Both McLarens would come in for their second pit stop, Piastri overtaking Albon after a few laps stuck behind him, in the dirty air and affecting his tyres slightly.
With the chess pieces starting to reveal themselves, a lot of drivers using their Medium compound at the start and middle, likely either finishing on the Softs or Hard tyres. George Russell, after that first lap contact, still fighting for a potential podium finish right there in the mix with Alonso, Norris and Leclerc.
Alonso eventually ran wide into Turn 2 after taking slightly too much kerb on the entry, losing a lot of track time and a lot of positions as well. Lando Norris began absolutely flying as well, setting fastest lap after fastest lap and chasing his teammate.
Credit: Clive Rose
Oscar Piastri on the Mediums, began closing ever so slightly to Max Verstappen, who was on the Hards. Incredible pace from the rookie, who has had an excellent weekend. Lando Norris began steadily catching Piastri, as Logan Sargeant retired from the race due to illness.
Perez, Stroll and Gasly would all pick up penalties due to track limits once again, track limits have been a serious issue at the Qatar Grand Prix in 2023. Both McLaren's on the Hards for the ending stint to their race, with Verstappen risking it by going on to the Fast but brittle Soft Compound tyres. Verstappen would eventually lap his own teammate, Sergio Perez which really sums up the story of the season.
Norris was heard on the radio complaining about McLaren's team orders, to maintain position behind Oscar Piastri. Norris evidently didn't want to do this, continuing to set faster and faster laps, with the threat of Russell potentially on the soft compound tyres after his pit stop. Temperatures extremely hot, George Russell was seen trying to get some cool air into his helmet, taking both hands off his steering wheel down the main straight.
Verstappen had an uncharacteristically slow pit stop, which brought Piastri within 5 seconds of the Triple Champion. Norris was only half a second out from Piastri, closing further and further nearly getting into the DRS range.
3 Laps remaining, Piastri ever so slightly closing up to Verstappen, but with Lando Norris right there behind him. Pierre Gasly eventually flew around the outside of Sergio Perez. Verstappen set the Fastest Lap of the race, with Lando Norris closing to within one second of Oscar Piastri, and within DRS range. Verstappen came home to claim his 14th victory of 2023, with Oscar Piastri taking an extraordinary podium, and Lando Norris in P3.
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