Qatar GP 2021: The lion is awake…
Lewis Hamilton surged to another vital win, closing in on Max Verstappen, who limited the damage. Qatar was another critical piece in the championship puzzle, with the two rivals now split by eight points in the Dutchman’s favour and two races remaining. There was plenty of speed on track and mountains of spice off it.
It was the first time F1 has raced in Qatar, and given that it was on an old motorbike circuit, it wasn’t half bad. Hamilton claimed pole position in dominant style by nearly half a second to his rival Verstappen and teammate Valtteri Bottas. However, Verstappen and Bottas ignored the yellow flags that came out following a late puncture for Pierre Gasly, resulting in them each receiving a grind penalty.
This left Hamilton, Gasly and the returning legend, Fernando Alonso, as the top three starters. Hamilton waltzed away, seemingly in a league of his own, while Verstappen fought back to finish second from seventh with a tremendous opening lap. Pierre Gasly dropped like a stone with poor pace, allowing his team’s main rivals, Alpine, to make the most of their incredible speed - Fernando Alonso returned to the podium with his teammate, Esteban Ocon fifth. Where were Hamilton and Verstappen’s teammates? Sergio Perez recovered from a poor qualifying to finish fourth, while Bottas looked good to claim third but started a trend of four drivers who had tyre failures at a circuit that gave the tyres no time to relax.
Drama, fightbacks and some of the best ever on the podium - the Qatar Grand Prix certainly delivered. Listen to Joe, Jimmy, and myself discuss it in greater detail here.
Listen on Apple Podcasts here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/aj-on-the-line/id1536626970?i=1000542954033
Listen on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1qq7gYOo53cPCbqW2CCeDi?si=YcI_xSOGStOLG7m4EAet5g
My Awards
Biggest Winner: Alpine
Biggest Loser: Christian Horner
Moment of the Weekend: The Pole lap
Honourable Mention: Lance Stroll
AJontheLine Line of the Week: “They woke up the lion in Interlargos”