F1 Qatar Grand Prix: 6 winners and 4 losers from qualifying

Qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix is within the books.

Who have been the massive winners, and who nonetheless has some work to do in Sunday’s Grand Prix?

Let’s dive in immediately.

Winner: Max Verstappen

One other qualifying session, one other pole place. Ho hum.

Nonetheless, this offers Verstappen fairly the protection web. He wants simply three factors to clinch his third-straight title, and he can probably choose these up within the F1 Dash race on Saturday.

However, if one thing disastrous occurs on Saturday and he can not come away with these wanted factors, he shall be in nice place Sunday to get the job accomplished.

Loser: Liam Lawson

In what is probably going his ultimate F1 race for the 2023 season, Liam Lawson must struggle by way of the sphere if he’s to return away with factors.

Lawson managed only a P18 in qualifying on Friday, behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda who completed in thirteenth place to advance to Q2.

Nonetheless, Lawson ought to take coronary heart in what he has accomplished since changing an injured Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri. Not solely has Lawson managed to safe factors inside his first few F1 begins, however he reportedly has an inside monitor to a seat in 2025, regardless of the latest information he can be returning to a reserve function for 2024.

One thing tells me Friday’s qualifying session will quickly be forgotten.

Winners: Mercedes

Picture by Clive Rose/Getty Pictures

Within the battle between Mercedes and Ferrari for second, contemplate the state of play “Benefit, Mercedes.”

Carlos Sainz Jr. was eradicated in Q2, and is slated to begin the Grand Prix in thirteenth place. As for Charles Leclerc, whereas he managed to advance to Q3, he may solely handle a sixth-place end.

Then there’s the Mercedes duo. Lewis Hamilton challenged for pole, and really posted the very best time throughout Q2. Whereas he couldn’t duplicate that in Q3, he completed fifth, after which was bumped up into P4 when Lando Norris noticed the lap that put him into P2 deleted for exceeding monitor limits.

He was then bumped up once more when Oscar Piastri noticed a lap time of his personal deleted, pushing Hamilton into P3.

As for George Russell, he’ll begin alongside Verstappen, as he completed third, and was bumped as much as second following Norris’s lap time being deleted.

There’s clearly a protracted option to go between now and the tip of the season, however with simply 20 factors separating Mercedes and Ferrari within the battle for second, each level counts. Friday’s qualifying session provides the Silver Arrows an incredible probability to carry — if not construct on — their present lead.

Loser: Lance Stroll

For the fourth race in a row, Lance Stroll is out in Q1.

Stroll managed only a P17 throughout the first portion of qualifying, and was one of many drivers who noticed a lap time deleted resulting from exceeding monitor limits. You possibly can additionally inform that frustration from Stroll may be boiling over. F1TV cameras caught Stroll as he climbed out of his AMR23, as he appeared to brush away a crew member as he stormed out of the storage.

Stroll is below an amazing quantity of strain at Aston Martin. After the group started the yr in large style, sitting behind solely Pink Bull within the Constructors’ standings, they now discover themselves in a struggle to carry on to fourth place, with a hard-charging McLaren squad approaching quick.

As for Stroll, he has not completed within the factors because the Belgian Grand Prix on the finish of July. If Aston Martin is to carry off McLaren — which appears to be like like a longshot given how the 2 groups are performing for the time being — they may want one thing extra from Stroll.

Winners: Alpine

This has been a tumultuous season for Alpine, each on and off the monitor, however Friday was a stable end result for the group. Alpine put each Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly into Q3, and they’re going to see Ocon begin in P7, and Gasly in P8, within the Grand Prix on Sunday.

That offers the outfit an excellent probability at a double-points end result within the Grand Prix.

Alpine actually appears locked right into a sixth-place end within the Constructors’ Championship. They path McLaren by 88 factors within the standings, and sit 63 factors forward of Williams. However ending the season robust is atop their to-do listing, and Friday’s qualifying session will go a good distance in the direction of reaching that objective.

Loser: Logan Sargeant

As the one driver nonetheless uncertain of his standing for 2024, Logan Sargeant must ship for Williams down the stretch.

Nonetheless, he discovered his qualifying session come to an finish on the loss of life, with teammate Alexander Albon nipping him for the ultimate spot in Q2 simply as Q1 got here to an in depth.

Williams Staff Principal James Vowles has preached endurance with Sargeant, together with just lately when he recorded a video giving the American rookie a large vote of confidence. Nonetheless, Vowles additionally famous that the rookie does have clear markers he must hit if he’s going to safe his seat for 2024.

One wonders if right now’s elimination in Q1 satisfies a kind of markers.

Winner: Fernando Alonso

Picture by Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Pictures

As issues sit proper now, if Aston Martin goes to carry off McLaren for fourth place within the Constructors’ Championship, Fernando Alonso goes to have to pull them to the end line.

Friday, then, was an excellent night time for him in Qatar.

After the laps have been completed and the mud had settled, Alonso discovered himself in P4, which supplies him an excellent probability at banking some much-needed factors for Aston Martin. If you add in the truth that he’ll begin forward of each McLarens? There’s a probability that he truly manages to increase Aston Martin’s present benefit over McLaren on Sunday.

Saturday gives McLaren some possibilities to chop into that lead, however this was an enormous end result for Alonso and, by extension, Aston Martin.

Loser: Sergio Pérez

Qualifying struggles has been the story of Sergio Pérez’s season, together with a stretch earlier within the yr the place he didn’t advance to Q3 in five-straight races.

He missed out on Q3 once more Friday, when a lap time was deleted in Q2 throughout a frenetic end, seeing him qualify in P13.

All of this comes as Pérez’s future with Pink Bull stays one of many simmering storylines round F1. He’s below contract with the group by way of subsequent season, however whether or not he stays with Pink Bull for 2025 and past continues to return into query. Given the power of the RB19 this yr, many view Q3 as a “minimal” end result — and Verstappen is amongst those that have a look at issues that means — however once more, Pérez can not get the RB19 into Q3.

Definitely Pérez could make up some floor within the Grand Prix Sunday, and he additionally has a Dash race tomorrow to financial institution some factors. However may a real struggle for second within the Drivers’ now be underway?

With struggles like this, he might very nicely have a struggle on his arms.

Winner: Valtteri Bottas

Misplaced in all of the drama relating to monitor limits? A powerful efficiency from Valtteri Bottas.

The Alfa Romeo driver pushed into Q3, and completed in ninth place. It was his first Q3 because the Hungarian Grand Prix in July, and comes at a time when he and Alfa Romeo wanted a stable end result.

It stays to be seen if Bottas can have the form of race tempo he’ll want to complete within the factors. In any case, he’ll have Norris, Pérez, and Sainz all beginning behind him, three drivers who appear to have plenty of tempo proper now. However even when he slides out of the factors, this was an incredible end result for him.

Winners: Observe limits

As we noticed in Austria, monitor limits received the higher of many drivers on Friday.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri actually come to thoughts. Norris completed second in Q3, however was dropped to P10 after that lap was deleted for exceeding monitor limits. Piastri believed he was beginning third — and was in the midst of his trackside interview following qualifying — when he was instructed that his lap time had been deleted, dropping him all the way down to sixth.

However they weren’t alone. We talked about a few of the drivers who endured an analogous end result, corresponding to Stroll and Pérez, and there have been others who had lap occasions deleted for exceeding monitor limits throughout qualifying.

With one other qualifying session forward, coupled with each the Dash race and the Grand Prix itself, we now have most likely not heard the final from monitor limits this weekend.