@Max33Verstappen scores 49th-career victory at the #QatarGP. #F1
Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing Honda-RBPT, RB19, resting after taking his 14th win of the season at the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2023, Losail International Circuit, Losail, Lusail City, Doha, Qatar. Image credit to Mark Thompson/Getty Images. Verstappen Qatar GP Victory, 2023 Qatar GP Results. F1 Qatar GP Results. Qatar Grand Prix Results. Verstappen victory 49 Qatar. 2023 F1 US GP Preview, United States GP Preview, F1 US GP Preview.
Verstappen Qatar GP Victory – Newly-crowned three-time world champion Max Verstappen cruised to a dominant victory at the Qatar GP ahead of McLaren pairing Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
After wrapping up his third world driver’s title yesterday with a second-placed finish in the Sprint race, the Dutchman lead from start-to-finish to take his 14th win of the season in the Grand Prix and took the fastest lap bonus point.
When the 57 lap Qatar GP began, pole-sitter Verstappen got a great start into turn one covering off both Mercedes as both F1 W14’s of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton collided into the opening corner with the latter forced to retire and it deployed the safety car.
The replays showed Russell move into the middle alongside Verstappen and Hamilton dived in on the left to sandwich the former into turn one as Russell hit the right rear of Hamilton sending the Mercedes into a spin and out of the race.
Russell came in to stop to replace his front wing and a fresh set of hards.
The incident involving both Mercedes is currently investigated by the stewards.
On lap four, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and AlphaTauri’s Liam Lawson all came in for a fresh set of tyres.
When the race resumed on lap five, Verstappen pulled away from Piastri with Alonso third, Leclerc fourth, Ocon fifth and Norris completing the top six.
Behind them Russell made a move on Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in the battle for 13th at turn five, but the latter covered the Briton.
On the beginning of the sixth lap, Verstappen held a 1.233 second gap over second-placed Piastri, with Alonso in third, Leclerc fourth, Ocon fifth and Norris rounded out the top six.
Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg overtook AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda for eighth place, meanwhile, Russell found his way ahead of Perez to grab 13th after passing the RB19 around the outside into turn five.
Hulkenberg was hit with a ten-second timed penalty by the stewards for an incorrect starting position, with the replays showing the Haas driver parked in Sainz’s vacated grid slot.
On lap nine, Russell breezed his way with DRS assistance passed the Williams of Logan Sargeant and dived on the inside of the FW45 into turn one to take 11th place.
Lap ten saw Verstappen’s lead up to 2.092 seconds over Piastri, with Alonso holding third, Leclerc in fourth, Ocon fifth and Norris rounding out the top six.
A tour later, Ocon pitted from sixth for a fresh set of C2 yellow side-walled mediums and emerged in 17th placed behind the hard tyre-fitted AT04 of Lawson.
Alonso and Gasly stopped from fourth and sixth respectively with both drivers putting on mediums and came out in 15th and 17th in the order as Ocon slotted in between the pairing.
A lap later, second-placed Piastri and fourth-placed Leclerc both pitted for a set of medium rubber and came out in 13th and 14th respectively and behind them Alonso fought his way ahead of Leclerc to snatch the position on the inside from turn four into turn five.
On lap 14, Norris stopped from second, also for mediums, and came out behind Leclerc in 12th place.
A tour later, Russell came in for another fresh set of mediums and emerged in 15th behind Gasly’s Alpine.
On lap 16, race leader and the yet-to-pit Verstappen held a 22.572 gap over Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon and Red Bull’s Perez third after overtaking Alfa’s Zhou Guanyu for third place and Bottas completed the top five.
Behind them, Piastri with DRS on the main straight passed the Aston of Stroll for sixth place on the inside of turn one, whilst Leclerc also with DRS assistance, made his way ahead of Magnussen on the main-straight for eighth.
A lap later, Verstappen pitted from the lead for a fresh set of mediums and came out in second place, whilst his Red Bull team-mate also followed suit and emerged in 16th placed behind Tsunoda.
On lap 19, Albon relinquished the lead and stopped, also for a fresh set of mediums and came out in 14th behind Tsunoda and in-front of Perez.
Norris also forced his way around the outside of Leclerc’s Ferrari around the outside into turn one take seventh place, meanwhile, further ahead Stroll was ordered by his Aston Martin team to let team-mate Alonso ahead into fifth.
On the 20th lap, Verstappen’s lead increased to 7.601 seconds over Piastri with Alonso back up into third place after passing Bottas as Stroll completed the top five.
Lap 21 saw Norris make the same identical move as he did on Leclerc to overtake Stroll for fifth place with DRS assistance and picking up the slipstream to overtake the AMR23 around the outside into turn one.
A lap later, both Bottas and Stroll stopped for a fresh set of hards and mediums respectively and came out in 15th and 16th behind Hulkenberg.
On the 23rd lap, in the battle for seventh, Russell forced his way around Gasly’s Alpine on the outside into turn one and had Ocon in sight with his recovery drive.
The 25th tour saw Verstappen’s lead increased to 8.349 seconds over Piastri with Alonso 6.502 seconds down the track in third place, as Norris was fourth and Leclerc completed the top five.
On the 26th tour, Piastri, Leclerc and Ocon all made their second stops for mediums, and the latter drivers both on hards and emerged in eighth, 14th and 15th respectively.
Lap 27 saw Alonso stop from third place and took on a set of hards and came out in seventh place behind Zhou’s C43 entry.
Fourth-placed Perez was hit with a five-second timed-penalty for multiple track limits violations.
The 28th lap saw Norris pit from second to take on a fresh set of mediums and emerged in seventh clearing Alonso after a solid stint beforehand.
In the fight for fourth place, Piastri got a solid slipstream on the Williams of Albon down the main straight with DRS assistance and overtook the FW45 comfortably on the inside into turn one.
On lap 30, Verstappen’s lead was up to 22.668 seconds over Russell with Perez in third place, Piastri fourth, Albon fifth and Norris rounding out the top six runners.
A tour later, Leclerc around the outside pushed his way ahead of Stroll to take tenth place after being stuck behind the Aston Martin since his pitstop.
Lap 32 saw both Perez and Albon stop with the former serving his five-second penalty, putting on a set of mediums and came out in 12th whilst the latter came out in 14th place then fell behind Tsunoda and down to 15th.
On the 33rd lap, Russell pitted from second and emerged in fifth behind the yet-to-pit Zhou, meanwhile, also suffered a snap of over-steer and had an excursion into the gravel trap and dangerously came ahead of Leclerc, before the Spaniard was overtaken by Leclerc.
Race leader Verstappen stopped on lap 35 for a fresh set of the durable C1 harder compound and came out 8.107 seconds in-front of Piastri with fast lap holder Norris third, Russell made his way ahead of Zhou to take fourth place.
Lap 36, saw the out-of-sync Zhou pit from fifth for a fresh set of hards and came out in 15th place behind Tsunoda.
With 20 laps remaining, Verstappen’s lead was 6.395 seconds over Piastri as Norris held third place, Russell was fourth and Leclerc rounded out the top five positions.
Behind them, both Alpine A523 entries of Ocon and Gasly forced their way ahead of both Bottas and Stroll to take seventh and ninth respectively.
Perez was also hit with another five second timed-penalty for multiple track limit infringements meanwhile, Sargeant retired due to feeling unwell on lap 42.
With 15 minutes remaining, Verstappen lead increased to 10.270 seconds over Piastri with Norris third, Russell fourth and Leclerc completing the top five.
Lap 44 saw the final pit-stop sequence from the top five begin as Piastri and Leclerc both stop for a fresh set of hards and mediums, to come out in third behind Russell and sixth place behind Gasly respectively.
A tour later, Norris came in for a fresh set of hards to emerge in fourth place behind McLaren team-mate Piastri, meanwhile behind them Alonso stopped for mediums to come out behind sixth-placed Zhou.
With ten tours left, Verstappen had a comfortable 25.833 second lead over Russell with Piastri third, Norris fourth and Leclerc rounding out the top five.
With six laps remaining, Russell pitted from second to take on a set of the C3 softer compounds and emerged in fourth behind the McLaren pairing meanwhile, race leader Verstappen also pitted for a set of mediums and came out 6.126 clear of Piastri.
On lap 53, Zhou was the last driver to complete the mandatory pit stops and came out in 12th place behind Gasly and on a set of softs.
Verstappen crossed the line to clinch the Qatar GP victory 4.833 seconds over Piastri and seal his 49th-career win as Norris rounded out the top three in a double podium finish for McLaren.
Mercedes’ Russell recovered to fourth place as Leclerc completed the top five in the sole Ferrari SF-23.
Aston Martin’s Alonso placed sixth and in-front of Alpine’s Ocon who took seventh as Alfa Romeo pairing Bottas and Zhou were eighth and ninth respectively.
Red Bull’s Perez was demoted to tenth following his five-second time penalty hit due to exceeding track limits multiple times.
The other AMR23 entry of Stroll came home 11th and ahead of Alpine’s Gasly who was 12th and Albon who placed 13th in the classification for Williams.
Haas F1 Team’s Magnussen and Hulkenberg finished the Qatar Grand Prix in 14th and 16th respectively as AlphaTauri’s Tsunoda and Lawson ended the race 13th and at the rear as all four drivers were all a lap down from race winner Verstappen.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was ruled out of the Grand Prix an hour before the race began due to a fuel-systems issue.
2023 Qatar GP – The Top Three
2023 Qatar GP Winner – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB19:
“What made the race was my first stint, after that I could manage my pace. We’ll enjoy a little bit, but there’s still a few races to go that I want to win.”
2nd Place – Oscar Piastri, #81, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL60, +4.833s:
“Really impressive pace, definitely the hardest race I’ve ever had in my life. With the three stops, it was basically flat out, so it was 57 qualifying laps. It was intense.”
3rd Place – Lando Norris, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL60, +5.969s:
“Good start, good pace throughout the whole thing. I’m happy, stressful, hot, sweaty, a little bit tired. Also a 1.8s pit stop by the boys. One of the hardest races I’ve done in a way, but it was a fun challenge.”
Formula 1 Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2023 Race Results Classification (57 Laps)
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS | TIME/RETIRED | PTS |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 57 | 1:27:39.168 | 26 |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 57 | +4.833s | 18 |
| 3 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 57 | +5.969s | 15 |
| 4 | 63 | George Russell | MERCEDES | 57 | +34.119s | 12 |
| 5 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 57 | +38.976s | 10 |
| 6 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 57 | +49.032s | 8 |
| 7 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | 57 | +62.390s | 6 |
| 8 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | ALFA ROMEO FERRARI | 57 | +66.563s | 4 |
| 9 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | ALFA ROMEO FERRARI | 57 | +76.127s | 2 |
| 10 | 11 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 57 | +80.181s | 1 |
| 11 | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 57 | +81.652s | 0 |
| 12 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPINE RENAULT | 57 | +82.300s | 0 |
| 13 | 23 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 57 | +91.014s | 0 |
| 14 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 56 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 15 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT | 56 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 16 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | HAAS FERRARI | 56 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 17 | 40 | Liam Lawson | ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT | 56 | +1 lap | 0 |
| NC | 2 | Logan Sargeant | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 40 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 0 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 55 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | 0 | DNF | 0 |
* Provisional results. Note – Verstappen scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.
https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2023/races/1221/qatar/race-result.html
Round 19 of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas for the Formula 1 Lenovo United States Grand Prix 2023 from Friday October 20-Sunday October 22.
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