The Peninsula
Reigning champion Lewis Hamilton set the Losail International Circuit alight with a dominating performance, clinching pole position for the inaugural Formula One Ooredoo Qatar Grand Prix, yesterday.
In front of a full house, the Mercedes driver stormed to pole with a stunning time of one minute 20.827 seconds under the floodlights, nearly half a second faster than championship leader Max Verstappen in the qualifying.
The Red Bull driver, who leads the seven-time champion by 14 points, will start alongside his title rival in today’s showdown, hoping to come back strongly.
Interestingly, since 2010, the pole-sitter at new circuits has always gone on to win the world championship.
Hamilton, who struggled on the opening day, bounced back with one of his best performances of the qualifying in this season.
“I found a lot of areas in which I could improve, made some changes for P3 and it seemed to work,” said Hamilton after clinching his 102nd pole of his career and fourth of the season.
“That last lap was beautiful. It was a really sweet lap. This track is amazing to drive, it’s incredibly fast, all medium and high-speed corners. It felt good,” said Hamilton.
“I had a bit of a stomach ache from Wednesday but felt fantastic today. I slept well last night so that makes a big difference.”
Red Bull struggled for pace during yesterday’s qualifying with Verstappen team-mate Sergio Perez failing to advance to the final qualifying group and will start at 11th.
Verstappen said: “It’s been just a bit more tricky for us in qualifying. We are struggling a bit more than normal. We’ve never done a race here, so there’s a lot of unknowns.”
After a dominant show in practice, Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas ended up third in the third qualifying. Bottas, who saw a dip in pace in the qualifying was looking for answers.
“It’s been a good weekend so far until qualifying for me. I felt really comfortable and strong in the car but I don’t know really what happened overnight. I could feel in FP3… I was still fastest but I really had to push a lot, I knew I couldn’t find much more,” he said.
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly managed to finish fourth despite breaking his front wing followed by a puncture while two-time champion Fernando Alonso was fifth for the Renault-owned Alpine.
Gasly was happy with his position in the qualifying despite the late setback.
“To be honest, I don’t know what happened. I exited on the kerb and the whole front wing went under the car, blew the whole front right tyre and that was it,” said the Frenchman.
“Unexpected fireworks coming out of the car, but what is most important is the whole qualifying was amazing, and to finish behind the top two teams is just amazing,” he added.
Today’s race, which will start at 5pm, will be followed by two more rounds in Jeddah and Abu Dhabi.
Happy to see F1 finally coming home: Barshim
Meanwhile, Qatar’s Olympic hero Mutaz Barshim said seeing the F1 race in Qatar was a proud moment for him.
“I am extremely happy that Qatar is hosting the Formula 1 Ooredoo Grand Prix. I wish people will come here to Losail International Circuit and enjoy this great opportunity and have a lot of fun,” the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist, who attended yesterday’s proceedings, said.
“I have been to many F1 races, I think five, including in Japan, Monaco, Italy and France. I really enjoy it and I am really happy that it has now come home,” said the high jump superstar.
Former British racing driver, Damon Hill praised organisation of the Ooredoo Qatar Grand Prix.
“We travel the world and we come to the paddock and everything is pretty much the same. I haven’t had much time to spend here in Doha and Qatar outside of Losail Circuit but the facilities are very good and the interest in F1 is quite high,” said Hill.
“The drivers like the track. The Formula One might need a little modification here and there but not much. It’s nice to be under the floodlights,” the 61-year-old added.
Formula One Ooredoo Qatar Grand Prix starting grid
1st row
1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1min 20.827sec
2. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull-Honda) 1:21.282
2nd row
3. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) 1:21.478
4. Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Honda) 1:21.640
3rd row
5. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine-Renault) 1:21.670
6. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:21.731
4th row
7. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Ferrari) 1:21.840
8. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Honda) 1:21.881
5th row
9. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 1:22.028
10. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:22.785
6th row
11. Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull-Honda) - eliminated in Q2
12. Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) - eliminated in Q2
7th row
13. Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) -- eliminated in Q2
14. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) - eliminated in Q2
8th row
15. George Russell (GBR/Williams-Mercedes) - eliminated in Q2
16. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari) - eliminated in Q1
9th row
17. Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams-Mercedes) - eliminated in Q1
18. Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA/Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari) - eliminated in Q1
10th row
19. Mick Schumacher (GER/Haas-Ferrari) - eliminated in Q1
20. Nikita Mazepin (RUS/Haas-Ferrari) - eliminated in Q1