After struggling to set the pace in practice on Friday, Lewis Hamilton had said he needed to figure out why he was ‘little bit slow’ at the Losail International Circuit.
Twenty four hour later though, the seven-time world champion had more than figured it out as the Mercedes driver took pole position for the Formula One Ooredoo Qatar Grand Prix with a stunning lap in qualifying Saturday.
At the packed Losail circuit, Hamilton put on a show as the Brit blazed through the fast-flowing track with a stunning 1:20.827 lap to beat his title rival Max Verstappen by a massive 0.455s seconds under the lights.
There could be more good news waiting for Hamilton after Verstappen was summoned to the stewards before Sunday’s race at 5pm after allegedly failing to slow down for double waved yellow flags. The Red Bull driver could be at risk of a grid penalty, if the stewards decide he has fallen foul of the rules, which will delight Hamilton as he trails the Dutchman by 14 points in championship race with three races remaining.
Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas will line up in third place after what was a below-par qualifying for the Finn after having topped the second practice on Thursday. Later Bottas along with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was also asked to make an appearance in front of the stewards Sunday afternoon over their alleged passing of single waved yellow flags.
Meanwhile, Hamilton was in a league of his own Saturday as the 36-year-old was the quickest in both Q1 and Q2 before going out all guns blazing in the Q3. This was Hamilton's 102nd career pole but his first since Hungary almost four months ago.
Hamilton, who revealed he was suffering with a stomach ache for several days, was surprised with the pace of his car Saturday. “It was really beautiful out there today, especially under the night lights,” he said. “I didn’t know that I was going to gain as much as time as I did on that last lap – normally it's a bit of a struggle with the second run in Q3, but the last couple of races, I managed to really put a nice clean lap together, and it felt amazing,” he added.
The Brit was also at a loss of words to explain his huge gap to Verstappen in qualifying. “Of course (I’m surprised by the gap to Red Bull),” Hamilton added.
“The same as in the last race. Probably the last three races in qualifying we've been ahead of them, which has been a bit of a surprise and today I definitely wasn't expecting to have as big a gap as that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Verstappen said he would give it all in the race as he would have to fight Mercedes alone after teammate Sergio Perez dropped out in Q2. “I think (we were) lacking a bit of pace,” said Verstappen.
“Perez was not even in Q3, so it just shows that we are struggling a bit more than normal. But nevertheless, we're still second, so it's all to play for. But of course, I wish we could have fought for more,” he said.
Pierre Gasly for Alpha Tauri will start fourth. The Frenchman, however, had the shine taken off his stunning performance when he ran well wide at the penultimate corner and hit the kerb, which shattered his front wing and led to a puncture. That forced some drivers to back out of their final results, though Fernando Alonso’s first effort was still good enough for a very impressive fifth in what is his second top-five start in the last five races.
Lando Norris put McLaren sixth, to give them the edge in the tight fight with Ferrari for P3 in the constructors’ championship but Carlos Sainz was only a place behind for the Scuderia, as he out qualified his teammate Charles Leclerc for the third successive race.
Yuki Tsunoda continued his great weekend in Qatar with eighth, putting both AlphaTauris in the top 10 for the fourth time in five races. Esteban Ocon made Q3 for the first time since Russia and will start ninth with Sebastian Vettel closing out the top 10, following his first Q3 in eight races.
Meanwhile, Alonso, who put in his best qualifying performance since his return to Formula 1, was delighted so far with his stint in Qatar. “Happy days!” said Alonso afterwards. “The whole weekend has been great for us. The car seems to perform really well in these long corners. I think we did in Turkey as well, we did in Sochi, and here, so very enjoyable. The Qatar track is unbelievable for Formula 1 cars. Now at night, light cars with low fuel, new tyres, I could be driving all night long!”
Twenty four hour later though, the seven-time world champion had more than figured it out as the Mercedes driver took pole position for the Formula One Ooredoo Qatar Grand Prix with a stunning lap in qualifying Saturday.
At the packed Losail circuit, Hamilton put on a show as the Brit blazed through the fast-flowing track with a stunning 1:20.827 lap to beat his title rival Max Verstappen by a massive 0.455s seconds under the lights.
There could be more good news waiting for Hamilton after Verstappen was summoned to the stewards before Sunday’s race at 5pm after allegedly failing to slow down for double waved yellow flags. The Red Bull driver could be at risk of a grid penalty, if the stewards decide he has fallen foul of the rules, which will delight Hamilton as he trails the Dutchman by 14 points in championship race with three races remaining.
Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas will line up in third place after what was a below-par qualifying for the Finn after having topped the second practice on Thursday. Later Bottas along with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was also asked to make an appearance in front of the stewards Sunday afternoon over their alleged passing of single waved yellow flags.
Meanwhile, Hamilton was in a league of his own Saturday as the 36-year-old was the quickest in both Q1 and Q2 before going out all guns blazing in the Q3. This was Hamilton's 102nd career pole but his first since Hungary almost four months ago.
Hamilton, who revealed he was suffering with a stomach ache for several days, was surprised with the pace of his car Saturday. “It was really beautiful out there today, especially under the night lights,” he said. “I didn’t know that I was going to gain as much as time as I did on that last lap – normally it's a bit of a struggle with the second run in Q3, but the last couple of races, I managed to really put a nice clean lap together, and it felt amazing,” he added.
The Brit was also at a loss of words to explain his huge gap to Verstappen in qualifying. “Of course (I’m surprised by the gap to Red Bull),” Hamilton added.
“The same as in the last race. Probably the last three races in qualifying we've been ahead of them, which has been a bit of a surprise and today I definitely wasn't expecting to have as big a gap as that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Verstappen said he would give it all in the race as he would have to fight Mercedes alone after teammate Sergio Perez dropped out in Q2. “I think (we were) lacking a bit of pace,” said Verstappen.
“Perez was not even in Q3, so it just shows that we are struggling a bit more than normal. But nevertheless, we're still second, so it's all to play for. But of course, I wish we could have fought for more,” he said.
Pierre Gasly for Alpha Tauri will start fourth. The Frenchman, however, had the shine taken off his stunning performance when he ran well wide at the penultimate corner and hit the kerb, which shattered his front wing and led to a puncture. That forced some drivers to back out of their final results, though Fernando Alonso’s first effort was still good enough for a very impressive fifth in what is his second top-five start in the last five races.
Lando Norris put McLaren sixth, to give them the edge in the tight fight with Ferrari for P3 in the constructors’ championship but Carlos Sainz was only a place behind for the Scuderia, as he out qualified his teammate Charles Leclerc for the third successive race.
Yuki Tsunoda continued his great weekend in Qatar with eighth, putting both AlphaTauris in the top 10 for the fourth time in five races. Esteban Ocon made Q3 for the first time since Russia and will start ninth with Sebastian Vettel closing out the top 10, following his first Q3 in eight races.
Meanwhile, Alonso, who put in his best qualifying performance since his return to Formula 1, was delighted so far with his stint in Qatar. “Happy days!” said Alonso afterwards. “The whole weekend has been great for us. The car seems to perform really well in these long corners. I think we did in Turkey as well, we did in Sochi, and here, so very enjoyable. The Qatar track is unbelievable for Formula 1 cars. Now at night, light cars with low fuel, new tyres, I could be driving all night long!”
