Formula 1 2021 Qatar Grand Prix results

Gasly lined up second for the start of the race at the Losail International Circuit after penalties for Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas promoted him from fourth place on the grid.
Gasly had not finished a session outside of the top four all weekend, but quickly struggled in the race, dropping back to fifth before pitting early on lap 13, with AlphaTauri committing to a two-stopper.
It ...

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The inaugural Qatar Grand Prix proved to be a significant challenge for the Pirelli tyres due to a combination of high-speed corners and aggressive kerbs at the Losail International Circuit.
During Sunday's race, Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas, McLaren driver Lando Norris and both Williams cars of George Russell and Nicholas Latifi all suffered left-front tyre failures as they attempted what Pirelli ...

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Lewis Hamilton may still be trailing in the 2021 Formula 1 world championship battle, but the Mercedes driver laid down the gauntlet to Max Verstappen and Red Bull with a second dominant victory on the trot in Qatar.
After Verstappen's victory in Mexico, Hamilton has come alive and with two races to go it's still all to play for in the drivers' championship, although a DNF for Valtteri Bottas ...

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Horner received a warning from the FIA stewards after the race in Losail on Sunday for remarks where he accused a "rogue marshal" of having put out double-waved yellow flags in qualifying.
It was those flags that triggered an offence for Max Verstappen, who was handed a five-place grid penalty for ignoring the warning signals.
Horner's comments about the marshal come on the back of the ...

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McLaren driver Ricciardo had qualified a disappointing 14th on Saturday and any chance of recovering was compromised by his team telling him to be very conservative during the first half of the event.
Later in the race he was given the go-ahead to run flat out again, but he had already dropped out contention and he finished out of the points in 12th place.



"After the start we had ...

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Verstappen qualified second on the grid at the Losail International Circuit, missing out on pole position to F1 title rival Lewis Hamilton by four tenths of a second.
But it emerged that Verstappen had set his fastest time while passing through a yellow flag zone at the end of Q3, leading to a summons for Sunday afternoon, four hours before the race.
While Red Bull argued Verstappen's case ...

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The British driver closed to within eight points of rival Max Verstappen at the Qatar GP last weekend after taking a dominant win from pole position.
And with the high-speed Saudi layout already expected to favour the Mercedes car, the Brackley-based squad has confirmed that it will unleash Hamilton's best power unit for the encounter.
The engine is the new one that Hamilton used at the ...

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Horner was called to the Qatar GP stewards after mentioning a ?rogue marshal? in a TV interview when discussing the Q3 yellow flag incident that led to Max Verstappen earning a five-place grid penalty.
The marshal in question waved yellow flags at the last corner in the closing moments of Q3 after Pierre Gasly went over the kerbs, lost his front wing, and suffered a puncture.
Horner ...

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Valtteri Bottas, Lando Norris, George Russell and Nicholas Latifi all had similar looking failures during the race.
Only Latifi was forced to retire immediately as his occurred just after the pit exit, although - after a stop - Bottas was eventually called back into the garage to retire due to the damage he?d sustained.
With this being the first time F1 had visited the Qatar track, there ...

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Hamilton led from lights-to-flag in Sunday?s Qatar Grand Prix to cut Red Bull rival Max Verstappen?s championship lead down to eight points with two races remaining this season.
It marked Hamilton?s second straight win following his victory at Interlagos last Sunday, which came after he started the sprint race in last place following his exclusion from qualifying when his car failed a ...

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Norris was forced to pit with eight laps remaining after his tyre ?blew up?, ending the race as one of four drivers to sustain a puncture.
Valtteri Bottas, George Russell and Nicholas Latifi were also forced to pit due to front-left punctures, but Norris was the only member of the quartet to score points, finishing the race ninth. He had sat fourth prior to his late pitstop.
Speaking to ...

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Horner was summoned to the stewards after the race at Losail on Sunday to face allegations that he had breached the International Sporting Code and damaged the reputation of the FIA and its officials.
It is understood it was related to comments he made before the race to Sky, blaming a "rogue marshal" for having put out the double-waved yellow flags in qualifying which triggered Max Verstappen ...

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Just minutes after the chequered flag came out at Losail, Horner was ordered to visit the stewards? office for alleged breaches of the International Sporting Code.
The two elements of the code ? Article 12.2.1 f) and 12.2.1 k) relate to the standards of conduct that competitors are expected to follow.
It is understood that the action has been taken after Horner and Red Bull?s ...

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The Alpine driver pulled off a one-stop strategy from the second row on the grid at Losail to grab third place behind Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
It was the best result of his comeback season so far and his first podium finish since he came home second for Ferrari at the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Speaking about his feelings after the race, Alonso said: "Yeah, unbelievable. Seven ...

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Hamilton led from start to finish, while Verstappen battled back from a five-place grid penalty to finish second with fastest lap.
Fernando Alonso used a one-stop podium to finish third, braving it out despite a string of front-left tyre failures ? that claimed Valtteri Bottas among others.
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Qatar GP: Hamilton takes dominant win from Verstappen, Alonso


2021 ...

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Fernando Alonso finished third for Alpine after there was late-race drama with tyres letting going for cars trying to get through the race on a one-stop strategy.
At the start, Hamilton immediately moved towards the inside to cover off Pierre Gasly's run into the first corner, swooping ahead of the AlphaTauri as Fernando Alonso closed up behind him.
By covering off Gasly's line, Hamilton had ...

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While analysis of Verstappen's onboard footage from qualifying clearly showed that the Dutchman had passed a double-waved yellow flag for Pierre Gasly's stationary AlphaTauri before finishing his lap, the overall situation was not crystal clear because of the lack of other warnings.
In particular, as Red Bull duly argued with the stewards, the regular yellow warning light panels that are used ...

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The stewards issued a summons for Verstappen on Saturday night after footage emerged of the Red Bull driver not appearing to lift while completing his lap.
Double-waved yellow flags were shown after Pierre Gasly's AlphaTauri car stopped on the start/finish straight after he sustained damage while running wide over the kerb at Turn 15.
Onboard footage from Verstappen's car showed a ...

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Bottas, Carlos Sainz and title contender Max Verstappen were all summoned after qualifying for improving their lap times while yellow flags were out at the end of Q3 in Losail.
Double-waved yellow flags were shown after Pierre Gasly?s AlphaTauri car stopped on the start/finish straight after he sustained damage while running wide over the kerb at Turn 15.
Verstappen passed the double-waved ...

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The Frenchman went over the kerbs at the penultimate corner, breaking the front wing off his car, puncturing the right front tyre, and damaging the floor.
At the time, he was up on Valtteri Bottas, who claimed third on the grid, but despite not getting his final lap in he still qualified an impressive fourth.
"Quali has been amazing, the whole weekend so far has been really really good," he ...

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The all-new street circuit is being built on the Jeddah Corniche, and construction work looks set to roll on all the way up until the F1 circus arrives.
While some of the infrastructure around the Jeddah circuit is unlikely to be completed in time for this year?s race, the latest images suggest that the track itself is done ? which should at least ensure the event can go ahead.
The new ...

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The McLaren driver was handed a five-second time penalty at the Red Bull Ring in July after the FIA felt that he had forced Sergio Perez off the track as they battled for position at Turn 4 in the race.
The scenario of that incident, with Perez attacking around the outside on the entry and trying to hold his line, has repeatedly been claimed as an example of why there seems to be inconsistency ...

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Hamilton unveiled the new design ahead of this weekend's race in Qatar, where the Losail International Circuit is hosting its first F1 race.
After running the design in practice and qualifying, Hamilton said he intends to use it for the rest of the season ? as F1 closes out the 2021 campaign with a trio of races in the Middle East and in countries that have records on human rights that ...

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The Spaniard earned fifth on the grid in Q3, while his teammate Esteban Ocon took ninth.
Both drivers will start immediately behind a car from AlphaTauri, the team Alpine is battling for fifth in the constructors' championship, adding an extra dimension to Sunday's race.
"I've been positive all weekend about the car," said Alonso. "It felt very nice in FP1. The track is lovely to drive, and ...

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Red Bull raised concerns about the legality of Mercedes' rear wing design last weekend in Brazil after noting Lewis Hamilton's straightline speed advantage over the rest of the field, leading to growing tensions between the title-fighting teams.
Red Bull F1 boss Christian Horner claimed on Friday that marks next to the main plane on the Mercedes rear wing were "from wings that have been ...

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Often these occasions are a matter of routine and they are over fairly quickly, but this one ran on for a while as the discussion quickly turned to the racing rules, and specifically the fallout of the Max Verstappen/Lewis Hamilton incident in the Sao Paulo GP.
That matter had been discussed earlier in the day by the original FIA stewards of the Interlagos event. They rejected the request of a ...

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The two championship protagonists will line up on the front row, with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton on pole position ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Hamilton will have the added advantage of his teammate Valtteri Bottas starting right behind in third position, with the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez only 11th after failing to make it into Q3.
Pierre Gasly will join Bottas on the second row of ...

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Like Max Verstappen, who is also under investigation, both drivers were on their final runs in Q3 when Pierre Gasly had stopped on the start-finish straight.
Having struck a kerb that ripped off the AlphaTauri's front wing and gave him a right front puncture, Gasly had driven slowly around the final corner before stopping near the pit wall.
Verstappen passed a set of double waved yellow ...

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Leclerc suffered an unusually poor qualifying display at the Losail International Circuit, getting no further than 13th in Q2 while teammate Carlos Sainz progressed to line up seventh for Sunday's grand prix.
Afterwards Leclerc was at a loss to explain his struggles, saying he was "very confused" when he saw the gap to the top 10 runners and assumed it was "something quite big, because I just ...

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Verstappen's defensive tactics at Interlagos last weekend, when he crowded title rival Lewis Hamilton off track as they battled for the lead, has been the subject of intense debate over recent days.
At the time, F1 race director Michael Masi and the FIA stewards decided not to investigate Verstappen's actions, and an attempt by Mercedes to seek right of review on that call was rejected in ...

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Hamilton had to start from the back of the grid at last weekend?s sprint race at Interlagos, after the FIA discovered on the Friday night that his DRS did not comply with the regulations.
Inspections of Hamilton's rear wing had uncovered that, in one section, the gap between the elements was wider than the maximum 85mm allowed.
Mercedes claims that the gap was over by just 0.2mm, which it ...

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Verstappen's meeting with the stewards will be at 1pm local time on Sunday.
The Red Bull driver was on his second run in Q3 and attempting to try to knock Lewis Hamilton off the pole spot when Pierre Gasly had stopped on the start-finish straight.
Having struck a kerb that ripped off the AlphaTauri's front wing and gave him a right front puncture, Gasly had driven slowly around the final ...

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The Dutchman has not had the smoothest of weekends, as Red Bull has been battling ongoing problems with his rear wing up until qualifying.
But he remained hopeful that he could pull something special out of the bag to put him at the front of the grid for Sunday's race in Qatar.
Verstappen got within 0.095 seconds of Hamilton on the soft tyres runs in Q1, but could not extract more to ...

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Hamilton will start ahead of the Red Bull of Verstappen and his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.
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Qatar Grand Prix qualifying results: Hamilton on ...

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Red Bull enquired with the FIA about Mercedes? rear wing design over the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend after team boss Christian Horner noted Lewis Hamilton?s ?mind-boggling? top speed at Interlagos.
Horner said on Friday in Qatar that Red Bull was prepared to protest Mercedes as it questions the legality of its design, noting alleged score marks on the main plane of the W12?s rear ...

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But Verstappen disagrees, saying that after the drivers' briefing in Qatar ahead of this weekend's inaugural F1 race at the Losail track, which is understood to have lasted over an hour, that the situation "was in the end pretty clear".
After the Sao Paulo event, stewards ruled that Mercedes' request for a right of review into the decision that meant Verstappen's initial defence at Interlagos' ...

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Leclerc dropped out in Q2 at the Losail International Circuit on Saturday evening, finishing nine tenths of a second off pace-setter Lewis Hamilton's time and over three tenths behind Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz.
Leclerc sat last in the order after his first run in Q2, but told Ferrari over the radio that he had "no idea" where the time was being lost as he felt his car was "quite on the ...

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The Finn had made a strong start to the weekend in Friday practice, and was again on top of the standings in Saturday morning?s final session before qualifying.
However, he said that from the start of the day?s running he had not felt as comfortable as before with his car ? and that explained why he couldn?t match teammate Lewis Hamilton who took pole position.
?It's been a good ...

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Valtteri Bottas finished third, with the final runs in Q3 featuring Pierre Gasly, who ended up fourth getting a dramatic puncture at the end of his final lap.
Hamilton led the way after the opening runs in the final stages with a 1m21.262s, with Verstappen edging ahead of Bottas but still with 0.162s gap to close.
But Hamilton, who ran at the head of the pack for the final fliers, put pole ...

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Alfa Romeo announced earlier this week that it had signed Formula 2 title contender Guanyu Zhou for next season, partnering the incoming Valtteri Bottas.
It ended the hopes of Sauber junior Pourchaire, who also races in F2 and currently sits fifth in the championship in his rookie season, of making the leap up to F1 for next year.
Speaking on Friday in Qatar, Alfa Romeo team boss Vasseur ...

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