Pole position qualifier Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and the Mercedes GP celebrate at Parc Firm during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Qatar at the Losail International Circuit on November 20, 2021 in Doha, Qatar.
Highlight
- Hamilton won the 102nd pole of his career.
- Hamilton is 14 points behind Verstappen in the championship match.
- Hamilton beat Verstappen by 0.455 s to win pole at the Losel International Circuit.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen qualified 1-2 for the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix, setting up a showdown between Formula One Championship contenders at the start of Sunday’s race.
Hamilton won his career pole 102nd, his fourth of the season and his first since the Hungarian Grand Prix in August. In the championship fight, Hamilton trails Verstappen by 14 points with three races left.
He beat Verstappen by 0.455 seconds on Saturday to win pole at the Losel International Circuit. The seven-time champion said his stomach had been bothering him since coming to Qatar, but a good night’s sleep helped him recover.
Hamilton said his abdominal pain made the opening day at the new circuit difficult, and he was fourth in both Friday’s practice sessions.
“I was really struggling during the first practice and I was really off,” Hamilton said. “I was working until midnight with engineers who always work so late, and I found so many areas that I could improve.”
Mercedes made changes in Saturday’s final practice and Hamilton said qualifying was aided by smart tactics that sent him on a track with less traffic and a stronger lap by the driver.
“That last lap was beautiful, it was a really lovely lap,” Hamilton said. “This track is amazing to drive, it’s incredibly fast. It felt good.”
Verstappen said Red Bull was lacking in pace and noted that teammate Sergio Perez failed to advance to the final qualifying group. Perez will start on 11th.
“It’s been a little more difficult for us in qualifying,” Verstappen said. “We are struggling a little more than usual. We’ve never raced here, so there are a lot of unknowns.”
It is the first race in a 10-year deal between F1 and Qatar. Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes took third place, followed by Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri. Gasly was quick throughout the weekend but a tire puncture slowed him down at the end of qualifying. Fernando Alonso qualified in fifth place and was followed by Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz.
The weekend open with the Brazil GP still the main topic of discussion as Mercedes protested the FIA’s decision not to penalize Verstappen for driving Hamilton wide off-course last week in Sao Paulo.
Mercedes requested a review of the decision, which was denied by the FIA in the middle of Friday’s press briefing between the principals of the two warring teams. It was a tense 30-minute session between Mercedes chief Toto Wolff and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, and both agreed they were not in a relationship. But Horner also publicly questioned the legitimacy of Mercedes.
Horner believed that the rear wing used by Mercedes in Mexico and Brazil was illegal and provided rivals a significant straight line speed advantage. He vowed to oppose Mercedes if the wing was to be reused. Wolff was adamant that Mercedes was legal.
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