Max Verstappen secured a dominant victory for Red Bull at the Qatar Grand Prix, a race marred by controversy due to the new FIA race director's failure to address debris on the track that led to punctures for two cars. Charles Leclerc finished second for Ferrari, with Oscar Piastri taking third place for McLaren. Meanwhile, Lando Norris endured a challenging afternoon, dropping from second to the back of the grid for not slowing under yellow flags, eventually finishing 10th.
The race initially appeared to be a straightforward affair, with Verstappen leading from Norris, and the top ten cars maintaining a steady pace. However, just past the halfway mark, a detached wing mirror from Kevin Magnussen's Haas was left on the track, near the start-finish straight. Despite its presence for over three laps, no action was taken until Valtteri Bottas's Sauber crushed it on lap 34. Shortly after, both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz suffered punctures from the debris, prompting questions about why the race was not neutralized to allow marshals to remove it sooner.
This incident further tarnished the FIA's reputation, coming shortly after the replacement of the former race director, Niels Wittich, with just three races remaining. Wittich, who reportedly did not resign but was sacked, was replaced by Rui Marques, previously the race director for Formula Two and Formula Three. The timing of this change, with three complex races left and an inexperienced race director in place, was questioned by drivers and teams.
The FIA did not comment on the reasons for Wittich's replacement, but the incident occurred during a weekend when Mercedes' George Russell, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, demanded clarity on the situation. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem dismissed these concerns, stating that it was not the drivers' business to know such details. However, the events at the Lusail circuit have likely increased pressure on the president to explain Wittich's departure, as the situation could have led to a serious accident.
The result of the race has tightened the constructors' championship, with McLaren's hopes of winning their first title since 1998 now dependent on the final round in Abu Dhabi. Ferrari has closed the gap to 21 points, with 44 points available in the final race. Hamilton had a particularly difficult afternoon, receiving penalties for a false start and speeding in the pit lane, eventually finishing 12th.
The race was punctuated by several safety car interventions due to on-track incidents, highlighting the importance of effective race direction. Norris's failure to slow under yellow flags, shown when the wing mirror was on the track, resulted in a significant 10-second stop-go penalty that effectively ended his race. Russell finished fourth for Mercedes, with Pierre Gasly fifth for Alpine, Carlos Sainz sixth for Ferrari, Fernando Alonso seventh for Aston Martin, Guanyu Zhou eighth for Sauber, and Magnussen ninth for Haas.
Source link: https://www.theguardian.com
