The 2021 Qatar Grand Prix Thread

[cmlean]

This is the place to discuss everything related to the 20th round of the 2021 season taking place in Qatar between the 19th and the 21st of November.

To submit your 10 'n' Pole Picks for Qatar click here, to register in the competition click here

The event timetable for the Qatar Grand Prix.

Friday
1st Practice 13:30 local time - 10:30 GMT
2nd Practice 17:00 local time - 14:00 GMT

Saturday
Practice 14:00 local time - 11:00 GMT
Qualifying 17:00 local time - 14:00 GMT

Sunday
Race 17:00 local time - 14:00 GMT

[cmlean]

One positive of COVID is the quantity of circuits that have been added to the calendar for the first time or the return by some that haven't been visited for many years. This weekend, we are off to a new circuit in Qatar for their inaugural Grand Prix. This is a prelim to the country being added to the calendar on a 10 year contract commencing in 2023 at a new circuit.

The big question is, "What to expect?" This circuit is a one off. No-one has raced a Formula 1 here before and the circus will not return to this circuit.

Following his domination of Brazil, I really don't see how you can go past Lewis Hamilton for the win. His performance over the whole weekend was superb. Max Verstappen will be left wondering just what happened after controlling the championship through the second half of 2021. The one thing that Max has on his side is points. He has them on the board and Lewis has to overtake him both on the standings and the track.
Valtteri Bottas has performed well following the announcement of his impending departure from the Mercedes camp. He could be what is lacking from the Alfa Romeo team. Antonio Giovinazzi would have to consider himself unlucky to have been given the boot from the team as he has been basically the equivalent of Kimi Raikkonen for most of the season.
Sergio Perez is finally adapting to the Red Bull but shouldn't be a threat to the top 3. He and Daniel Ricciardo have been probably the two drivers who haven't lived up to the hype of their signings to their respective teams. Yes, I realize that both have won races this season but both results are outliers in the results of their 2021 seasons.

[cmlean]

FP1 Results

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Pos	Time		Driver		   Team
1	1:23.723	Max Verstappen	   Red Bull Racing
2	1:24.160	Pierre Gasly	   AlphaTauri
3	1:24.194	Valtteri Bottas	   Mercedes
4	1:24.509	Lewis Hamilton	   Mercedes
5	1:24.648	Yuki Tsunoda	   AlphaTauri
6	1:24.713	Carlos Sainz	   Ferrari
7	1:24.790	Charles Leclerc	   Ferrari
8	1:24.915	Sergio Perez	   Red Bull Racing
9	1:24.972	Esteban Ocon	   Alpine
10	1:25.215	Lando Norris	   McLaren
11	1:25.291	Daniel Ricciardo   McLaren
12	1:25.328	Sebastian Vettel   Aston Martin
13	1:25.688	Nicholas Latifi	   Williams
14	1:25.757	Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
15	1:25.828	Kimi Räikkönen	   Alfa Romeo Racing
16	1:25.871	George Russell	   Williams
17	1:25.905	Fernando Alonso	   Alpine
18	1:26.699	Mick Schumacher	   Haas
19	1:26.712	Lance Stroll	   Aston Martin
20	1:27.500	Nikita Mazepin	   Haas

[cmlean]

FP2 Results

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Pos	Time		Driver		   Team
1	1:23.148	Valtteri Bottas	   Mercedes
2	1:23.357	Pierre Gasly	   AlphaTauri
3	1:23.498	Max Verstappen	   Red Bull Racing
4	1:23.570	Lewis Hamilton	   Mercedes
5	1:23.632	Lando Norris	   McLaren
6	1:23.705	Lance Stroll	   Aston Martin
7	1:23.735	Yuki Tsunoda	   AlphaTauri
8	1:23.787	Sergio Perez	   Red Bull Racing
9	1:24.020	Sebastian Vettel   Aston Martin
10	1:24.033	Carlos Sainz	   Ferrari
11	1:24.041	Esteban Ocon	   Alpine
12	1:24.056	Fernando Alonso	   Alpine
13	1:24.095	Charles Leclerc	   Ferrari
14	1:24.135	Daniel Ricciardo   McLaren
15	1:24.631	Kimi Räikkönen	   Alfa Romeo Racing
16	1:24.954	George Russell	   Williams
17	1:25.072	Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
18	1:25.209	Nicholas Latifi	   Williams
19	1:25.575	Mick Schumacher	   Haas
20	No Time	Nikita Mazepin	   Haas

Nikita Mazepin took no part in the session due to damage to the chassis incurred in the first practice session.
During this session, many cars ran wide over the rumble strips and, often, carbon fibre aero parts were last seen flying off into the distance.

[cmlean]

FP3 Results

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Pos	Time		Driver		   Team
1	1:22.310	Valtteri Bottas	   Mercedes
2	1:22.388	Lewis Hamilton	   Mercedes
3	1:22.651	Max Verstappen	   Red Bull Racing
4	1:22.835	Pierre Gasly	   AlphaTauri
5	1:22.846	Sergio Perez	   Red Bull Racing
6	1:23.048	Carlos Sainz	   Ferrari
7	1:23.186	Fernando Alonso	   Alpine
8	1:23.209	Esteban Ocon	   Alpine
9	1:23.276	Charles Leclerc	   Ferrari
10	1:23.567	Yuki Tsunoda	   AlphaTauri
11	1:23.711	Daniel Ricciardo   McLaren
12	1:23.884	Sebastian Vettel   Aston Martin
13	1:23.895	Lando Norris	   McLaren
14	1:23.923	George Russell	   Williams
15	1:24.154	Lance Stroll	   Aston Martin
16	1:24.246	Kimi Räikkönen	   Alfa Romeo Racing
17	1:24.288	Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
18	1:24.499	Nicholas Latifi	   Williams
19	1:24.680	Mick Schumacher	   Haas
20	No Time		Nikita Mazepin	   Haas

Nikita Mazepin commenced FP3 but had to shut the car down at the end of pit lane bringing out a red flag.

[cmlean]

Qualifying

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Pos	Time		Driver		   Team
1	1:20.827	Lewis Hamilton	   Mercedes
2	1:21.282	Max Verstappen	   Red Bull Racing
3	1:21.478	Valtteri Bottas	   Mercedes
4	1:21.640	Pierre Gasly	   AlphaTauri
5	1:21.670	Fernando Alonso	   Alpine
6	1:21.731	Lando Norris	   McLaren
7	1:21.840	Carlos Sainz	   Ferrari
8	1:21.881	Yuki Tsunoda	   AlphaTauri
9	1:22.028	Esteban Ocon	   Alpine
10	1:22.785	Sebastian Vettel   Aston Martin
________________________________________________________
11	1:22.346	Sergio Perez	   Red Bull Racing
12	1:22.460	Lance Stroll	   Aston Martin
13	1:22.463	Charles Leclerc	   Ferrari
14	1:22.597	Daniel Ricciardo   McLaren
15	1:22.756	George Russell	   Williams
________________________________________________________
16	1:23.156	Kimi Räikkönen	   Alfa Romeo Racing
17	1:23.213	Nicholas Latifi	   Williams
18	1:23.262	Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
19	1:23.407	Mick Schumacher	   Haas
20	1:25.859	Nikita Mazepin	   Haas

Max Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz have been summoned to stewards over possible yellow flag incidents during qualifying.

[cmlean]

Grid

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Pos 	Driver 	 	   Team
1	Lewis Hamilton 	   Mercedes 
2	Pierre Gasly 	   AlphaTauri
3	Fernando Alonso    Alpine
4	Lando Norris 	   McLaren
5	Carlos Sainz 	   Ferrari 
6	Valtteri Bottas    Mercedes 
7	Max Verstappen     Red Bull Racing
8	Yuki Tsunoda 	   AlphaTauri
9	Esteban Ocon 	   Alpine
10	Sebastian Vettel   Aston Martin
11	Sergio Perez 	   Red Bull Racing
12	Lance Stroll 	   Aston Martin
13	Charles Leclerc    Ferrari 
14	Daniel Ricciardo   McLaren
15	George Russell 	   Williams
16	Kimi Räikkönen 	   Alfa Romeo Racing
17	Nicholas Latifi	   Williams
18	Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
19	Mick Schumacher    Haas
20	Nikita Mazepin 	   Haas

Valtteri Bottas penalized 3 grid places for a yellow flag infringement during Q3.
Max Verstappen penalized 5 grid places for a yellow flag infringement during Q3.

[cmlean]

Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Driver		   Team
1	Lewis Hamilton	   Mercedes
2	Max Verstappen	   Red Bull Racing
3	Fernando Alonso	   Alpine
4	Sergio Perez	   Red Bull Racing
5	Esteban Ocon	   Alpine
6	Lance Stroll	   Aston Martin
7	Carlos Sainz	   Ferrari
8	Charles Leclerc	   Ferrari
9	Lando Norris	   McLaren
10	Sebastian Vettel   Aston Martin
11	Pierre Gasly	   AlphaTauri
12	Daniel Ricciardo   McLaren
13	Yuki Tsunoda	   AlphaTauri
14	Kimi Räikkönen	   Alfa Romeo Racing
15	Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
16	Mick Schumacher	   Haas
17	George Russell	   Williams
18	Nikita Mazepin	   Haas
DNF	Nicholas Latifi	   Williams
DNF	Valtteri Bottas	   Mercedes