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Formula 1 Qatar GP
F1 Grand Prix qualifying results: Hamilton takes Qatar pole
Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix at Losail International Circuit, the 20th round of the 2021 F1 World Championship, ahead of title rival Max Verstappen.
Charles Bradley
Edited: Nov 20, 2021, 7:51 PM
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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 pole from Verstappen
Cla Driver Time Gap km/h 1 Lewis Hamilton
1'20.827 239.622 2 Max Verstappen
1'21.282 0.455 238.281 3 Valtteri Bottas
1'21.478 0.651 237.708 4 Pierre Gasly
1'21.640 0.813 237.236 5 Fernando Alonso
1'21.670 0.843 237.149 6 Lando Norris
1'21.731 0.904 236.972 7 Carlos Sainz Jr.
1'21.840 1.013 236.656 8 Yuki Tsunoda
1'21.881 1.054 236.538 9 Esteban Ocon
1'22.028 1.201 236.114 10 Sebastian Vettel
1'22.785 1.958 233.955 11 Sergio Perez
1'22.346 1.519 235.202 12 Lance Stroll
1'22.460 1.633 234.877 13 Charles Leclerc
1'22.463 1.636 234.868 14 Daniel Ricciardo
1'22.597 1.770 234.487 15 George Russell
1'22.756 1.929 234.037 16 Kimi Raikkonen
1'23.156 2.329 232.911 17 Nicholas Latifi
1'23.213 2.386 232.752 18 Antonio Giovinazzi
1'23.262 2.435 232.615 19 Mick Schumacher
1'23.407 2.580 232.210 20 Nikita Mazepin
1'25.859 5.032 225.579 View full results
What happened in Q1?
Hamilton set the early bar in Q1, lapping in 1m22.019s, two tenths clear of Verstappen. After a poor first run, Bottas went P1 by 0.003s on the same set of soft tyres at his second attempt with 1m22.016s.
Verstappen then took the top spot with a lap of 1m21.996s, 0.02s quicker than Bottas, but Hamilton responded on the very last lap of the session, producing 1m21.901s, to beat his title rival by 0.095s.
Falling at the first hurdle were Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo), Nicholas Latifi (Williams), Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) and the Haases of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
Read Also:
- Verstappen: Red Bull struggling more than normal
- Bottas confused by disappearing pace in Qatar GP qualifying
Qatar Grand Prix Q1 results: Hamilton fastest from Verstappen
Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h 1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 6 1'21.901 236.480 2
Max Verstappen Red Bull 6 1'21.996 0.095 0.095 236.206 3
Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 8 1'22.016 0.115 0.020 236.149 4
Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 9 1'22.304 0.403 0.288 235.322 5
Sergio Perez Red Bull 6 1'22.398 0.497 0.094 235.054 6
Fernando Alonso Alpine 6 1'22.422 0.521 0.024 234.985 7
Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 6 1'22.458 0.557 0.036 234.883 8
Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 8 1'22.535 0.634 0.077 234.664 9
Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 9 1'22.549 0.648 0.014 234.624 10
Lance Stroll Aston Martin 9 1'22.551 0.650 0.002 234.618 11
Esteban Ocon Alpine 6 1'22.565 0.664 0.014 234.578 12
Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 8 1'22.688 0.787 0.123 234.229 13
Charles Leclerc Ferrari 9 1'22.742 0.841 0.054 234.077 14
Lando Norris McLaren 7 1'22.839 0.938 0.097 233.802 15
George Russell Williams 10 1'22.863 0.962 0.024 233.735 16
Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 9 1'23.156 1.255 0.293 232.911 17
Nicholas Latifi Williams 10 1'23.213 1.312 0.057 232.752 18
Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 8 1'23.262 1.361 0.049 232.615 19
Mick Schumacher Haas 9 1'23.407 1.506 0.145 232.210 20
Nikita Mazepin Haas 9 1'25.859 3.958 2.452 225.579 View full results
What happened in Q2?
The pole position hunters started this session using the medium tyre, with Hamilton setting the pace on 1m21.682s, three tenths up on Verstappen. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly got in between them, however, using soft tyres after getting through Q1 on mediums.
The second runs were taken with almost all of the runners on softs, apart from Sainz who didn’t improve but made it through to Q3 anyway. Gasly improved to 0.046s off Hamilton’s P1 time, and Fernando Alonso’s Alpine jumped up to an impressive third.
The big surprise here was Red Bull’s Sergio Perez failing to make Q3, despite switching to soft tyres and failing to dislodge Sainz by 0.105s – blaming it on the timing of the run.
Also knocked out at this point were Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari, who reported he had “no idea” what was wrong), Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) and George Russell (Williams).
Read Also:
- Leclerc "very confused" by Qatar GP qualifying struggles after Q2 exit
- Ferrari changes Leclerc's F1 chassis after discovering crack
Qatar Grand Prix Grand Prix Q2 results: Hamilton fastest from Gasly
Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h 1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 6 1'21.682 237.114 2
Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 6 1'21.728 0.046 0.046 236.981 3
Fernando Alonso Alpine 6 1'21.894 0.212 0.166 236.500 4
Max Verstappen Red Bull 6 1'21.984 0.302 0.090 236.241 5
Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 6 1'21.991 0.309 0.007 236.221 6
Esteban Ocon Alpine 6 1'22.012 0.330 0.021 236.160 7
Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 6 1'22.058 0.376 0.046 236.028 8
Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 6 1'22.146 0.464 0.088 235.775 9
Lando Norris McLaren 8 1'22.216 0.534 0.070 235.574 10
Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 6 1'22.241 0.559 0.025 235.502 11
Sergio Perez Red Bull 6 1'22.346 0.664 0.105 235.202 12
Lance Stroll Aston Martin 6 1'22.460 0.778 0.114 234.877 13
Charles Leclerc Ferrari 6 1'22.463 0.781 0.003 234.868 14
Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 7 1'22.597 0.915 0.134 234.487 15
George Russell Williams 6 1'22.756 1.074 0.159 234.037 View full results
What happened in Q3?
On the first run, Hamilton set the pace at 1m21.262s, 0.162s faster than Verstappen’s 1m21.424s and two tenths clear of Bottas’s 1m21.478s.
On the second run, Hamilton unleashed his 1m20.827s, taking pole by 0.455s ahead of Verstappen. Gasly – who was running directly behind Hamilton – then punctured his right-front tyre after smashing a kerb and breaking his front wing.
He ground to a halt before the finish line, causing an intermittent yellow flag in the final sector – causing some drivers to abort their runs. But some drivers, including Verstappen, improved their times.
Read Also:
- Verstappen summoned over yellow flag infringement
- Bottas, Sainz also summoned for Qatar F1 qualifying yellow flag infringement
Bottas will start third, ahead of Gasly, whose opening lap was good enough for fourth, Alonso, Norris, Sainz, Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin).
Qatar Grand Prix Q3 results: Hamilton takes pole
Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h 1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 6 1'20.827 239.622 2
Max Verstappen Red Bull 6 1'21.282 0.455 0.455 238.281 3
Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 6 1'21.478 0.651 0.196 237.708 4
Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 5 1'21.640 0.813 0.162 237.236 5
Fernando Alonso Alpine 6 1'21.670 0.843 0.030 237.149 6
Lando Norris McLaren 6 1'21.731 0.904 0.061 236.972 7
Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 6 1'21.840 1.013 0.109 236.656 8
Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 6 1'21.881 1.054 0.041 236.538 9
Esteban Ocon Alpine 6 1'22.028 1.201 0.147 236.114 10
Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 6 1'22.785 1.958 0.757 233.955 View full results
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