09/10/2023
NEWS STORY
While there were no technical retirements from the Qatar Grand Prix, the overwhelming conditions took their toll on the drivers as it is claimed safety was compromised.
Logan Sargeant eventually had to call it a day after 40 laps, while Esteban Ocon has admitted to throwing up in his helmet just 15 laps into the race.
At Aston Martin Lance Stroll says he was close to fainting every time he went around a corner, while teammate Fernando Alonso, who has contested more races that any other driver in the entire history of the sport, admits to it being one of his toughest.
Such were the conditions that post-race a number of drivers simply got out of their cars and lay down beside them while others were taken to the circuit's medical centre.
"Following Logan's retirement from the Grand Prix, he has been assessed and cleared by the medical team on-site after suffering from intense dehydration during the race," said Williams in a brief statement, "weakened by having flu-like symptoms earlier in the week.
"Alex was also taken to the medical centre to be treated for acute heat exposure," it added. "He has now been assessed and cleared by the medical team."
"It was absolutely brutal, by far the most physical race I've ever experienced," said Grand Prix Drivers' Association director, George Russell. "I felt close to sort of fainting.
"I've never experienced anything like it before," added the Briton, who feels the high temperatures compromised safety. "I asked my engineer to give me encouragement just to try and take my mind away from it.
"I do a lot of heat training in the sauna, so you push your body to the limit, and sometimes you just need to get out of that sauna. That's sort of how I felt from about lap 20. I opened my visor for the whole race, and it was hot air, but it was better than no air."
"That was the hardest fought points that I've ever had to fight for," said Esteban Ocon. "I was feeling ill, lap 15... 16, I was throwing up for two laps inside the cockpit. And then I was like, s***, that's going to be a long race.
"I tried to calm down, I tried to remember that the mental side in sport is the strongest part of your body, and I managed to get that under control, and finish the race. But honestly, I was not expecting for the race to be that hard.
"I can normally do two race distances," said the Frenchman, "even in Singapore. Physically, like muscle-wise and cardio-wise, I'm always fine. I don't know, it was just like 80 degrees inside the cockpit this race. I was trying to guide some air into my helmet, the more I was breathing to try and get everything lower, the more heat that was coming inside the helmet. Honestly, it was hell in there."
"At one point it's not even a physical preparation," agreed Charles Leclerc, "it's just dehydration. It's such a level that your vision is so much worse, your heart rate is going to the stars and it's very difficult to control all of this, so it was really, really difficult."
Adding to the situation was the fact that the steps taken by the FIA over its concern over tyre safety meant that drivers were essentially pushing a qualifying pace for the entire race.
"I think we probably found the limit," said Lando Norris. "I just think it's sad we had to find it this way.
"It's never a nice situation to be in," he added. "Some people are ending up in the medical centre or passing out. It's a pretty dangerous thing to have going on. But it's not a point where you can just go, 'the drivers need to train more' or anything like that. We're in a closed car that gets extremely hot in a very physical race and it's frustrating.
"I guess on TV it probably doesn't look very physical at all. But clearly when you have people who end up retiring, or are in such a bad state, it's too much. For the speeds we are doing is it is too dangerous.
"I know that this race next year is later on in the season and it will be a lot cooler, a few months later, but it's something needs to be thought of. I'm sure we will speak about it because it kind of shouldn't have happened in the first place."
"Extremely hot," added teammate Oscar Piastri. "Even from the beginning, I put my helmet on before the start of the race and I was sweating. It definitely didn't get any better once I was driving!
"Very hot," he added. "It was a combination of a lot of things... the humidity, having three stops meant we were pushing flat out and just the nature of the track, there's a lot of high-speed corners that just naturally take its toll. Definitely the hardest race I've done."
A veteran of 372 grands prix, Fernando Alonso's discomfort was exacerbated by the fact that a technical issue meant his seat was hot, causing the Spaniard to ask for water to be thrown into his cockpit during a pit stop.
"I think for Lance and myself, both of us, we were struggling a little bit with temperature in the seat on the right-hand side," said the Spaniard.
"I got like burned in the first 15 laps so I asked on the radio if they could throw me some water or something at the pit stop, which apparently is not allowed."
Indeed, such a move would increase the car's weight which some wily old racers might use as a means of getting around the minimum mass limit.
While the 2021 Qatar race took place in late November, when temperatures are cooler, the 2024 event is planned for 1 December.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Lusail here.