It was a commanding win for Lewis in Qatar, taking the 102nd victory of his F1 career and 81st for the Mercedes F1 Team. This is also the 30th different track he has won at.
As day turned to night, the first-ever Qatar Grand Prix got underway, with both drivers starting on the Medium tyre, Lewis in P1 and Valtteri in P6 after a three-place grid penalty for failing to respect yellow flags in qualifying.
Lewis had a strong start and quickly established a healthy lead. Valtteri struggled off the start and lost ground, falling to P11, but he was quickly moving up the field and making progress.
With Verstappen pitting on lap 17 for the Hard tyre, the Team reacted by changing Lewis' tyres on the next lap, retaining his advantage. The gap between the two fluctuated as they negotiated traffic, but Lewis continued to control the pace.
Valtteri was running a strong recovery back through the field and was running P3, yet to stop, when he suffered a front-left puncture on lap 33. He limped back to the pits, switching to the Hard tyre, but the car damage proved too significant, and he retired on lap 48.
We reacted to Verstappen's second stop, pitting Lewis for Mediums on lap 43. He was then able to stretch out his advantage, eventually finishing the race 25.7 seconds ahead of Verstappen after the Red Bull's late third stop.
Phil Neale, Electronics Technician, accepted the Constructors' trophy on behalf of the Team.
Max Verstappen (351.5 points) leads the Drivers' Championship by 8 points from Lewis (343.5 points) with Valtteri (203 points) in P3. The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team (546.5 points) lead Red Bull (541.5 points) by 5 points in the Constructors' Championship.
Toto Wolff: That was a commanding win for Lewis. He controlled the pace from the front and did everything he needed to do, completely in the zone. The lion got woken up in Interlagos and we saw that today in Qatar! For Valtteri, it was a difficult day, the puncture came out of nowhere, with literally no indication, and unfortunately, he was the first one to pick up the puncture. But while we come away from the race result with mixed emotions, the pace of the car this weekend has been encouraging for the last two races. We know there are still many challenges to come but we're enjoying the ride, when it is so tough, this is exactly why we are in this sport. It's maximum attack for the last two rounds, we've got some points to make up, so this is what we're aiming to do and we're enjoying every minute of it.
Andrew Shovlin: A mixed bag today. On one hand, Lewis showed what he and the car can do over a Saturday and Sunday, his margin in qualifying was truly impressive and even in the race, he only had to do what was required to hold the gap. Valtteri on the other hand had a tough day; we thought he'd be P5 to start which meant the good side but as we were leaving to go to the grid, a second document came out that put us a place further back on the dirty side. That didn't help him get off the line but a poor Turn 1 and 2 dropped him further and by the end of the lap one he was down in P11. From there he mounted a very strong recovery and was getting back into a position where a podium was looking likely. We then had the puncture, that came without warning and at the worst place on track, just coming into the final corner so he had to do the whole lap on three wheels. We couldn't make any headway once we were back out on track as the car had been quite badly damaged, so in the end we decided to retire. We move into the final two rounds with a small margin in the Constructors' and a small deficit in the Drivers'. It's going to be tight, but we've got a car that is capable of doing the job and that's giving us great encouragement. We'll likely need to win both races, but we've got good reason to think our strong form from here can carry into the next two. It's a big push to the finish from here but we're looking forward to the fight and can't wait to get back on track in Saudi Arabia.
Christian Horner: "Today was a big day, I think Max's recovery on the first lap was stunning and his first two corners were sensational. Mercedes had a quicker car with Lewis today, but we were able to come back at them in the second and third stint. Whilst we haven't got quicker, our straight-line speed was competitive today and the fact that Max was able to get the fastest lap before switching to softs was encouraging. Checo was unlucky not to finish on the podium today, I think without the VSC he would have been right with Alonso on that last lap, but he had a great drive and earned us some valuable team points. It's been a long time since Fernando was on the podium so it was also nice to see him up there. We are now just five points behind in the constructors' championship and eight points in front in the drivers' championship, so there are two very big races to come and it's all to play for. We are going to work hard next week and improve the car as much as we can and see what we can do in Jeddah. I'd like to make it clear that marshals do a wonderful job and our sport could not operate without them volunteering their time, so if any offence was caused I unreservedly apologise, my frustration was with the decision that had been made and not with any individual."
Andreas Seidl, Team Principal: "This triple-header didn't go our way. Lando drove a strong race today and looked set for P4 on merit, thanks to a competitive car, good strategy and an excellent pit-stop. A puncture took him out of contention, and he finished P9. When that happened, his Hard tyre had done fewer laps than the Soft tyre did in his first stint, so this was very unexpected. For Daniel, it was always going to be tough to get into the points from P14. He drove a very strong first stint that pulled him up into contention, but then had to save an unusually high amount of fuel. We'll have to investigate why that was required on his side.
"My thanks to the entire team, who have worked incredibly hard, both here at the track and back at the factory, and our colleagues at Mercedes HPP, who have given us excellent support. Everyone has pushed very hard through this intense run of races. We'll go home now, reset, take a weekend off and try to finish the season on a high."
Otmar Szafnauer, CEO & Team Principal: "That was a complex race from a technical point of view, and I want to pay tribute to two brilliant drives, particularly by Lance, who managed tyre wear and pressure from the Ferraris superbly to finish sixth under intense racing throughout all 57 laps. He was the star of our race today. Sebastian was pushed wide at the start by [Valtteri] Bottas, and had to take to the artificial grass to avoid an accident, which dropped him back to P17, having started from a P10 grid slot. He drove hard and consistently well thereafter, ending up back in the points. Our tyre group and strategy team combined to do a fantastic job throughout, both here in Qatar and at Mission Control at the factory, and it is a great feeling for all of us to record our first double points finish since Paul Ricard in June."
Alpine F1 Team today secured an outstanding podium in the inaugural Ooredoo Qatar Grand Prix thanks to a stand-out performance from Fernando Alonso. The double World Champion finished third, his first podium since the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix, to cap a very strong weekend for the team. Esteban Ocon brought further joy and points for Alpine following a fighting fifth position.
Fernando started from third on the grid following pre-race penalties for Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas, but a superb start and overtake on Pierre Gasly catapulted him into second. The Spaniard held onto second until a hard-charging Verstappen ultimately came through to take the position.
Fernando relinquished third to Sergio Perez before a second-stop for the Mexican propelled Fernando back into podium contention. A late Virtual Safety Car gave just the margin he needed to secure his maiden podium for Alpine F1 Team, the second for the Anglo-French team this season, and the 98th of his career.
Esteban moved up four places on his grid slot to finish fifth overall after a battling display. Like Fernando, the Frenchman had a good start, moving into sixth. He had to concede to a charging Perez but moved back up to fifth after his stop and woes for other drivers. He then played the ultimate team game, defending from charging competitors to protect Fernando.
The impressive double-points finish puts Alpine F1 Team 25 points clear in fifth position in the Constructors' Championship with just two races remaining.
Laurent Rossi, Chief Executive, Alpine: "What a fantastic team result. Firstly, a huge congratulations to Fernando on his podium. It marks his first since returning to the team and, I must say, after the season he has had, he truly deserves it. We knew a big opportunity would arise today with the pre-race grid penalties for some cars around us, which propelled us into a great starting position. From there, it was down to him at the wheel to navigate himself into contention, for the team to execute the right strategy by making the calls at the right time and the crew to deliver the perfect pit-stop. All of those elements fell into place and the end result is a deserved one: our second visit to the podium of the season. We must not forget Esteban's equally brilliant drive to finish fifth today. He also enjoyed a superb start, which put him in a great position to score points. He benefitted from other cars two-stopping but still remained calm with others closing in late on to take a very valuable ten points. With today's points haul we extend our lead on Alpha Tauri in fifth to 25 points with two rounds remaining. While this is a healthy advantage, we're not going to get too far ahead of ourselves. We have two races to go and, as we have seen, anything can happen in Formula 1. We aim to build on our consistent performances so far this season - by scoring in 18 of 20 races - in order to cement fifth position by the end of the year."
Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow came away from the first edition of the Qatar Grand Prix with ten points, courtesy of a seventh place for Carlos Sainz and an eighth for Charles Leclerc. It's not quite up to recent points hauls, but it is still useful in consolidating the advantage over the main rivals in the fight for third place in the Constructors' classification. The lead is now 39.5 points, which also means both Ferrari drivers are in with a better chance of finishing fifth in the Drivers' standings.
A very well prepared race. This race was run on the defensive, aware that at this track, the SF21 would probably suffer in terms of tyre wear. With that in mind, race preparation was scrupulous in looking to manage the tyres, while getting the best result possible. Charles and Carlos both looked after their tyres very well, without taking any risks and only pushing when they had to, backed up by the data that was constantly being monitored by the engineers.
A breather before the final push. The race brought to an end this intercontinental triple-header which has gone well for the team, as it now returns to Maranello to recharge the batteries for the final double-header, again in the Middle East: first in Jeddah on 5 December, with Formula 1 making its debut in Saudi Arabia and then in Abu Dhabi on 12 December for the race that traditionally brings the curtain down on the season.
Mattia Binotto: A result to be viewed in light of the championship, which has seen us take another step forward towards the goal we have set ourselves for this final part of the season. We knew we might struggle at this track in terms of tyre wear, as was the case in Paul Ricard for example. We therefore asked our drivers to adopt a cautious approach at all times, without taking risks while trying to make a one-stop strategy work. It was a conservative approach, but given what we saw in the closing stages, it paid off.
The team worked well, having to deal with the strain of this being the third race in as many weekends. The mechanics did an excellent job of changing Charles' chassis in the time allowed so that there were no grid penalties and then again worked well when the drivers came in for a double-stack pit stop. Now we will briefly pause for breath before aiming to finish the season on a high note.
Jody Egginton (Technical Director): "Tonight's race has been a difficult one as both cars struggled with pace and tyre degradation. Yuki's first stint was compromised when a visor tear off became stuck on the rear wing. This caused a loss of load and balance, necessitating the first stop being brought forward so it could be removed, which dropped him further back than ideal. With Pierre we were struggling with balance, as he had high front left tyre wear, meaning he could not follow the cars ahead. So again, we were forced to bring the first stop forward and adapt the strategy to allow tyre wear to be managed. The net result of these issues impacted track positions and we did not have sufficient pace to recover on this occasion. All credit to Alpine, they really made the soft tyre work and in such a tight battle this has made the difference tonight. Obviously, the entire team is disappointed to have lost ground in the battle for fifth in the Constructors' Championship, however there are still two races to go. Although challenging, our objectives remain unchanged and we will be pushing hard to score as many points as we can."
Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN finished the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix in 14th and 15th positions, a result achieved in difficult conditions during the floodlit race. Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi delivered solid performances from the back, executing two really good starts and achieving the most that was possible on the night.
At the end of the first lap, the 16th and 18th places the team held on the grid had turned to 12th and 14th, as the team battled the Ferrari of Leclerc. Kimi and Antonio committed to a two-stop strategy, a choice that would save the team from the spate of punctures that befell some of our rivals as they battled degradation and hard kerbs. This set them up for a comeback drive in which they dispatched the two Haas and the two Williams - particularly of note was Kimi's decisive move on Latifi around the outside of turn one, the two cars coming ever so close to contact.
By the flag, Kimi and Antonio were closing in on the rivals ahead, coming within sight of the McLaren of Ricciardo and Tsunoda's AlphaTauri on the final lap and crossing the line just three seconds behind their opponents.
The race brings this triple-header to an end, a set of races that tested the team: it's back to Hinwil now, to prepare the final outings of the season in Saudi Arabia, another new track on the calendar, and Abu Dhabi.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "We had a better Sunday after a difficult weekend, on a track that has been quite tough for our cars. Our pace through practice, qualifying and the race was affected by some damage we picked up during the sessions, so to pull together a good recovery drive like tonight's, leaving behind the Haas and the Williams, was a positive. Both drivers did really well at the start, produced some good overtakes and in the end we were able to close to within three seconds of Ricciardo and Tsunoda. P14 and P15 was the most we could achieve today and we did it. Now we have a week to regroup after this triple-header, time to prepare for the final two races of the season."
Uralkali Haas F1 Team drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin classified 16th and 18th respectively at the Qatar Grand Prix, Round 20 of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship at the Losail International Circuit.
Schumacher took the start from 19th on the grid on Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires and managed a one-stop strategy, coming in on lap 23 of 57 to switch to Yellow mediums. From there Schumacher brought the car home to record 16th place.
Mazepin lined up from 20th on mediums and also executed a one-stop strategy, pitting on lap 32, switching to the soft tires. Mazepin, who earlier in the weekend lost valuable track time missing FP2 and FP3 completely, would go on to register 18th place, ensuring both Haas VF-21s reached the checkered flag upon Formula 1's maiden visit to Qatar and Losail.
Uralkali Haas F1 Team's 2021 Formula 1 season will continue with the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, from December 3 to 5.
Guenther Steiner: "The race today was one of our better ones this year, if not the best. Both drivers did a good job - Mick was fighting with the Williams and Alfa Romeo's which is unexpected. We didn't get by them but at least we were in the mix, which was good for the whole team to see. Nikita also did a very, very good first part of the race, keeping up, thinking that he only did 15 laps with the car before going into the race and never driving the car with a full fuel tank. With the other Williams stopping earlier and being on a different strategy, it got a little bit difficult therefore he fell back."
George Russell finished 17th in the Qatar Grand Prix, whilst Nicholas Latifi retired due to a punctured tyre. George started 15th and Nicholas 17th, both on the soft Pirelli tyre.
George made one scheduled stop on lap 17 for the hard compound tyre, before a puncture forced a second stop on lap 49, in which he took the soft Pirelli tyre.
Nicholas made an initial stop on lap 18 to take the hard Pirelli compound. Unfortunately, a puncture led to his retirement from the race on lap 51.
Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance: Having lost positions on the opening lap, we were keen on executing a one-stop race, which nearly half the field completed successfully. The first stint tyres were in good condition when we made our stop and so, with management, the one-stop race was viable and was our best opportunity to make progress. The car was working well and both drivers were comfortable and so to suffer the punctures so late in the race was a shame. Nicholas's was especially annoying as it happened shortly after the pit entry and meant that he couldn't negotiate his way back to the pit lane.
Despite being at the final event of a tough triple-header, the team has worked tirelessly and performed well throughout, delivering a good race car to both drivers. We were unfortunate today and deserved better. However, we did a lot of things well and can be pleased with our work this week. We will be back in two-weeks' time for the final events of the season, starting with the challenge of the awesome new circuit in Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix from pole, with two stints on the P Zero Yellow medium C2 tyre and one stint on the P Zero White hard C1. He started on the medium before switching to the hard and then finishing the race on the medium again: predicted beforehand as the fastest strategy.
He finished ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who was following a similar strategy before making a third stop for P Zero Red soft C3 tyres under a virtual safety car to claim an extra point for fastest lap on the very last lap.
Both drivers finished more than 30 seconds ahead of Alpine's Fernando Alonso, who started on the soft from third on the grid and then finished on the hard to complete the podium with just one stop. As a result, the top three drivers on the podium adopted three different strategies.
There was a mix of drivers starting on the soft and the medium tyre, with a mixture of one, two and three stoppers as well. The race started in ambient temperatures of around 27 degrees centigrade and track temperatures of around 30 degrees, with conditions remaining quite stable for the whole race.
Four drivers (Valtteri Bottas, George Russell, Lando Norris and Nicholas Latifi) experienced puntures on their front-left tyres, which could be the result of very high wear combined with high-speed impacts against kerbs that are very aggressive at Losail.
Mario Isola: "With Losail being a new and relatively unknown track, featuring some high energy corners, the teams headed into the race lacking all the information they would ideally want, with only one representative practice session. However, it became clear during the race that a one-stopper was very marginal in terms of tyre wear, requiring a high degree of management. Some drivers encountered tyre problems towards the finish: this was probably due to a combination of very high wear as a result of long stints, and impacts at high speed against some aggressive kerbs, but we'll obviously find out specifically what happened with a full laboratory analysis back at base in Milan. By contrast, Hamilton and Verstappen were able to push to the limit with the strategy that they had selected, finishing more than half a minute ahead of Alonso in third, who made a one-stopper work for him."
