Max Verstappen Wastes No Time in Qatar with Grand Prix Pole

After topping the table in FP1 Max Verstappen ran 5 tenths faster than George Russell in qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix today at Lusail. In third was 7 time champion Lewis Hamilton who has a chance to salvage second place in the drivers championship this year. Verstappen only needs 3 points to clinch the 2023 Drivers Championship this weekend. However he will first have to contend with the sprint shootout and sprint race on Saturday to determine if the Grand Prix result will have any bearing. Verstappen had the following words after Qualifying, “Great start to the weekend. It’s quite tricky out there, but I’m very happy to be on pole, it’s been a good day for us. Let’s make sure tomorrow we have a good day as well.”

Sergio Perez Loses Out in Qualifying, Again

Unfortunately for Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez. The risk to his second place position in the drivers championship continues to be threatened. The track conditions were variable at Lusail with large amounts of dust and sand blowing on to the track creating inconsistent contact patches throughout the circuit. While most of the drivers seemed to contend with these conditions Sergio Perez didn’t do himself any favors in qualifying. Perez finished in a very underwhelming P13. Perez only holds a 33 point lead in the championship over Lewis Hamilton in the battle for second place. Starting from P13 will be a huge uphill battle for Perez to salvage anything this weekend. This may end up being a damage control weekend if he can’t pull a miracle on Sunday.

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) ran fifth fastest behind a hungry Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) who will be looking to return to podium finishing ways as he closes out the season. Alpine secure a double Q3 finish. A feat that hasn’t come often this season. McLaren also secured a double Q3 finish with Oscar Piastri P6 and Lando Norris P10 claiming the last spot.

Full Qatar Grand Prix Qualifying Results Below

After early week speculation that Daniel Ricciardo may be returning this weekend for the Qatar Grand Prix. It has been confirmed today by Alpha Tauri that Liam Lawson will continue to assume the fill in role for the injured Ricciardo. Ricciardo injured his wrist at the Dutch Grand Prix earlier this year. He under went surgery for the damage shortly after but has not yet reached 100% strength to return to racing. In his absence Liam Lawson is making a name for himself. Some may even go as far to say that he deserves a seat in F1 after out performing teammate Yuki Tsunoda multiple times since assuming the mantle 5 races ago.

Liam Lawson Comments on the Upcoming Race Weekend

“Now we move on to Qatar. I’m not sure how we’ll get on there or how the upgrades will work. I think it’s hard to say because where we struggled in Japan was mainly in the high speed, in Sector 1. We still have more to learn about our new package, and I’m not so sure that Qatar is the type of circuit that will suit our car. Learning takes time, and we’ve got more opportunities in Qatar to try and get the most out of it. However, it’s also a Sprint weekend, so at the same time, that makes it quite tricky, especially in my situation. I’ve never driven here, so going into the sprint weekend will be extra tough.

I drove the Qatar track in the simulator at the end of last week. It’s very fast, a very high-speed circuit and quite unique, and I’ve not seen many tracks like it, as there’s only one low-speed corner in the whole track. The rest is just fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh gear, so I think it’s going to be exciting to drive. With only one Free Practice session, we drivers will have to know where to improve because it’ll get faster at night when it’s much cooler, and we need to know exactly how to extract everything out of the car. I’m expecting it to be tougher than the races we’ve just done.”

After scoring points in the last round in Japan it seemed like a natural decision to allow Lawson to continue his good streak of form while Ricciardo recovers.

Reigning Formula One champion Max Verstappen has dominated the grid this year in F1. With 13 wins in 16 Grand Prix, Verstappen can secure the F1 championship in this weekends Sprint Race at the Qatar Grand Prix by scoring a mere 3 points. To achieve this Verstappen would need to finish P6 or better to clinch the title. Given his form all year we’d expect the title to be decided this Saturday. Verstappen has been the key piece to Red Bull wrapping up the constructors championship at the last grand prix in Japan.

Verstappen Comments on Championship Finish

In a commentary with Racing News 365 Verstappen was asked about winning the title in Qatar. He responded, “No emotion. If it happens on Saturday, Sunday, or the week after, I know that it’s coming. But it’s not something that I’m thinking about too much. Maybe it’s a good thing? A good night out. Might be a bit slower on the reaction time for the lights [on Sunday]. But for me, I don’t really think about it. We’re just experiencing a really amazing year as a team. Also I don’t care where I win it. It’s not about ‘You need to win it five races in advance’ or the last one. I don’t know. It’s just not something that I’m really thinking about.”

One negative aspect of winning the drivers championship in the Sprint race is that there is no podium celebration. The winners celebrate on the track. Such a case would seem underwhelming given the gravity of the accomplishment. Maybe Verstappen doesn’t care about that thought as it appears his focus is on winning the championship no matter how or when it occurs. It would be difficult to envision a situation where Verstappen doesn’t secure 3 points in 5 race weekends. We will stand by until Saturday to see if a champion will be crowned.

Andretti Global has emerged as the only bid left in contention to join the F1 grid as the organization heads into phase 3 of the process. The FIA has outline the process as follows:

• Phase 1: Call for Expressions of Interest
• Phase 2: Application, evaluation and approval process
• Phase 3: Successful applicant referred to FOM for commercial discussions

The FIA received seven applicants at the beginning phase of the approval process. Five moved to phase two. Of the five, four completed the necessary filing and paid the $300,000 administrative fee. After phase three Andretti is now the last organization standing. There had been speculation as to who the front running bid for F1 entry would be but after two other contenders outed themselves as being denied progression forward it was clear that Andretti Global would be the sole front runner. Andretti must now convince the F1 Commercial Rights Holders with Liberty Media that the move makes sense business wise.

FIA President Comments on the Decision to Move Andretti to Phase 3

FIA President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem expressed support for Andretti in the FIA press release identifying Andretti as the front runner.

Michael Andretti had the following statement after the news, “We appreciate the FIA’s rigorous, transparent and complete evaluation process and are incredibly excited to be given the opportunity to compete in such a historic and prestigious championship,” the statement said. “The formation of this distinctly American team is an important moment of pride for all our employees and fans. We feel strongly that Andretti Cadillac’s deep racing competencies and the technological advancements that come from racing will benefit our customers while heightening enthusiasm for F1, globally.”

Competitor Thoughts

To date support for expansion has not been positive amongst the 10 teams already in Formula 1. The biggest reason for this resistance is the split of championship payouts. However, the teams have no say in the remaining proceedings. If Andretti and the FIA can come to a deal we will see them in Formula in either 2025 or 2026. It is rumored that a 2026 entry would be more favorable considering the expiration of the current Concorde agreement set to expire in 2025. For now we sit back and wait to see how negotiation talks go.

All in all Andretti is one step closer to fielding a truly American F1 team. Haas is currently coined as an American based team. However they do no field American drivers and their power unit supplier is Ferrari. America has been a hot bed for new fans over the past three years. It’s clear Andretti Global feels more can be done here.

Despite currently holding second place in the F1 drivers championship. Sergio Perez is seemingly not himself on the track anymore. Perez came into the 2023 season ferocious and ready to bring the fight to Max Verstappen. The pair shared the podium multiple times in the first half of the season however Perez started to fall out of form. The issues began in Monaco where Perez placed outside of the top 10 for the first time of the season.

Perez has had a string of positive results but the fire doesn’t seem to be there anymore. In the last outing at Suzuka in equal machinery Perez was not able to come anywhere near the pace of Max Verstappen. In addition Perez retired from the race in Suzuka. Despite the woes Perez has face recently he still holds second place in the drivers championship. However, with Mercedes knocking on the door Perez only leads by 33 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton. With 5 races left this season Perez is in the hot seat. Mor pressure has come from the fact that Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner stated, “I think Liam, it’s only a matter of time before he gets his opportunity and full-time chance. I think to have the three of them there is very strong for the group.”

Of course this statement doesn’t confirm that Lawson would replace Perez at Red Bull but it could have some merit. Lawson has hit the ground running outperforming Alpha Tauri teammate Yuki Tsunoda on multiple occasions. The feat is not entirely surprising considering Lawson has spend a large amount of time in the RB19 as a test driver. However, as Lawson succeeds the injured Daniel Ricciardo or Tsunoda can’t be happy about Lawson’s early success. Of course the pair aren’t concerned about their seats both having contract through 2024. However with Max Verstappen in his prime form and Perez waning. There may be a seat at Red Bull and Lawson may be in the running. Time will tell and we will keep you update as this story develops.

After a poor outing in Singapore, Max Verstappen wasted no time getting back to business by winning the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. The win marked Verstappen 13th win of the 2023 season. Verstappen also secured the fastest lap of the race securing 26 points on the weekend. Red Bull’s win streak was broken in Singapore but that didn’t matter as the team raised the constructors trophy with 6 more rounds still to be raced. Given that the championship is sorted Red Bull will be putting their efforts into the development of next years car with no further reason to fit upgrades for the RB19. Red Bull have won 15 of the 16 races this season.

Verstappen stated the Following After the Race

“It’s an unbelievable weekend. To win here was great. I think the car was working really well on every [tire] compound. But of course, the most important was also to win the constructors’. So, I’m very proud of everyone working at the track but also back at the factory. We’re having an incredible year.” Verstappen leads the standings with 400 points to teammate Perez’s 223 points. He can clinch the title in Qatar needing only 3 more points in the next 6 race weekend to reach an unpassable number of points by an opponent.

Verstappen got away from the turn 1 drama at the start of the race and was able to navigate a few on track incidents to steer clear of the pack. Behind Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri fought it out with Lando Norris getting the best of his rookie teammate Oscar Piastri. Despite this the double podium for McLaren is part of the stark turn around the team has produced since the mid season break. Early season reliability issues and early retirements plagued the McLaren drivers leaving fans wondering if they’d even be in podium contention in 2023.

Charles Leclerc Keeps Ferrari in the Discussion

Ferrari have had a difficult season struggling to keep up with the Red Bulls. While there have been glimpses of promise nothing ever seems to stick long term. However, Leclerc was able to to play damage control today with teammate Carlos Sainz as the pair finished P4 and P6 on the grid. The finish places Ferrari 20 points behind Mercedes in the Constructors standings. The pressure is on for Mercedes to perform if they want to hold that second spot. The Mercedes finished P5 and P7 scoring 16 points on the weekend. With 6 rounds to go anything can happen. Now that the top spot has been claim our focus will be on following the number 2 and 3 spots in the championship. Both Ferrari and Mercedes are far off from clinching their final positions.

Elsewhere on the grid there were 5 DNFs at Suzuka with Williams suffering from yet another double DNF.

Race Finishing Order

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Lando Norris (McLaren)
3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
6. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
7. George Russell (Mercedes)
8. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
9. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
11. Liam Lawson (AlphaTauri)
12. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
13. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
14. Nico Hülkenberg (Haas)
15. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
    DNF — Alex Albon (Williams)
    DNF — Logan Sargeant (Williams)
    DNF — Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
    DNF — Sergio Pérez (Red Bull)
    DNF — Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)

After a disappointing outing in Singapore last weekend. Verstappen bounced back in true championship leading form when he secured Pole Position at Suzuka. The McLarens and Verstappen have traded fastest laps all weekend through qualifying. However it was the Dutchman Verstappen who set the time to beat 6 tenths fastest than P2 finisher Oscar Piastri. Verstappen had the following words after the qualifying sessions.

“It’s been an incredible weekend so far, especially in qualifying, where you can really push it to the limit, it felt really, really nice. We had a bad weekend in Singapore. I already felt from the preparation we had that this was going to be a good track, but you never really know how good it’s going to be. From lap one it’s been really, really nice. Of course, you try to find little improvements here and there, and I think we did that. To be on pole here is fantastic.”

Charles Leclerc prevented a McLaren/Red Bull cluster at the front finishing P4 in the session ahead of Sergio Perez. Elsewhere on the grid was mostly uneventful. In Q1 Logan Sargeant crashed out again and leave his mechanics a major overhaul to get the car ready for racing day. Liam Lawson almost made it into Q3 but fell just short having to settle for 11th.

Full Japanese Grand Prix Qualifying Results

Max Verstappen ended the Suzuka Grand Prix FP3 session on top of the table. Verstappen set a 1m3 0.267 second lap leading into qualifying. Behind were the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Verstappen bested the two in FP3 but the McLarens looked hungry for more. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez finished P4 behind the McLarens. Charles Leclerc rounded out the top 5 for Ferrari.

Oscar Piastri has inked a new contract extension keeping him with McLaren until 2026. Piastri’s original contract had him locked in with the team until the end of 2024. However, McLaren felt they wanted to invest long term. The team wants to be heavily invested in stability. As reported by F1.com, Team Principal Andrea Stella stated, “It’s fantastic to confirm that Oscar has signed a multi-year extension with the team,” said Team Principal Andrea Stella. “Oscar is an asset to McLaren and constantly impresses with his performance, work ethic and attitude, so it was an easy decision for the team to make.“He has already proved pivotal to the team, so it’s brilliant to have his vote of confidence as we push to win championships again in the future. I look forward to seeing him develop with us as we continue this journey together.”

CEO Zach Brown Also Chimed In

“Oscar is already proving what he can do out on track and has been instrumental in the turn around we’ve had so far this season. He’s fit into the team brilliantly and is really valued by the whole McLaren Racing family. I’m excited to see how he continues to grow both on and off track.”

It is a dream for Piastri having finished multiple races in the points and now being solidified with a seat for the next three years. Piastri said: “I am thrilled to be extending my partnership with McLaren for many years. I want to be fighting it out at the front of the grid with this team and I am excited by the vision and foundations that are already being laid to get us there. The welcome that I have received and the relationships that I have built make this feel like home already. The team’s consistent commitment in me has made me feel incredibly valued and the desire from the team for me to be part of its long-term future made this an easy decision.”

Whether Piastri will be a championship contender in the future is still yet to be determined. We definitely believe he deserves a seat on the grid, but time will tell if he can remain consistent. The F1 calendar is seemingly only getting longer and a few results will not be enough to be in championship contention with Max Verstappen and many others racing in the best form of their lives. It is a nice touch for the sport when the younger generation sees success.

Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) held off a feisty Lando Norris (McLaren) to take the wins at the Singapore Grand Prix. The win ends the dominance by Red Bull in 2023 as the first race this year that red bull did not win. 7 time world champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) finished third for another podium on the year. Charles Leclerc finished fourth. Championship leader Verstappen had a tough race but was able to salvage a P5 finish to round out the top 5.

Sainz was able to capitalize on his pole position finish in qualifying to secure his first win of the season and Ferraris first win in a very long time. The team has been in a drought in recent times not quite finding the race strategy to get themselves back in podium contention. The race was plagued with safety cars that essentially destroyed any early advantage Sainz had built up in the race after pulling away. However, he stayed focused on the task and brought it home. The win didn’t change the champion standings drastically. Lewis Hamilton secured 1 point for the fastest lap of the race. Verstappen will still inevitably clinch the title soon with Sergio Perez an almost sure second place finisher.

Elsewhere on the Grid

Liam Lawson secured his first points finish for Alpha Tauri. It was his best finish of the season securing P9 ahead of veteran teammate Yuki Tsunoda who did not finish the race. Lawson has come off of the reserve list hitting the ground running and we have to imagine the tension in the red bull camp might worsen if Lawson proves to deliver better results than Tsunoda and Ricciardo.

After his nasty crash in qualifying Lance Stroll did not start the race.

More to follow.

2023 Singapore Grand Prix Results