Losail, Qatar, Nov 21, : , Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the Qatar Grand Prix at Losail International Circuit.He narrowed the gap to title rival Max Verstappen, Red Bull.
This made the race for drivers’ championships tighter, with only two races remaining. After a disastrous grid drop, Verstappen recovered to place second.Alpine’s Fernando Alonso finished in the last podium spot.
Hamilton started from pole and was able control the race at the front.He also maintained his position to win his second consecutive victory after Brazil.Hamilton’s performance was remarkable, but Verstappen was also impressive.Verstappen was moved from second to seventh place on the grid after he failed to obey double-waved yellow flags during qualifying.
The disappointment was not felt by the Dutch driver, who jumped to fourth at the beginning, before moving quickly up to second as Hamilton crossed the line.
Verstappen won the bonus point for fastest lap, and Hamilton now has eight points.
Hamilton has now 343.5, Verstappen has 351.5 and races in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Abu Dhabi are still to come.
There was also joy at Alpine, as Alonso made his return to the podium after the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix.The Spaniard had driven aggressively to hold off Sergio Perez, Red Bull’s late-race pressure, to finish third.
Perez finished fourth, a good recovery considering he had started P11 while Lance Stroll took P6 for Aston Martin.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were placed P7 and 8.After a McLaren stop, Lando Norris was P9, while Sebastian Vettel claimed the last points-paying spot for P10.Pierre Gasly failed to execute a two-stop strategy, falling from P2 to P11 on the grid, which allowed Alpine to surpass AlphaTauri to take P5 in standings.
It was also a day of for’et at Mercedes’ Valtteri bottas who dropped from P3 down to P6, then fell to 11th at start, before suffering tyre problems mid-race.Williams, George Russell, and Nicholas Latifi were all affected, before Mercedes retired him.
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