The 2023 Qatar Grand Prix Thread

[cmlean]

This is the place to discuss everything related to the 18th round of the 2023 season taking place in Qatar between the 6th and the 8th of October.

The event timetable for the Qatar Grand Prix.

Friday
1st Practice 16:30 local time - 13:30 GMT
Qualifying 20:00 local time - 17:00 GMT

Saturday
Sprint Shootout 16:00 local time - 13:00 GMT
Sprint Race 20:30 local time - 17:30 GMT

Sunday
Grand Prix 20:00 local time - 17:00 GMT

[cmlean]

FP1 Results

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Pos	Time		Driver		Team
1	1:27.428	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing
2	1:27.762	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari
3	1:27.909	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
4	1:27.919	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin
5	1:28.016	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing
6	1:28.027	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri
7	1:28.171	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas
8	1:28.336	George Russell	Mercedes
9	1:28.380	Oscar Piastri	McLaren
10	1:28.441	Lando Norris	McLaren
11	1:28.550	Logan Sargeant	Williams
12	1:28.590	Alexander Albon	Williams
13	1:28.679	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
14	1:28.690	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin
15	1:28.732	Esteban Ocon	Alpine
16	1:28.821	Pierre Gasly	Alpine
17	1:29.041	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo
18	1:29.106	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo
19	1:29.238	Liam Lawson	AlphaTauri
20	1:29.502	Kevin Magnussen	Haas

[cmlean]

What have we learned from this first and only practice session for the weekend?
The new surface combined with the sand creates a super low grip surface.
There are so many drivers having snaps of oversteer as they either enter or at the mid point of the corner.
Track limits during qualifying will be a problem.
Red Bull, in particular Max Verstappen, will be quick.

[cmlean]

Qualifying

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Pos	Time		Driver		Team
1	1:23.778	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing
2	1:24.219	George Russell	Mercedes
3	1:24.305	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
4	1:24.369	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin
5	1:24.424	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
6	1:24.540	Oscar Piastri	McLaren
7	1:24.553	Pierre Gasly	Alpine
8	1:24.763	Esteban Ocon	Alpine
9	1:25.058	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo
10	No Time		Lando Norris	McLaren
____________________________________________________
11	1:25.301	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri
12	1:25.328	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari
13	1:25.462	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing
14	1:25.707	Alexander Albon	Williams
15	1:25.783	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas
____________________________________________________
16	1:26.210	Logan Sargeant	Williams
17	1:26.345	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin
18	1:26.635	Liam Lawson	AlphaTauri
19	1:27.046	Kevin Magnussen	Haas
20	1:27.432	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo

[cmlean]

The words Track Limits came to the fore with many being affected.
Sergio Perez lost his fast time in Q2 relegating him to a 13th grid position for the race.
Carlos Sainz lost his first time and never fully recovered and will start in 12th.
Lando Norris lost both his times in Q3 white Oscar Piastri lost his fastest time. The McLaren duo will start in 10th and 6th respectively.

[cmlean]

Sprint Qualifying

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Pos	Time		Driver		Team
1	1:24.454	Oscar Piastri	McLaren
2	1:24.536	Lando Norris	McLaren
3	1:24.646	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing
4	1:24.841	George Russell	Mercedes
5	1:25.155	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari
6	1:25.247	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
7	1:25.320	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas
8	1:25.382	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing
9	No Time		Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin
10	No Time		Esteban Ocon	Alpine
__________________________________________________
11	1:25.686	Pierre Gasly	Alpine
12	1:25.962	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
13	1:26.236	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo
14	1:26.584	Liam Lawson	AlphaTauri
15	1:54.546	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Rome
__________________________________________________
16	1:26.849	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin
17	1:26.862	Alexander Albon	Williams
18	1:26.926	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri
19	1:27.438	Kevin Magnussen	Haas
20	2:05.741	Logan Sargeant	Williams

[cmlean]

Again, the magic words were Track Limits.
On top of that, turns 12 and 13 had their track limit lines revised due to concerns of the kerbs causing damage to the tyres over long runs.
The outside width of the track was narrowed by 800mm in these turns.
Drivers were given a short session prior to qualifying to familiarise themselves with the variations to the racing line.

[cmlean]

Sprint Results

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

Charles Leclerc and Lance Stroll received post race 5 second penalties for leaving the track multiple times.

[cmlean]

Race

Code: Select all

Pos	Driver		Team
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing
2	Oscar Piastri	McLaren
3	Lando Norris	McLaren 
4	George Russell	Mercedes
5	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
6	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin
7	Esteban Ocon	Alpine
8	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo
9	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo
10	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing
11	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin
12	Pierre Gasly	Alpine
13	Alexander Albon	Williams
14	Kevin Magnussen	Haas
15	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri
16	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas
17	Liam Lawson	AlphaTauri
DNF	Logan Sargeant	Williams 
DNF	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
DNS	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari