The hunger is not satisfied. A week after his triumph in the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship, Max Verstappen is once again at the forefront, having just won the Qatar Grand Prix. This time in front of Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari and Oscar Piastri in a McLaren. “I really didn’t think so,” says Verstappen, “if anyone saw our times in training on Friday, we were far away. In sprints too. And now at the front. Incredible. “I’m so proud of my team.” The Dutchman laughed. The 63rd Grand Prix victory of his career is one of the most curious and at the same time it testifies to the driver’s capacity to appear at the front again, even if he had recently seen himself on the sidelines as a co-driver. How to take the lead in Race wins if pole position is revoked? Verstappen answered in monosyllables but firmly a few minutes before the start: “Brake a little later in the first corner.” No sooner said than done. The new and old world champion shot into the lead past George Russell in the Mercedes a week after winning his fourth title on the “dirtier” side should have, even though neither of them were driving at full throttle. But even second place showed miraculous acceleration: only eighth in the sprint race, and rather slower in training anyway. Red Bull only found its way back on track with a radical change to the car’s set-up. It was enough for the champion to fulfill his claim to leadership on the track, even after the little chaos behind him on the first lap. Verstappen doesn’t like to look back when it affects others anyway. Franco Colapinto (Williams) and Estban Ocon in the Alpine had to park their racing cars after Nico Hülkenberg caused them to spin on cold tires in the Haas, sliding straight ahead in the first corner. The safety car was dispatched and offered Russell (fourth in the race) the opportunity to convert his loss. The next Mercedes coup was canceled. However, in the starting phase he had not only lost the lead but also second place to Lando Norris in the McLaren (tenth). Seven days after Mercedes’ double success with the Brit’s victory ahead of record world champion and teammate Lewis Hamilton (twelfth due to two time penalties), the next coup failed to materialize. The former series winner cannot find the balance. A phenomenon that has accompanied Mercedes for at least two years now. But now that more or less all the top teams have been recorded, one can see that McLaren’s minor fluctuations, some of which were also triggered by the drivers, at the highest level. An exciting factor in the finale of the season with the 23rd Grand Prix and the last one next Sunday in Abu Dhabi (2 p.m. in the F.A.Z. live ticker for Formula 1 and on Sky). You no longer know exactly who will be in front. McLaren was considered the favorite for the desert tour before Doha. Norris played with the competition in the sprint, slowing down at the front on Saturday to allow his teammate Piastri to flatten a rear wing element in the DRS zone. In second place, the Australian was able to keep Russell at a distance in the attack zone (one second) before Norris gave him the victory – for his helpful services in the World Cup fight. Only dominants allow themselves to play games like this with taste. A few hours later, Verstappen raced ahead of everyone in the grid race. Norris seemed as amazed as Verstappen. Since even the serial winner Red Bull is now surprising itself, Formula 1 has an interesting future, at least an exciting battle for the pecking order in 2025. The consistency at the top in the spring has given way to a change of pace with a surprising outcome. Which suggests that the pressure from the competition pushed Red Bull out of its comfort zone and to the limit. More on the topic Verstappen also occasionally allowed himself to be pushed to and beyond the limits of what was permitted and made mistakes. Classic evidence of annoying compression, even in the top class. On Sunday, the racing teams’ willingness to take risks became apparent. Two “flat tires”, one on Hamilton’s car – in eighth place at the time – and one on Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari (sixth) after 34 of 57 laps looked like tire damage. Exaggerated despite the early warning? Or did debris cause a loss of air? The track management sent the safety car back onto the track because sharp-edged parts of the front wing of a Williams littered the track. “Well, we gambled with it a bit,” said Red Bulls sports director Helmut Marko, “we then saw that others had problems, then we came in to prevent tire damage.” “Knowing that Lewis is not happy “When the air seemed to run out, the race began again: for victory and the coveted and lucrative constructors’ title in the last 18 laps. A tough battle of displacement. Verstappen did not let Norris push him off the track, Piastri tried hard to regain third place, which he had lost to Leclerc in the Ferrari, with a wheel-to-wheel duel. Hülkenberg shot offside and did not return. Penalties rained down. Mercedes had to accept three. Russell once failed to maintain the distance behind the safety car, Hamilton was slowed down in the pit lane for a jump start and exceeding the speed limit. “We made too many mistakes. We know that Lewis is not happy (with the car/ed.),” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff to the TV channel Sky: “The car shows this horrible understeer, George also had to accept it, it was a bad one Weekend.” With a typical Mercedes fluctuation: “The car didn’t have the pace from the sprint. We’ve had a mechanical problem all year,” Wolff added: “If the track offers little grip when it’s cold, then the car is wonderfully balanced and the others have the problem.” While Hamilton is frustrated at the end of the field in the meantime circling, Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) pressed Pierre Gasly (Alpine) to make progress in the fight against McLaren, in vain. But Norris helped. Because he had not reduced his speed during a yellow phase, the track commissioners summoned him to the pits so that he could serve the penalty of staying still for ten seconds. The fall back to tenth place took away from the Grand Prix an exciting final spurt Formula 1 but not the showdown between Ferrari and McLaren next Sunday in Abu Dhabi for the title of best racing car designer. McLaren’s lead has shrunk to 21 points. “Today,” said team boss Andrea Stella, “we missed an opportunity.”
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