Not a race that many are really excited to watch since the circuit itself doesn't bring that much difficulties for the drivers in terms of the geometry of the circuit, its a very fast circuit mostly because its about seventy percent full throttle on a Formula 1 car, I mention this because this circuit was originally design for Moto GP and not to race Formula 1, it was included if I'm not mistaken on 2021 because of the COVID, during those days there were still certain countries mostly in Asia that could not held a Formula 1 race due to all the COVID restrictions so they included Qatar, didn't have a race on 2022 because of the Futbol World Cup and are now back on 2023, the circuit has a ten year contract to so we will see it on the calendar probably until 2033 if thinks stay smooth, no war, no COVID, no nothing around this part of the world.

Source

With a top speed of 344.1 KM/H probably not the fastest but might be on the top ten, with a lot of down force drivers will cut in half this circuit like butter, in my opinion only from turn six to ten drivers will have to down shift one or at most two shifts before they could go pedal to the metal again. I have already mention how easy will be for them to go full throttle but only if the surface was right. The circuit was recently resurface meaning there is no rubber at all and it is surrounded by sand making it very slippery and its also a windy circuit, at any point wind can blow and you have a combination of more sand into the circuit plus if the wind catches a Formula 1 car this could easy make a driver step back out or even loose control, this happen to Carlos Sainz in Barcelona for example when a cross wind push him out, with a slippery circuit drivers will most likely be over stepping out of the track, most drivers try to use as much of the track as possible to maintain that speed but on this circuit a few will be catch steeping out of the track and getting their times eliminated costing them a higher spot on the starting grid for Sunday.

Source

This is a very nice info graphic for when the Sprint Race for today Saturday will start, by the F1 account at Twitter.

 

 

 

Source

This is your grid for Sunday, for this weekend they only had one practice session since we hare having Practice, Quali, Sprint and Race, it was another Verstappen domination to the point that on Q3 he enters the pit after he had to step out of his flying lap, the team had the data under control and he had just put down a 1:23 when the rest of the grid was fighting at the 1:24, keep in mind that this is within track limits.

 

Source

Like the good old times, seem like a lot has happen since then; its Max Verstappen against the Mercedes, George Russel and Lewis Hamilton but over all even Russel who did made second by staying on track limits has no chance against Max, Hamilton got third because Piastri got his time deleted and Lando was also flying.

Verstappen always wants to win thats something within his DNA, there is nothing that can change his mind, there is no take it easy day, there is not less important race, he just goes but in numbers all he has to do is score three points in the Sprint Race today to be Formula 1 World Champion for the third time in a row, this new down force era look like will be dominated by Red Bull no questions asks, they won the Constructors Championship, now they are going to win with Max plus Checo Perez is second on the Drivers Standings for this year, in terms of race performance this has probably bee no his best year but he still has the points with 223 and Hamilton is close with 190, with only six races to go counting Qatar there is a good chance for this two to battle out the second.

 

Source

Source

Source

Even for teams that don't usually fight at the top of the grid every race counts, same goes for their drivers, the sport can be as fast as the cars, what I mean is that one day you are racing in a car and the other you are not.

When this down force cars era started HASS brought Kevin Magnussen who started very well, against his team mate at the time Mick Schumacher who the team boss Guenther Steiner called "he ruined us..." after his poor performance and all the crashes he had, Kevin look like a great driver but when Nico Hulkenberg joins the team he has surpass Magnussen this year with out qualifying twelve times and a difference of six points between them, 9 to 3 in favor of Hulkenberg, its true that Magnussen gave them their first pole but over all is not holding up this year.

Similar story but its a bit unfair with Lance Stroll that even though he is sitting ten on the drivers championship, hey been on the top ten is not easy at all he had wrist problems, he is also against one of the best drivers on the grid Fernando Alonso so its expected for him to be out qualify, I consider him a good driver but he can still be better, they have a car that has been going down in performance against the rest but can fight in the middle of the pack to score some good points, against popular opinion I don't think Stroll is having a bad performance but he needs to step up, many say he will never loose his sit because his dad runs the show at Aston Martin F1 Team but that I doubt if it becomes more obvious or ridiculous how Fernando hi carrying the team by himself on the championship.

Liam Lawson has never out qualify Albon and I think he is going out, had a very back crash on Japan that could be avoided besides his over all performance but his luck is very similar to Stroll, not that Albon is one of the best but he has been improving at a gigantic pace, what Albon has done with the Williams in the last two years is amazing and he is starting to get to the point where the car is not enough for him anymore, if Albon had say an Aston Martin I could even be brave to say they could fight for a third place in the Constructors Championship, remember all this drivers are there because they are the best of the best, yes there is more talent waiting on the line but its not their turn, look at what Piastri has done the moment he got a good car.

Source

Source

Two drivers that I was expecting to do well this weekend were Checo Perez and Lando Norris. As I mention before Checo is second on the Drivers Championship for this year, I do not pretend he has a chance to fight for the championship but to put up some good punts and stand out from the rest of the grid, say if Max wins by hundred points then Checo wins second place for fifty points just an example but there is something inside him that doesn't let him perform at his best, this time he got knock out of Q2 because of track limits an F1 Drivers disease that is spreading affecting many drivers including the McLaren drivers, on the second picture Lando Norris with all four wheels out of the track who latter on had a hard time with himself because he at least knows and publicly recognize its not the car its him for some reasons either taking unnecessary risks or need to put more work into it while on the other hand Checo's fans and even himself keep saying that he does not has the same car as Max at least since Miami GP this year, to be honest we wont ever know that and for anyone with enough time watching the sport should know that it is the way it is, the long time excuse that my partner car is different or better.

I'm going to watch the sprint and race, I will be ruling for safety cars, drivers out of the track, times delete because I dont think there will be too much fight between drivers so we need something else to make this not boring.  

 

Here a great video comparing Max Verstappen vs George Russell racing line and how he dominate the pack

Source #formula1 #sports #f1 #hive #ecency #waves #redbullracing #qatargp2023 #f1gp #timedeleted #hamilton #russell #mercedes