What to expect from the Qatar F1 race after the sprint and qualifying

Beyond the madness of Interlagos, Other sprint races in the 2024 Formula 1 season have significant similarities which draw attention to Max Verstappen and the pilots Ferrari. The main difference between Austin and Qatar, however, is that so far both McLaren as Mercedes They dominated the battle for victory.

The prospect of a four-team fight for victory in what is expected to be the world's first normal grand prix since its inauguration in 2021 [ a los problemas que cambiaron tanto el día de la carrera el año pasado] It's tempting.

Verstappen was due to lead the Grand Prix grid for the first time since the Austrian round in June, but to hinder George Russell in his final preparation laps at the end of Q3 means he will now start second. This could further impact his career, given that Russell was competitive in the sprint race.

But before all that, Verstappen was delighted that Red Bull had achieved “a miracle” by adapting the balance of its car in relation to the sprint qualifying and the first race of the weekend.

“Everything was very close, but I felt a lot more connected,” Verstappen said in the post-qualifying press conference of his improved driving. “And yes, it was absolutely necessary. To be able to attack the corners a little more.”

In addition to doing what the Red Bull team boss does, Christian HornerDescribed as “aggressive” set-up adjustments, Verstappen also significantly altered his comeback plans in preparation for the second qualifying session.

Instead of doing a fast lap after two warm-up laps, starting in Q2 on Saturday, Verstappen would push after just one warm-up lap, then lift for two warm-up laps before starting again. The Dutchman took advantage of this tactic to achieve his best times by leading in both Q2 and Q3, although he had not done so and appeared quite far back in Q1, 0.3 seconds behind Russell's best time. during this round.

The 'weekend challenge' for tires, according to Pirelli motorsport boss, Mario Isolais to bring both axles into the narrow temperature window, without long stops in slow corners to warm up the rear tires on exit from those corners. It appears that Verstappen's adjustments went perfectly, as the wind was blowing much stronger on Saturday, a factor that transformed the situation. on other occasions.

Even before being penalizedVerstappen, although clearly happier with his car's behavior compared to the oversteer nightmare he suffered in the sprint race, was still cautious as he might not have the best race pace on Sunday. This is because I was also quite happy with the RB20 on a lap with the softs that the leaders won't use in the main race.

“[Mi potencial de ritmo de carrera es] There is still a little question mark,” said the Dutchman. “I noticed that [el viernes] “We weren't very far in qualifying and then I had the impression that we were quite far in the sprint race…”.

McLaren went from leading the standings in pure performance throughout Friday to behind Red Bull and Mercedes.although George Russell's mix-up in the engine map at the end of SQ3 distorted the picture, as he could have led the session. As for why their drivers had fallen behind, Woking team manager Andrea Stella suggested they should have tried harder with stronger rivals in second place, meaning They had difficulty finding the correct operating window for the tire.

With the penalty for the author of the pole position, those of Brackley will start from first place with the British driver, driven by putting on the track a “low and rigid car”, as he commented. Seeing the first free practice session at the foot of the track, from the start, the They rolled very close to the ground, causing sparks to come out of the back at high speed.

Lando Norris He admitted that he “was losing quite a bit on the straights compared to the others”, and explained that it was a choice in terms of “support”. By running with a little more angle on the wing, those from papaya should improve tire management for racingin the sense that they will slide a little less during high speed turns in clean air, or not.

Overall, the sprint event provided pace cues for Sunday, and also obscured them. As for how that extra downforce could make the McLarens easy targets on the long main straight, although George Russell was unable to overtake Oscar Piastri Saturday, but that was because his partner was providing him with DRS, and This results in a maximum speed approximately 6 km/h higher.

However, with Max Verstappen's dreadful driving, which meant his sprint pace was not representative for the main race predictionthe speed potential of those at Woking and Brackley was also masked. In this case, because of Lando Norris' DRS tactics.

It is clear that Oscar Piastri could have overtaken if he had not “spent more time looking in the mirrors”, as he put it. Andrea Stellabut George Russell could also have set better lap times if he hadn't gotten stuck behind the slower orange car. For what it's worth, average Lando Norris until the last lap was in 1:25.260, while that of his compatriot was in 1:25.255practically nothing, but there was one driver clearly faster than both, but with reservations about the impact of DRS on the leaders.

Following the line of Ferrari at the United States Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc did an average of 1:24.621 over the last six lapsafter having exceeded Lewis Hamilton in an exciting duel right in the middle of the event. The Monegasque, who clearly managed the media at the start after falling behind Carlos Sainz At the exit of the first corner, he finished around four seconds behind the Spaniard, but the speed of the Spaniards Prancing horse He also hid because the Madrilenian was behind George Russell with the DRS.

However, Andrea Stella also noted that Ferrari were “very quick in the sprint”, and felt that dealing with them would be fair as they were fast and started just behind on Sunday.

Concerning the race strategy, Pirelli considered it quickest to fit medium tires and switch to hard tires after making just one stop.but drivers will need to be careful about managing their left front tires, and this tire will approach 100% wear during the 20 to 23 laps it takes for the tough guys to reach the finish line after that, due to the demands of this course at very high speed. .

McLaren's level of support could be key to helping the Papaya team cope with this. Only one of the leading teams, Ferrari, does not have the two-stop strategy, with a semi-hard-hard, which, according to the calculations of the Milanese manufacturer, will be the second fastest, because it used one of its two sets of hard tires on its cars in testing alone, but that also means it has critical data that none of its main rivals have, as well as Williams in the middle table.

Another important moment of the race, more than usual, this will be the solution.

With overtaking more complicated in the first corner as it's not really that hard braking, hence the issue of balancing the axles for qualifying, positioning yourself well at the start will be critical for some reason particular. And this is now the biggest danger for Max Verstappen, in addition to those who start in the dirty zonesince, after starting second in the sprint race, George Russell indicated that the lack of grip off the line was “maybe about a car and a half difference until the first corner”.

“Normally we judge it based on the distance in four seconds, and we think there's maybe a four meter difference between left and right,” he added. “It's a pretty big difference here, I hope the stewards can clean up the track a bit, because it was pretty clear in the sprint race that everyone on the right side had gotten bad starts, and it It's a bit unfair.”

When he asked Mario Isola on British commentsexplained: “Because of the wind, because of the sand on the track, the track is much cleaner compared to the other line. The level of grip is affected by the sand flying on the track, “The FIA ​​cleans the circuit carefully before the start of each Formula 1 session, in particular before the start of the race. »

“However, if the wind blows, by the time the track is cleaned there is sand again. It is very difficult to guarantee a clean track, the support categories help in this regard,” he continued . “I think the forecast coincides with [la clasificación de la carrera en cuanto a la fuerza del viento]that means we will have the sand…”.