Max Verstappen is set to win his third consecutive world title this weekend at the Qatar Grand Prix, the 17th round of the F1 season held in Lusail, where the Dutchman could be crowned champion in Saturday's sprint race. The Dutchman, whose Red Bull team already won the constructors' title at the Japanese Grand Prix on 24 September, currently has 13 wins, including a record run of 16 in a row, in 177 races and is 180 points ahead of Mexican team-mate Sergio Pérez with <> points remaining until the end of the season.
To discover
- Formula 1: drivers' standings
- Formula 1: the calendar of the season
Barring a catastrophe, the Dutchman will leave the emirate with a third crown in his pocket: to postpone the deadline, Pérez is condemned to a clear round on Saturday in the sprint and Sunday in the Grand Prix, two races that will be contested at night, combined with a big underperformance by the two-time reigning world champion. A combination of circumstances that seems very unlikely as the Dutchman is consistent at the wheel of the RB19. "It's good to come to Qatar with the constructors' title already in our pocket. The circuit is very pleasant here but it will be a difficult weekend because of the heat, which could make the races interesting. I can win the championship in the sprint and that's my goal. Hopefully it will be a weekend I will remember for a long time!" said Verstappen.
Sergio Pérez under pressure
For the second edition of the Qatar GP, after the opening round won in 2021 by Britain's Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Red Bull will start as the clear favourite as its RB19 car is superior to its competitors. Pérez, who has been disappointing for several months and under pressure, will also have the task of containing Hamilton's return to the race for the runner-up spot as the Briton has closed to 33 lengths. And his team is also aiming for second place in the constructors' standings, so the two Silver Arrows will arrive in Qatar over-motivated.
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The first GP here was a success for us, so we can't wait to come back and repeat this kind of performance. There have been changes on and off the circuit since then. The key will be to fully understand the consequences of the resurfacing and find the right set-up in free practice," Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said. With the sprint race, the usual format of the weekend will be turned upside down as the teams will only have one practice session on Friday afternoon to get to grips with a circuit they know little about. The second run on Friday evening will be qualifying for Sunday's Grand Prix, while Saturday will be marked by qualifying for the sprint and then the sprint race.
On paper, the Lusail circuit promises to be a tough test for our car.
Frédéric Vasseur
McLaren, which has been back at the forefront for the past three months and is coming off a double podium at Suzuka with second and third places for Britain's Lando Norris and Australia's Oscar Piastri, will once again be one of Red Bull's main rivals. Three weeks after Spaniard Carlos Sainz's unexpected success in Singapore, Ferrari, now just 20 points behind Mercedes in the constructors' standings, is approaching the race in Qatar with caution. "On paper, the Lusail circuit is shaping up to be a tough test for our car. Since the Zandvoort GP at the end of August, we have learned a lot about the best way to manage our car," said Scuderia boss Frederic Vasseur.
Beware of heat stroke
Alpine, which placed both cars in the points in Japan (9th and 10th) despite disappointing qualifying, will try to continue its recovery in Qatar, where Esteban Ocon took a fine fifth place in 2021. "Our goal has to be to continue to score as many points as possible within our reach. This week, we have two opportunities to do that with the sprint on Saturday. Our one-lap pace is an area where we need to improve, as we have seen recently," said the French team principal, Bruno Famin. The high temperatures, with around 35 degrees in the evening but with a feeling well above 40, the lack of knowledge of the new surface and the changing adhesion due to the presence or absence of sand could however reshuffle the cards.