Was it one of the toughest Grand Prix of the year? If the drivers on the grid are to be believed, yes, but not necessarily because of the Lusail track in Qatar. Due to the sweltering heat and humidity - it was 32 degrees at the start of the race on Sunday evening - some drivers had some physical problems during the race.
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A post shared by Esteban Ocon 🇫🇷 (@estebanocon)
This is particularly the case with Esteban Ocon. The Alpine driver revealed on the radio that he vomited in the middle of the race. "I have to tell you that I threw up on lap 15," he said over the radio between tactical instructions. An incident that did not prevent him from finishing the Grand Prix in a fine seventh place. The 27-year-old Frenchman explained afterwards on Instagram that it was "the most complicated race of my career".
"We're losing so much water... »
Other pilots have complained of health problems. Logan Sargeant (Williams) ended up retiring after warning his team several times that he was not feeling well. Also at Williams, Alex Albon had a lot of trouble getting out of his car, and sat for several minutes next to his seat. In the middle of the race, Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) asked to be doused with water at the next pit stop because his seat was burning. At the end of the 57 laps, Lando Norris (McLaren) was on the verge of fainting before heading straight for the ambulance.
📻 "Splash me with water or something..." 💦
Fernando Alonso's seat heats 🔥 up #QatarGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/c13Fbzf8ia
— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) October 8, 2023
"There are two drivers who are really not well, all the others who are relatively unwell," Ferrari's Charles Leclerc told Canal +. It's not because of the physical conditions because you're not tired muscularly but you can't hydrate, you lose so much water, there was a heat... Crazy! It was really, really complicated. »
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Weather conditions that bothered Max Verstappen much less, winner on Sunday evening, and already crowned with a third consecutive world championship title in Qatar.