Lance Stroll, after the very tough Qatar Formula 1 GP: "I practically fainted in the fast corners"

Logan Sargeant retired midway through the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday following heat stroke and dehydration that led the American to almost beg to stop. "You have nothing to be ashamed of for not feeling well," he was told on the radio of his team, Williams, before helping him get out of the car and be transferred to the medical center of the Losail circuit. There were paraded several participants of the race, turned into a celebration for Max Verstappen, who on Saturday had finished his third consecutive title. The Dutchman, precisely, was one of those who finished fresher a test that, due to the conditions that converged on this route on the outskirts of Doha, took the runners, authentic athletes, to the verge of exhaustion. The usual heat of the desert and humidity levels, which at what times exceeded 70%, combined with the shortage of air, generated in the pilots a thermal sensation close to 40 degrees Celsius. In addition, Pirelli, the tyre supplier of the event, prohibited anyone from exceeding 18 laps in a row with the same set of compounds to avoid running the risk of them opening, and that raised a race like before, that time when you did not have to suffer from the degradation of the tires and all the laps were thorough.

As soon as they got out of their cars, the three occupants of the podium sat on the ground, waiting for their turn to make statements. Oscar Piastri, whose second place is his best result in the championship, answered the questions with the dislocated gesture and with several bottles of water around him. In this sense it is worth noting that all cars are equipped with a bag of one and a half liters of water, which, however, on days like Sunday, is of little use. "It was probably the toughest race I've ever done," said the 22-year-old from Melbourne. "In addition to the heat, making three stops allowed us to shoot to the maximum. There were 57 turns of timed," said the Australian.

Lando Norris, his McLaren teammate, finished third, just behind him. "I think this time we found the limit. It's sad that we had to discover it this way, because it's not pleasant at all. There have been people who have ended up in the clinic and others, fainting," said the Briton. From two of the most beautiful members of the grid to the most veteran of all. "Of the last 20 years, this has been the toughest grand prix I've ever participated in. The humidity was higher than in recent days and, in addition, the air did not run, "said Fernando Alonso, who, in addition to the suffocating embarrassment, had to circulate with the right buttock burning as a result of the overheating of some peripheral of the control unit of his Aston Martin. "I even asked if at the stop they could pour water on me in the cabin, but it is something illegal, so I had to endure," added the Oviedo. "It's ridiculous. With 20 laps to go, I practically fainted in the fast corners," said Lance Stroll, Alonso's teammate at Silverstone (Great Britain).

One of the most explicit was Esteban Ocon, who crossed the finish line seventh. "They were the six hardest points of my life. The air accumulated inside the cabin generates a horrible feeling. It was like a fire had been put inside the helmet," the Frenchman described. "I felt bad from the 15th or 16th laps. I vomited twice inside the helmet," said the Alpine, who asked the organizers of the championship, "please", to change the date of the race to avoid having to go through that again.

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