Grand Prix of Qatar | Hamilton will start in front of Verstappen

(Losail) Lewis Hamilton earned pole position ahead of Max Verstappen for Qatar’s first-ever Formula 1 Grand Prix, setting the stage for a showdown between the two main contenders for the Drivers’ World Championship right from the kick-off of the race, which will take place on Sunday.

Driving his Mercedes, Hamilton completed a lap of 1: 20.827 on the Losail International Circuit en route to 102^e pole position of his career, his fourth of the season and his first since the Hungarian Grand Prix in August.

Verstappen showed second in his Red Bull and Hamilton teammate Valtteri Bottas qualified third. Both drivers, as well as Carlos Sainz, will however be under investigation for breaking the yellow flag rules during qualifying. They will all have an appointment with the officials before the race.

Verstappen has already avoided a penalty once this weekend, when Mercedes was denied a call for the Dutchman to be retroactively penalized for veering Hamilton off course last week in Brazil. Verstappen holds a 14-point lead over the seven-time champion with three races to go.

Although their respective teams are at war, Hamilton and Verstappen are generally cordial to each other and they made it into Saturday’s qualifying despite a disagreement over racing rules. The commissioners tried to define the rules during a long meeting of the pilots on Friday, with mixed results.

” Everyone is different. Everyone, I think, has their own way of driving, defending and passing, explained Verstappen. I think (the meeting) was about sharing our opinions and allowing the FIA ​​to explain their thought process. At the end of the meeting, it was pretty clear ”.

The Mercedes drivers had another story about this meeting.

Consult the starting grid

“No, it’s not clear,” said Hamilton. I think all the pilots except Max were asking for clarity. We still don’t know what the limits of the track are. We’re just asking for consistency. ”

Bottas argued that the pilots had called for consistent application of the rules.

“I don’t think we really got an explanation of what we can actually do or not do,” said Bottas. At least we know what happened between Lewis and Max in Brazil is correct. So that’s a good thing to know. ”

Now three drivers face a penalty ahead of Sunday’s race for their interpretation of the yellow flags. The flags flew towards the end of qualifying due to a flat tire on Pierre Gasly’s single-seater.

Hamilton, who is aiming for an eighth career title, said he had suffered an upset stomach since arriving in Qatar. However, a good night’s sleep helped him recover.

In this regard, Hamilton said his stomach ache made his first day on the new circuit particularly difficult. He also placed fourth in each of the two free practice sessions held on Friday.

“I really pulled out during the first training session. I stayed here until midnight with the engineers, who always work so late, and found a lot of things we could improve on, ”said the Briton.

Mercedes made changes in Saturday’s free practice session and Hamilton explained that in qualifying he took advantage of a smart strategy of going out on the track when there wasn’t too much traffic.

Hamilton delivered a dominant performance, setting the fastest time in each of the three stages of qualifying. He was the first driver to reach the track during the final stage, and the only one to achieve a time of less than 1 minute 21 seconds.

“This last lap was beautiful. It was a really enjoyable lap, ”said Hamilton.

“It’s a track where it’s fantastic to drive. She’s incredibly fast. The feeling was pleasant. ”

For his part, Verstappen noted that Red Bull lacked speed. He also pointed out that his teammate Sergio Perez failed to qualify for the last stage of qualifying. Perez will start the 11^e place Sunday.

“It was a bit more difficult for us in qualifying,” admitted the Dutchman.

“We are in a bit more trouble than normal. We’ve never had a race here, so there are a lot of unknowns.

The 2021 edition of the Grand Prix is ​​the first of a 10-year agreement between Formula 1 and Qatar.

Regrets for Stroll

Quebecer Lance Stroll, on Aston Martin, will start the 12^e position. His teammate Sebastian Vettel did better with a 10^e square.

“I had a really good feeling with the car today, but overall after being short by a tenth of a second in the second qualifying session I left feeling like we could have gotten more out of this session, ”admitted Stroll.

“The advantage of starting from the 12^e position is that it gives us the choice of tires for the race. We’ll see how we can take advantage of that because it gives us more options, ”added Stroll, who said he liked what he’s discovered so far from the Losail circuit.