(Doha) Current championship point guard Max Verstappen dominated the first free practice session of the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix and was shut out a second time from an incident at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver was 44 hundredths of a second ahead of Pierre Gasly’s Alpha Tauri. Valtteri Bottas placed third ahead of his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Mercedes pleaded Thursday for a reconsideration of the decision not to penalize Verstappen last Sunday at Interlagos over an incident in which Hamilton had to roll off the track as he attempted to pass to take the lead to 48e tower.
Hamilton finally passed Verstappen 11 laps later to secure the victory over the Dutchman.
The commissioners decided to dismiss Mercedes’ appeal, thereby ruling out any wrongdoing on Verstappen’s part. Otherwise, he could have been penalized with a grid penalty for this Grand Prix or a five second penalty.
“This is obviously the right decision,” said Christian Horner, director of the Red Bull team. Otherwise, it would have opened up a Pandora’s Box. ”
Mercedes manager Toto Wolff said he was not surprised by the decision, nor was he optimistic about a move in his side’s favor.
Verstappen appeared comfortable and enjoyed better grip than Mercedes on the 5.4 kilometer circuit in Losail, north of Doha. This circuit has hosted MotoGP races since 2004.
Hamilton returned to the team’s garage with 10 minutes remaining and the mechanics worked on his car, although it was not immediately clear if there was a problem with the front wing. He returned briefly at the end of the session.
A second free practice session is scheduled for Friday.
Verstappen leads Hamilton by 14 points in the standings with two races to go after this one.
After Qatar, the season ends with the first Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in the port city of Jeddah on the Red Sea and the final race will take place in the spotlight in Abu Dhabi.
Hamilton on Thursday reiterated his call for a more in-depth look at human rights issues in countries where Formula 1 holds races.
F1 has signed a 10-year deal to host races in Qatar, which hosts the FIFA World Cup next year amid concerns over migrant workers.