Tom Cary, Luke Slater 12 hrs agoLike66 Comments|28
© Getty Images Europe Race winner Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP celebrates on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Qatar at Losail International Circuit on November 21, 2021 in Doha, Qatar – Getty Images Europe
- Lewis Hamilton wins to reduce Max Verstappen’s lead to eight points
- Verstappen fights back to second after grid penalty
- Fernando Alonso scores first podium since August 2014
What a difference a couple of weeks can make. When Formula 1 headed from Mexico to Brazil a fortnight ago, Red Bull were well and truly on the rampage. Max Verstappen had just extended his lead over Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ championship to 19 points thanks to his ninth win of the season, and the Dutchman looked odds-on to claim his maiden title with four races left.
After a near faultless drive in the Qatari desert on Sunday, to secure what was a second successive victory, Hamilton had reduced that lead to just eight points, and all the momentum appeared to have swung back to Mercedes.
How have they done it? Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was clear. “They woke up the lion at Interlagos,” he said last night.
Wolff was referring, of course, to that extraordinary weekend in Brazil when Hamilton was disqualified from qualifying, forced to start from the back of the grid in Saturday’s sprint race, battled back to fifth, only to be dropped to 10th on the grid for Sunday’s grand prix after a change of engine, before coming through to claim a victory despite being literally run off the road at one point by his title rival.
“He is absolutely on it now,” Wolff said. “Brutal. Cold-blooded. This is the best Lewis.”
Certainly the seven-time world champion never looked in any trouble on Sunday. His task, admittedly, was made easier after Verstappen was handed a five-place grid penalty late on for ignoring yellow flags in Saturday qualifying, meaning he had to battle his way back from seventh. But even had the Dutchman started second as he was originally scheduled to do, one suspects Hamilton would have won at a canter. This was his weekend.
Verstappen in fact did well to limit the damage, charging through the field to claim second place by lap five. But he never had the pace to take on the Mercedes.
Red Bull’s decision to pit in the final laps after a virtual safety car was deployed following Nicolas Latifi’s puncture, so that Verstappen could guarantee the bonus point for fastest lap, meaning he lost only six points to Hamilton rather than seven, was an admission of that fact.
“Damage limitation today,” Red Bull’s team principal Christian Horner told his driver on his in-lap. “Good points. And fastest lap. Good job Max.”
It was an upbeat assessment, but Red Bull are on the back foot now, and both teams know it.
Horner had earlier been furious about the decision to award Verstappen a five-place grid penalty, accusing a “rogue marshall” of waving a yellow flag which he “was not told to wave”, and which Verstappen “did not see”. “We need grown ups making grown-up decisions,” Horner fumed. 
It was an outburst which earned Horner his own summons to the stewards post-race, and an official warning from the FIA. He did have a point about the FIA’s decision-making, though.
The penalties meted out to Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas for ignoring yellow flags in qualifying (Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who was also up before the beak, escaped censure) were unforgivably slow in arriving, just an hour or so before the race.
And the lateness of the notices resulted in huge confusion, with Mercedes and Ferrari mechanics seen arguing on the grid over which of their drivers – Bottas or Sainz – would start fifth.
Only in Formula 1, a sport brimful of brainiacs and armed with more technological wizardry than NASA, could they allow the cars to actually head to the grid in front of a global audience of millions without knowing in which position they were lining up.
Qatar’s first ever race was sparsely attended, with fans almost outnumbered by retired footballers. David Beckham, John Terry, Marcel Desailly, Gianfranco Zola, Cafu, Patrick Kluivert and Andrea Pirlo were among the stars in town ahead of last night’s one-year-to-go celebrations until the 2022 Fifa World Cup. But once they had got their photo opps out of the way, there was precious little sparkle in the desert.
Hamilton made a clean start from pole, while Verstappen shot forward from seventh, passing Bottas – who had a disastrous race, tumbling to 11th on the opening lap, suffering a puncture mid-race and eventually retiring – Sainz and McLaren’s Lando Norris before the race was even two corners old, and was up to second by lap five.
The gap to Hamilton at that stage was hovering around four seconds and it remained under 10 seconds through two rounds of pit stops, Mercedes responding immediately both times to Red Bull’s attempted undercut.
Late punctures for Bottas, Latifi and Norris threatened to spice things up. But the two championship contenders made it home safe and sound, while Alpine’s Fernando Alonso ended up securing his first podium finish since Budapest in 2014.
“It was pretty straightforward,” Hamilton admitted. “It was just about managing the gap. I wasn’t massively under threat. But there’s no time to rest or celebrate. I’m in the best shape physically I’ve been in, and I feel positive going to the next couple of races.”
Wolff was even more bullish looking ahead to what is going to be a fascinating final double-header, making a pointed remark about getting out the “spicy equipment” for Saudi Arabia, which appeared to suggest Hamilton did not use his freshest engine here in Qatar.
But Mercedes’ most potent weapon, Wolff insisted, was the lion-hearted Hamilton himself. “When adversity happens, it takes Lewis to a place where he is able to mobilise superhero powers,” he said. Two races left, eight points in it, this is going down to the wire.
Qatar Grand Prix, as it happened
04:27 PM
That’s it from me today
Tom Cary’s report should now be with you if you refresh your pages. Stay tuned for more news and analysis from us in the coming days and then again in two weeks’ time when the season resumes in Saudi Arabia. Eight points in the drivers’ and five in the team’s. What a season it has been. Let’s hope we get the finale we deserve.
04:06 PM
Christian Horner has been summoned to the stewards
No, really. It is for an alleged breach of the FIA International Sporting Code. Fine incoming? Could likely be over something he said/claimed this weekend.
04:04 PM
Think Wolff’s comments about the “spicy” equipment…
…refer to using the engine they used for Hamilton in Brazil, which seems to suggest it was not used in Qatar. Saudi Arabia looks a very power hungry track so that makes sense. 
03:59 PM
Toto Wolff speaks to Sky Sports F1
The initial feeling is bittersweet. With Lewis, it’s great. The good news is the car is really fast… he controlled the race from the front and that’s a good indication with what is to come with Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.
Saudi should be a good track for us but we know this year when you think it’s a good one it can turn the other way around. It’s a long straight… we will get our spicy equipment out – engine – for Saudi Arabia that we didn’t use.
[On whether the car is the best it has been all season]
Yes. I think the car is quick on the straight and around the corners.
[On how Hamilton is feeling]
They woke up the lion at Interlagos on that Saturday.
[On their struggles earlier in the season]
I think we started on the back foot. We just weren’t good enough. You have to take it on the chin.
03:56 PM
This is quite the reality…
03:49 PM
Good day for Alpine, then
Third and fifth means that they are now heavy favourites to secure fifth in the constructors’ championship over AlphaTauri. And we get to see this man on the podium again.
03:44 PM
Fernando Alonso speaks after his first podium since Hungary 2014
He says he’s enjoying life in F1 again. And who can argue with that? He moves into the top 10 in the standings with 77 points.
