Max Verstappen was faster than Lewis Hamilton in both the first Qatar Grand Prix practice session and the second. In both, Carlos Sainz was in front of Charles Leclerc, his partner at Ferrari. However, he could only be tenth in Free Practice 2 . Fernando Alonso, for his part, managed to overcome the problems he suffered in Free Practice 1 , although he finished more behind than him.
The FIA has not accepted the appeal made by Mercedes to review the incident between Hamilton and Verstappen of Brazil. After knowing his decision, the latter claimed the best time in the first practice session. He did so with a wide lead over Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton , who were third and fourth respectively. Second was Pierre Gasly and fifth, after the Mercedes , finished Yuki Tsunoda . It’s certainly bad news for Alpine to see the two AlphaTauri so high up in Qatar. Both teams are tied at 112 points for fifth place in the Constructors’ World Cup, a goal set by the French team at the start of the season.
As for the Alpine drivers, Esteban Ocon was ninth in FP1 and Fernando Alonso seventeenth. The Spaniard damaged one of the bargeboards of his car when passing by a piano, which prevented him from progressing in the classification. Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, was sixth ahead of Charles Leclerc , who has finished the last three races ahead of him.
If this was the case in the last two, it was because, despite having more rhythm than him, Ferrari does not want wars between the two until they secure third place in the Constructors’ World Championship. At the moment the Italian team leads McLaren by 31.5 points , whose drivers were tenth and eleventh in Free Practice 1 of the Qatar GP.
Sainz and Alonso leave a bittersweet sensation
Although Carlos Sainz was again faster than his teammate in the second practice session, they finished tenth and thirteenth leaving a bittersweet feeling in Losail. The same could be said of Fernando Alonso . The Spaniard overcame the problems he had suffered in Free Practice 1 but could only be twelfth. One place ahead finished his teammate Esteban Ocon. To top it all, Pierre Gasly was also the second fastest driver in FP2, although Yuki Tsunoda fell to seventh.
“ We have to raise the bar if we want to finish in front of AlphaTauri . We have to be honest with ourselves and probably accept that we are not as fast as they are in pure one lap pace . They are even faster than McLaren and Ferrari, to be honest. They have beaten Ferrari and McLaren in the last three or four circuits. They are fast, nothing to say. Our strong point is to manage Sunday’s races well , with good strategies, no mistakes, good first laps and adding with both cars . That is our strength and we will try to use it to the end ”, warned Fernando Alonso at the press conference prior to the Qatar Grand Prix.
With a better time than Pierre Gasly, Valtteri Bottas finished Free Practice 2. For his part, behind the Frenchman were Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton . The Dutchman, who faces the Qatar Grand Prix with a 14-point lead over the Mercedes driver, finished the second practice session ahead of him again.
Free Results 1
CLASSIFICATION: FP1 @Max33Verstappen flexing his muscles early on in Round 20 to top the timesheets 👀⏱️#QatarGP 🇶🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/sL33pZIIkN
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 19, 2021
Free Results 2
🏁 END OF FP2 🏁
Valtteri Bottas finishes Friday fastest 🚀#QatarGP 🇶🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/Fbb6gFWSaq
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 19, 2021
