Russell secures pole position in Qatar following the stewards' decision to demote Verstappen.
Russell secures pole position in Qatar following the stewards' decision to demote Verstappen.
George Russell of Mercedes was elevated to pole position at the Qatar Grand Prix on Saturday following a one-place grid penalty imposed on Red Bull's Max Verstappen for driving excessively slowly during the qualifying session. The four-time world champion had initially celebrated securing his first pole in five months, but subsequently faced scrutiny for an incident involving Russell, which the British driver characterized as "super-dangerous."
The stewards acknowledged the complexity of the situation but concurred that Verstappen, who recently secured his fourth consecutive title in Las Vegas, was indeed traveling too slowly on a cooldown lap when Russell approached him unexpectedly. "Unusually, this incident occurred when neither car was on a push lap," the stewards stated. "Had Car 63 (Russell) been on a push lap, the penalty would have most likely been the usual three-grid position. However, in mitigation of penalty, it was clear that the driver of Car 63 had a clear view of Car 1 (Verstappen)."
The constructors' championship could potentially be clinched in Sunday's race, with McLaren's drivers qualifying ahead of their closest competitors, Ferrari. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri from McLaren secured third and fourth positions, respectively, after earning maximum points from the sprint, placing the team 30 points ahead in their pursuit of a first constructors' title in 26 years. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will start in fifth place, while his teammate Carlos Sainz will begin from seventh.
Verstappen recorded a best lap time of one minute 20.520 seconds, which would have marked his first pole since Austria at the end of June and his ninth of the season.He expressed his excitement over the radio after finishing 0.055 seconds faster than Russell, stating, "That was an incredible turnaround. Excellent work, everyone."
RED BULL IMPLEMENTS ADJUSTMENTS
Verstappen had only managed to secure eighth place in Saturday's sprint due to issues with balance and grip. Team principal Christian Horner indicated that Red Bull had modified "essentially everything we could alter" to enhance the car's performance.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton qualified sixth for Mercedes, finishing 0.436 seconds behind Russell's time, while Fernando Alonso took eighth for Aston Martin and Verstappen's struggling teammate Sergio Perez placed ninth. Kevin Magnussen rounded out the top ten on the grid for Haas, who are engaged in a midfield contest for sixth place against Renault-owned Alpine and Red Bull's RB.
Piastri had been ahead of Norris in the sprint, having exchanged positions near the finish line as a gesture of gratitude for the Australian's earlier assistance in securing victory for the Briton in Brazil, which bolstered his championship prospects.
Norris commented on his grid position for Sunday, saying, "This is not the outcome we anticipated after yesterday and today, but it is the best we could achieve." He acknowledged a mistake at turn five during his initial attempt in the final phase, adding, "The lap was quite good, and I was satisfied with it, but it simply wasn't fast enough compared to the others. I don’t believe we are as competitive as the Mercedes, and Red Bull has demonstrated significant improvement since yesterday, so there are ample opportunities for everyone."
Leclerc remarked, "It was unexpected for us to be so close to McLaren, but it was also surprising how strong Red Bull and Mercedes were." Sainz was called to the stewards following the session for an unsafe release from the Ferrari garage that nearly collided with Hamilton, resulting in a fine of 5,000 euros ($5,287) for the team.
($1 = 0.9456 euros).
Comments
Post a Comment