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Comfortable victory for Lewis Hamilton, who knew monetize your pole and the penalty that Verstappen suffered. The Dutchman was too far away and barely harassed the Mercedes despite his immediate comeback in the first laps. With the race practically decided, the great incentive was to see who got fast lap and, therefore, the extra point that could be decisive in such a tight championship. Hamilton’s victory allowed him to cut the difference in the classification but the Dutchman managed to set the best time, achieving one more point. With two races to go, the Red Bull driver leads Hamilton by eight points. The other great news was in third place for Fernando Alonso, rising to the drawer by first time since Hungary 2014. Seven years have had to pass to see the Spaniard again on a podium. “Ole, ole, ole”, exclaimed the Spaniard after passing the finish line and breathing after several laps, suffering from the possibility that Checo Pérez caught up with him.
«With Checo it has been very tight. It was a good Sunday. We planned a one-stop race from the beginning but we didn’t know what the wear and tear on the tires would be like. The team has been great and the reliability of the car superlative. I have been waiting for a long time, I am very happy», Began by explaining Alonso, who was named driver of the day. «It has been an incredible weekend, the car has flown on Saturday and Sunday. I’m happy for the team, ”added the Spaniard.
It started with controversy the Grand Prix, how could it be otherwise. If race management ruled out analyzing the incident between Hamilton and Verstappen in the last race this week, the stewards took the lead to sanction the Red Bull driver with five places on the grid. A forceful punishment if we take into account that Hamilton started from pole and that in Losail it is very difficult to overtake, although during the race it could be seen that not so much. The reason for the sanction was not to brake the car in an obvious way with double yellow flag in Q3 from yesterday’s standings. In addition to Hamilton, Fernando Alonso was one of the great beneficiaries, who started third, achieving the best starting position this season on his return, and for eight years (Bahrain 2013). And this because Bottas was also sanctioned with three places for the same reason and came out sixth.
Excellent departure from an aggressive Fernando Alonso, who in the first corners managed to pass Gasly cleanly to place second, while Max Verstappen got rid of Bottas, Sainz and Norris in a very clean start. The great beneficiary was Hamilton, who could distance himself slightly from his pursuers. However, five laps were enough for the Dutchman to overtake the Spaniard from Alpine and the French from Alpha Tauri to follow the British. The Red Bull was flying although Hamilton was setting fast laps. Verstappen’s prudence He made one suspect that he might be contemplating a stop, which would give him almost half a minute of advantage with any car that made two. But on lap 18 it was found that he did not because he entered the pit-lane and wore hard rubbers. Hamilton entered immediately after, copying what they did at Red Bull so as not to lose position.
With Hamilton and Verstappen leading the race, excitement turned to other matches. Fernando Alonso changed his strategy and after exhausting the soft tires with excellent performance, he decided to ride hard to go to a stop. Beautiful duel that the Spaniard had with Checo Pérez’s Red Bull. The surprise jumped in the absence of 23 laps. Valtteri Bottas suffered a puncture in one of the front tires that upset the natural order when he was running third. With the Finnish Mercedes eliminated from the fight for the podium (he fell to position 14), Fernando Alonso saw the possibility of getting podium closer than ever, although he was not going to have it easy in the fight with Pérez, with a car much more powerful. Verstappen, laps very worn, decided to go through the pits with 15 laps to go and, how could it be otherwise, Hamilton entered the next lap. Excellent Mercedes and Red Bull stops. Pérez also entered, giving third place to Alonso, which raised doubts about whether the Asturian should hold out until the end without changing the tires, trying to keep his tires. “Tell Ocon to defend the position like a lion,” Fernando released on the radio, aware that his teammate, who was fifth, could slow down Perez’s arrival. He tried it like a wild boar but the difference between Alpine and Red Bull is very big. Pérez was cutting time but it seemed that he was not going to hit the Mexican to hunt down the Spanish. In the last laps the tires began to give way, with the punctures from Russell and Latifi. At the end, victory for Hamilton, second place for Verstappen and third for Fernando Alonso.
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