Winners and Losers from 2023 F1 Qatar Grand Prix Dash

Three issues are virtually sure in life.

Loss of life, taxes and Christian Horner screaming over the group radio to exclaim one in all his Pink Bull drivers as “the World Champion, the World Champion.”

Besides as Max Verstappen claimed his third title in Qatar, Horner was subdued over the radio.

Maybe it was as a result of it was in a Dash that the title had been received or was not a final-race thriller or excellent drive as he completed simply second this time round.

It was by no means doubtful with simply three factors wanted by the Dutchman to make sure the trophy will keep in Milton Keynes for an additional 12 months, and which is the place we begin our round-up.

Winner – Max Verstappen

Time flies, would not it?

Between March fifteenth, 2015 and October seventh, 2023, 3,128 days have handed.

That is the hole between Verstappen’s debut in Australia and wrapping up title quantity three.

It does solely appear to be yesterday the 17-year-old who triggered the FIA to vary the super-licence guidelines rocked up. In simply his third race in China, Sky F1 commentator Martin Brundle predicted that “that Verstappen boy can be in a World-Championship successful automotive by the point he is 20.”

He was in at Pink Bull at 18, however the title-winning must wait till he was 24.

With secure guidelines in place and Sergio Perez firmly coated, Verstappen is favorite for 2024 and 2025.

That is 5 titles, after which simply two behind Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton…

What did Verstappen say?

“It’s a implausible feeling, it has been an unimaginable yr, nice races and I’m tremendous pleased with the job the group has completed. t has been so satisfying to be a part of that group of individuals and to be a three-time World Champion is simply unimaginable.”

Loser – Sergio Perez

This race was a microcosm of Perez’s season in simply 11 laps.

Firstly a poor qualifying place had him battling the midfield runners, he then struggled to clear them within the rocketship of the RB19 earlier than getting caught up in a melee that finally ended his faint title hopes.

He’s in agency want of a reset, to reset over the winter and settle for the truth that he isn’t going to beat Verstappen – or come remotely near doing so.

The highs are excessive for Perez however the lows are debilitating, and if he can not snap out of this funk, that iron-clad Pink Bull seat in 2024 goes to look shaky.

What did Perez say?

“What a disgrace. I used to be simply within the flawed place with these two guys and ended up taking a number of harm on my automotive. Sadly, as I used to be making progress, they’d this contact and I paid the worth and I’ve huge harm additionally on my automotive.”

Winner – Oscar Piastri

It was Oscar Piastri’s misfortune to win his first ‘race’ in F1 on the identical day all-time nice added one other title to the gathering.

Nonetheless, it is a real-marker and standout assertion from the Melbourne native.

He has firmly completed a job on Lando Norris this weekend, with the Briton greatly surprised by his youthful team-mate.

You recognize that after shiny new factor that was Norris, effectively that’s now Piastri. He’s going proper to the very, very high.

Verstappen has largely seen off his era of George Russell, Charles Leclerc and Norris, however Piastri is stepping up because the face of the subsequent.

Piastri vs Verstappen might be fairly the battle if the Australian continues on this upward trajectory.

What did Piastri say?

“I believed as soon as he [Verstappen] bought by into second, I used to be going to be in a little bit of hassle, however the tempo was good, I managed the tyres effectively. A primary Dash win sounds fairly cool.”

Loser – Logan Sargeant

All the nice work Logan Sargeant did all through the weekend was thrown away within the Dash with a pointless spin-off at Flip 5.

Qualifying was a good step ahead, however chucking the automotive on the gravel is solely inexcusable given his scenario in conserving his seat for 2024.

The one crumb was that the opposite touted candidate Liam Lawson made an equally egregious blunder at Flip 2 on the opening lap.

What did Sargeant say?

“I requested for an excessive amount of once I turned in off the entry curb and the rear went tremendous gentle. A foolish mistake however the optimistic is that I’ve been driving effectively all weekend.”

Winner – Mercedes

If you end up the third quickest group on the grid on a given weekend, that’s the minimal you must ship.

Mercedes break up technique for the Dash, with George Russell on Softs and Lewis Hamilton on Mediums – the very best of each worlds.

Predictably, the fast-starting Russell mugged Piastri on the Security Automobile restart, whereas Hamilton bided his time on the Mediums ready for alternatives.

They ultimately discovered their strategy to #44 within the closing laps as he surged to fifth from twelfth on the grid – though he was helped by Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg and Perez discovering out the arduous method that three into one would not go.

Fourth and fifth was a strong night time’s work.

What did Hamilton say?

“It was truly a extremely good begin after which I bought caught behind these vehicles, then as soon as we bought going they usually began having an impression on their tyre I used to be in a position to begin getting previous.”

Loser – Ferrari

Painful can be the very best phrase to explain Ferrari in Qatar to date.

The SF-23 has been effectively off the tempo, and the outdated wind-sensitivity issues have been on full show – as has the shortcoming of its drivers to remain on the race-track.

Charles Leclerc was seventh on the flag on his Gentle tyres, however 4 pings for monitor limits was sufficient to earn a five-second time penalty to drop out to twelfth within the closing outcomes.

At the least Carlos Sainz took sixth and three factors, however on a day Mercedes hauled 9 and have better-starting positions for the Grand Prix, this might be a decisive blow within the battle for second.

What did Leclerc say?

“We did not have any alternative, clearly that is the one tyres I’ve left as a result of we used two new tyres in Q3, one new in SQ3, so I did not have any new softs left.”