Qatar Grand Prix: Post-race comments

      Pirelli

      Mario Isola, Pirelli Motorsport Director: “All strategic decisions in today’s race were dictated by the safety car deployment. The Medium tyres proved a good compromise, providing sufficient grip and high speed across the whole stint.

      Although almost all drivers used the Hard only on the final stint, the C1 compound also showed its effectiveness, at times allowing even higher speed than the C2.

      Compared with previous days, graining was noticeably less, which reduced cases of heavy wear, though it did not eliminate them entirely. As a result, it has been proven that the 25‑lap limit is more than sufficient to avoid any problems.

      The exciting intrigue of this race and the new lap records set throughout the weekend show that competition this season has been tougher than ever. So perhaps it’s no surprise that the title will be decided at the final round, where three very worthy rivals will fight the decisive battle.”

      Red Bull Racing

      Max Verstappen (1st): “An incredible race for us. The team made the right call to pit during the safety car period. That was a smart move. I’m very happy to take the win. We remain in the title fight right to the end. Just incredible!

      We had a strong race in a weekend that was tough for us, but we won and that’s the most important thing.

      When I saw McLaren not pit, I thought they must be up to something interesting! I knew we had a gap, but we also had to manage the tyres. Wear was very high, but luckily everything worked out.

      Now anything is possible! Let’s see how the season ends. I’m not too worried about it.

      I didn’t expect to win today. In terms of pure pace we weren’t at McLaren’s level, but we made the right decision to pit while the safety car was out. That effectively gave me a ‘free’ pit stop and decided my race result. There’s no doubt that this decision helped me win.

      It’s another example of a rival error. I don’t think McLaren were trying to provide equal conditions for their drivers today. They simply missed the chance to pit. In pure pace they were quicker, but today we proved that anything is possible.”

      Yuki Tsunoda (10th): “I did everything I could to gain as many positions as possible. The safety car meant almost everyone ran the same strategy, so you had to overtake on track, and that’s very difficult here because of the fast corners and only one DRS zone. It was tough, but I managed.

      This weekend I was quite close to Max in pure speed, so I need to keep pushing. I need to take another step in Abu Dhabi, and I’ll do everything I can.”

      McLaren Formula 1 Team

      Andrea Stella, Team Principal: “Overall a disappointing result. We had the potential to win the race with Oscar, but we missed out on the victory, and with Lando we missed the podium. Obviously not the outcome we wanted.

      We will review the decision taken when the safety car came out on lap seven. As usual, the team will learn from it and come back stronger at the next round, which will be even more important.

      We decided not to pit. To be honest, we didn’t expect the others to pit. But when everyone pitted, that call became the right one. When you’re leading a race, you don’t know how others will act.

      If both cars had pitted, Lando would have lost time. But the main reason we didn’t pit was that we didn’t expect the others to stop. We made a decision, and it turned out to be wrong.”

      Oscar Piastri (2nd): “Obviously today we didn’t succeed. I drove the race as well and as fast as I could. I tried my hardest, but unfortunately we couldn’t win today.

      Looking back, it’s now clear what we should have done, but I’m sure we’ll discuss everything with the team. It’s not all bad. I had a good weekend, the car was quick, it’s just hard to accept this result.”

      Lando Norris (4th): “When the safety car comes out we just trust the team to make the right call. It’s always a risk. Today we got it wrong. Oscar lost the win and I lost second place. Yes, today we failed, but we’ve done very well in other races. And thanks to that we wrapped up the Constructors’ Cup six or seven races ago. Yes. Today wasn’t the best day, but that’s life.

      Today, as yesterday, Red Bull weren’t giving up pace to us. They just executed better and made the right decision. We need to analyse everything, understand the reason for this mistake and learn from it. It’s impossible to get everything right.”

      Williams Racing

      Carlos Sainz (3rd): “I’m happy. I’m incredibly proud of our team and today’s result. We came to this round expecting it to be our toughest of the season, and today we ended up on the podium.

      We managed the race pace very well. The car was very quick, much quicker than we expected. We executed the strategy, tyre work and the start perfectly, kept things under control, and that brought us an unexpected podium. We have a lot to be proud of.

      Today everything went our way. The first half of the season was tough when nothing was working, but over the year we improved in many areas and today we took our chance and delivered a perfect race.

      I’m thrilled with this podium because I didn’t expect it at all.”

      Alex Albon (11th): “Starting on the Hards we wanted to take advantage of clear track when the opportunity arose, but the safety car came too early and we had to change strategy. Moreover, that meant finishing on the Mediums, which didn’t suit us. The car was fine, which Carlos’s result shows. It’s a pity I couldn’t achieve more.

      The team secured fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship — that’s a huge achievement for us, the team has made a big step forward this year and can be proud.”

      Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team

      Kimi Antonelli (5th): “It’s quite frustrating to finish fifth when the podium was so close. It’s a shame I had to wait in the pit lane to avoid an unsafe release, because that completely changed my race and I lost a lot of time behind Carlos Sainz.

      It’s very difficult to follow another car closely here because the tyres start to overheat. I attacked as hard as I could to close the gap, but when I was almost in DRS range behind Carlos I turned into Turn 9 a bit too quickly, unexpectedly lost the rear of the car and ran off track.

      We need to study everything to understand why the mistake happened and what I could have done differently. Yes, I entered that corner faster, but not by much, and the rear of the car immediately went out of my control. It’s a shame to lose a position and two points, but now I need to focus on Abu Dhabi and keep working hard.”

      George Russell (6th): “This track is simply impossible to overtake on. I was stuck behind Fernando Alonso and Isack Hadjar for most of the race. But I don’t think I was much faster than them, because I couldn’t stay in their DRS range.

      When Hadjar had a puncture, on the last three laps I was lapping a second faster. At that moment I was the fastest on the track, which was just incredible.

      Everything was decided at the start and on lap seven. I tried, but there was nothing to be done. Today was one of those days.”

      Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team

      Fernando Alonso (7th): “Two points yesterday and six today exceeded our expectations for this weekend. After the early safety car we, like our rivals, went for a two-stop strategy.

      The car lacked the pace to attack, but we had a bit of luck with the DRS train and with how difficult it is to overtake here — that helped us hold our position. We were also a bit lucky with that spin — on another circuit that would probably have ended with me in the gravel. The points are very important for the team’s fight in the Constructors’ Championship, which we will continue in Abu Dhabi.”

      Lance Stroll (17th): “I started 18th and finished 17th today. Gaining positions on this track has always been tough, so today we took a risk with strategy hoping for a second safety car, but that didn’t happen.

      I hope we’ll be more competitive next week in Abu Dhabi.”

      Scuderia Ferrari

      Charles Leclerc (8th): “I tried a lot of things on track, but there wasn’t a single lap where the car felt quick. That’s very frustrating.

      Now I’m looking forward to the next race, which will be the last for this car. I really want to finish the season with a good result, not go on holiday feeling depressed.

      I hope we finish the season on a more positive note in Abu Dhabi next week, and then I’ll look forward to next year’s car and try to forget this season — it has been very tough.”

      Lewis Hamilton (12th): “The first lap went well, I gained a few places, but then I was very unlucky with the safety car.

      This has been the toughest year, both in the car and off it. I have a lot of notes on what needs improving, and now it’s time to decide whether we act on them, keep what’s good, and change what’s bad, and there’s a lot of that. But there’s no reason we can’t fix it — we just need to get on with it. I hope we make progress.”

      Racing Bulls

      Liam Lawson (9th): “It’s positive to score points after starting outside the top ten. On a clear track I had very good pace, but I spent most of the race in traffic. It’s a pity we couldn’t score with both cars due to the damage Isack suffered at the end of the race.

      I’m looking forward to finishing the season in Abu Dhabi — we continue to fight in the Constructors’ Championship.”

      Isack Hadjar (18th): “A very disappointing end to the race. With ten laps to go I felt a strong vibration from the front-left endplate, so I was trying hard to stay away from the kerbs. Unfortunately the endplate broke and caused a puncture and other damage to the car, which forced me to retire.

      It’s a shame a lot of points were lost today. Also the start didn’t go well, but the team and I will analyse everything. Sixth place would have been a great reward.

      We’ll take all the positives from Qatar, where we showed high pace, and head to Abu Dhabi for the final race of the season.”

      Sauber

      Gabriel Bortoleto (13th): “Not the most exciting race. There were few overtakes and for most of the distance I was stuck behind Lewis Hamilton. Once he went away I couldn’t catch him and just drove to the finish.

      I had a few battles at the start, but then almost nothing happened. Nevertheless, we will draw conclusions from this weekend, as we saw several areas where we can improve.

      The penalty I received in Las Vegas affected my race, but the pace itself was encouraging. If I had started fourteenth I might have been able to fight for a top-ten finish.

      We have data to analyse and now all attention turns to the final race in Abu Dhabi next week.”

      Nico Hülkenberg (retired): “It’s a real shame such a promising race ended so early for me after I was hit by Pierre. I believe we could have scored points today. I felt confident in the car yesterday, and I had pace in the first seven laps of the race.

      Overtaking opportunities on this track are limited, so I went for an outside move, which was a bit risky, but I left Pierre enough room. It’s very unfortunate, because we had opportunities today.

      The team is disappointed now, but in the coming days we’ll regroup and try to finish the season in Abu Dhabi as strongly as possible.”

      BWT Alpine F1 Team

      Franco Colapinto (14th): “We knew that, given high tyre degradation, teams would stick to similar strategies, so I would have few chances to recover places after starting from the pit lane.

      For me the race was long and lonely. After the setup changes the car behaved better, but it lacked the pace to attack rivals.

      Yesterday I didn’t execute well, today was better, but we didn’t get a result — the grip wasn’t there, the car was sliding, especially in the final phase of the race. But there are positives — the team managed to test some things that can help us. We look forward to the final round in Abu Dhabi and will try to finish the season well.”

      Pierre Gasly (16th): “The result is really disappointing; starting ninth I expected more. The car picked up a little damage when I went off at Turn 14, then Nico Hülkenberg on Soft tyres was pressuring me hard for several laps.

      I stuck to the usual line, we were side-by-side into the first corner and then during the overtake he clipped the left-front of my car. I got a puncture and my race was effectively over — the car was badly damaged. We’ll try to score points in Abu Dhabi next week.”

      Haas F1 Team

      Ayumu Komatsu, Team Principal: “We could have achieved a good result, the car was quick and the drivers were happy with the balance, but the day turned out very tough.

      It’s a shame Esteban struggled with the start — his car moved slightly on the grid and he was penalised for a false start — we need to understand the reasons.

      We made a couple of serious mistakes during the pit stops, but when you have a 24-race season and you make so many pit stops, mistakes are inevitable. What’s important is that we stick together and support each other. We need to show team spirit and perform well in Abu Dhabi. We want to finish the season on a high, that’s the goal!”

      Esteban Ocon (15th): “I have no words to explain the penalty, I don’t know where it came from. I’ve done over a hundred starts and always followed the same procedure. That penalty ruined my race. Last year the team was quick in Abu Dhabi, I hope we can do better there.”

      Oliver Bearman (retired): “The car allowed us to fight in the top ten, we hoped for a good result, but we were unlucky with the incident ahead. We conceded a few points to rivals, but the final race is ahead where we have the chance to recover and make up for it. I look forward to the opportunity to finish the season strongly.”