Max Verstappen has once again solidified his position as the undisputed dominant force, securing a flawless victory at the Qatar Grand Prix. This triumph marks his 49th career win, and the young Dutch driver is now just a stone's throw away from the legend Alain Prost, currently fourth in the all-time rankings with 51 wins. The road to surpassing the records of Michael Schumacher (91 wins) and Lewis Hamilton (103 wins) is still a long one, but Verstappen is showing he has all the credentials to achieve it.
The race at Losail was quite unusual, with teams forced to make three pit stops to adhere to the FIA rules, which imposed a limit of 20 laps for each set of tires. This decision was made due to the risk of slow punctures caused by the track's curbs. It was a mix-up that contributed to spoiling the race weekend, along with other issues like the usual track limits and adverse temperatures.
Despite these setbacks, the Red Bull-Honda proved to be the strongest car, and Max Verstappen dominated the race from pole position to the checkered flag. McLaren-Mercedes continued its positive streak with three consecutive podiums, and Oscar Piastri added a second-place finish to his Sprint race victory on Saturday, edging out Lando Norris.
George Russell's Mercedes, which had hoped to contend for the podium, had a challenging start with a collision between Russell and Lewis Hamilton at the first corner. This incident dashed the podium hopes for both Mercedes drivers, although Russell managed to fight back to fourth place. Hamilton took full responsibility for the incident.
Ferrari had an unremarkable performance, with only Charles Leclerc in the race due to a fuel issue that prevented Carlos Sainz from starting. Aston Martin-Mercedes secured points thanks to Fernando Alonso, while Lance Stroll dropped out of the top 10 due to a penalty.
Esteban Ocon secured points for Alpine-Renault, aiming to make amends for the incident in the Sprint race. The two Alfa Romeos of Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou pleasantly surprised, avoiding track limits issues and capitalizing on the pit stops under the safety car.
Sergio Perez, in the second Red Bull, had a challenging race, penalized three times for exceeding track limits. Williams, Haas, and AlphaTauri remained outside the points zone this time, overtaken by Alfa Romeo in the battle of the lower-ranking teams. Logan Sargeant, who had experienced grip issues on the track in the past, had to retire due to the scorching temperatures, highlighting the challenging race conditions.
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