Five Formula 1 Winners & Losers: Qatar Grand Prix

Photo from Formula 1

We are now in the final race week of the Formula 1 season.

Time sure does fly.

Which means we only have one more list of winners and losers after this one.

But boy, there were some losers in Qatar.

Let’s get to it.

Losers

5. Mercedes

George Russell did nothing wrong.

He was quick all weekend, put the car on pole (we’ll get to that in a bit), and even though he had a rough start and was 3rd, he was still on pace for a podium.

And then, a slow stop on to a bad tire put him behind the Ferrari’s, and after a safety car, the team put him BACK on the hard tires, despite hating them and already using them.

The team did not do their driver any favors whatsoever.

4. Sergio Perez

A terrible weekend once again for Checo, and reports are now saying he’ll be out of the team by the end of the year.

It had to happen, unfortunately.

The results just never got better.

3. Lando Norris

Lando raced really well and was fighting for the win.

He even gave up sprint race win to repay his teammate Oscar Piastri for letting Norris win in Brazil.

But Norris failed to slow for yellow flags, which got him a penalty that put him way out of the points (again, we will get to that), and even though he fought back to 10th, it prevented McLaren from being able to clinch the constructors championship.

It’s mistakes like that that Norris needs to fix going forward if he wants to be a champion.

2. Lewis Hamilton

A bad qualifying effort from Hamilton, he jumped the start, and then he sped on pit road which got him a penalty that officially ruined his chance at any points (again, I promise, we will get to that).

It’s been a tough couple of races for Lewis.

He needs a reset at Ferrari next year.

1. The Stewards

Some may not know this, but there is not a set group of stewards for Formula 1. Each race has their own.

And boy oh boy, the Qatar Grand Prix stewards had a weekend.

First, they gave Max Verstappen a 1 place grid penalty for impeding George Russell during qualifying, even though he was not on a hot lap.

Then, they gave Lando Norris a 10 second stop go penalty for failing to slow down during a very miniscule yellow flag situation.

Finally, they gave Lewis Hamilton a drive through penalty for speeding under safety car conditions.

For Verstappen, I’ve never seen a 1 place grid penalty, let alone for impeding a driver not on a hot lap.

For Norris, that is the harshest penalty you can get. Something you reserve for an egregious act, not for not slowing down for a piece of mirror on the front stretch.

And for Hamilton, speeding under the safety car is usually a 5 second penalty, not an entire pit lane drive through which is about a 20 second penalty.

The stewards this weekend were insanely power crazed, and the sport is worse when we have standards like that.

It has to be uniform, and more importantly, it has to be better.

Winners

5. Max Verstappen

Verstappen won the title, and Red Bull has no chance of winning the constructors title, so I did not expect a 110% effort this weekend from Max.

Boy, do I look foolish?

Verstappen was absolutely unbelievable.

I guess that’s why he’s the best in the world right now.

4. Ferrari

It wasn’t perfect by any means, but Ferrari did get more points than McLaren, which keeps their constructors championship hopes alive.

It’ll be hard to get the title, but they gave themselves a chance.

That’s all that matters.

3. Kevin Magnussen

We only have a few more races left in the Kevin Magnussen era of Formula 1, and he’s making the most of it.

A great race, and a wonderful overtake got Haas some points, and a chance to get 6th in the constructors standings.

He’ll be missed when he retires.

He’s super fun.

2. Pierre Gasly

But 6th will be hard to get, because Pierre Gasly had an amazing race that got Alpine 10 points and a 5 point lead over Haas.

Alpine is now in great position to finish off a great year, but are replacing other Alpine driver Esteban Ocon for rookie Jack Doohan for the final race of the year which is.

A choice.

We’ll see if it pays off.

If it does, it may be because of Gasly’s great race at Qatar.

1. Zhou Guanyu

Zhou won’t be in Formula 1 much longer.

Sauber already announced he and his teammate Valtteri Bottas will not return as the team prepares to hand the reigns over to Audi.

And it looked like his final season was going to be a disaster, as the car was terrible, and they were headed towards getting zero points.

But Zhou’s race got a little lucky with a safety car, and then he did a great job managing the rest of the race to finish 8th, and get 4 points for the team. Sauber’s first points in over a full season.

It’s a great send off for a great guy.