F1 2023 Qatar GP: Verstappen on pole as Perez falls to 13th

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen secured the second pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix as his closest title rival, Sergio Perez, falls to 13th.

Q1

Unlike previous sessions in the 2023 season, there was no queue to get out of the pit lane when the pit exit traffic light switched to green. Despite this, the two Red Bulls roared out of the pit lane and out onto the circuit with – potential championship winner, Verstappen out first ahead of Sergio Perez. 

The rest of the field quickly filtered out on track while there was a temporary stop in the pit lane as the two Alpine’s tripped over themselves as they moved out of their garages and into the fast lane. In the end, Esteban Ocon filtered out in front while Pierre Gasly fell in behind.

Although the Dutchman was on the used set of soft compound tyres, Verstappen set the initial lap time on the board with a 1:26.884. However, the lap times tumbled as the track continued to evolve which left Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at the top temporarily.  

By the end of the first third of qualifying, Hulkenberg secured qualifying victory against his teammate, Kevin Magnussen, as the German driver managed to get himself out of Q1 while the Dane had to settle for P19. 

At the other end of the table, Verstappen led the pace ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, in second and third respectively.

Eliminated: 

20. Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo

19. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

18. Liam Lawson, Alpha Tauri

17. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

16. Logan Sargeant, Williams

Q2

Unlike Q1, the drivers quickly filtered out on track headed by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. The young Aussie pilot was soon followed by the remainder of the field of 15 drivers. Naturally, Piastri set the first lap time on the board and the time to beat which was quickly succeeded by the likes of Verstappen, Gasly and Leclerc respectively.

At the six-minute mark, the majority of the field returned to their respective pit garages for the usual lull. Only the two Ferraris were out on track before the two McLarens led the rest of the field back out onto the Qatar circuit. 

In the final minutes, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was in a treacherous position down in 14th, two-tenths away from safety which was lined at Yuki Tsunoda’s feet as the Japanese Alpha Tauri driver sat in 10th. The Spaniard improved his lap time on his final run but was quickly knocked out of qualifying. 

In a stellar run, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton jumped up to the top of the timing boards with a lap time that was one-tenth faster than Verstappen. On the other hand, Perez had a lap time deleted which dropped him down to P13 in a weekend where he needs a perfect weekend to stop Verstappen from claiming the title. 

Eliminated:

15. Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

14. Alexander Albon, Williams

13. Sergio Perez, Red Bull

12. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

11. Yuki Tsunoda, Alpha Tauri

Q3

Alfa Romeo’s last remaining driver, Valtteri Bottas was the first driver to head out onto the circuit to give the fans the first bit of action before the remainder of the top 10 filtered through the pit lane.

After the first set of bankers, Verstappen set the benchmark once more on the board as Hamilton and George Russell occupied second and third. Pressure was mounted on Norris who had his lap time deleted ahead of the final runs, the Briton found himself down in P10 without a respective lap time to his name. 

There was speculation of impeeding down inside the pitlane as Russell remained stationary for no apparent reason in the middle of the pit lane.

Verstappen, under the speculation that no one could touch his lap time, pitted ahead of the chequered flag and retained pole position. Replays showed Norris had exceeded track limits on his final run. The Briton remained in second place on the timing boards and parked up at the #2 stand in Parc Ferme.

After a lengthy wait, Norris was demoted from second on the grid after race control deemed he had exceeded track limits at turn 10. The McLaren will now start in P10 for Sunday’s race. 

Replays also showed that Verstappen and Hamilton had mishaps on their last final runs which resulted in the two drivers aborting their final runs. Amid the parc ferme interviews, it was announced that Piastri had his very own lap time deleted which promoted Hamilton up to third place. 

Top 10:

10. Lando Norris, McLaren

9. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo

8. Esteban Ocon, Alpine

7. Pierre Gasly, Alpine

6. Oscar Piastri, McLaren

5. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

4. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

2. George Russell, Mercedes

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

That’s all for the article: F1 2023 Qatar GP: Verstappen on pole as Perez falls to 13th

Read more Formula 1 here:

• 2023 F1 Qatar GP: Can Verstappen be crowned champion on Saturday?
• Red Bull Racing crowned 2023 F1 Constructors World Champions
• LIVE: 2023 F1 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX
• Verstappen storms his way to Japanese GP F1 pole with blistering lap
• Verstappen completes full sweep as fastest driver in FP3 at Japan GP
• Alpha Tauri retain unchanged line up in Tsunoda and Ricciardo for 2024

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