The Qatar Grand Prix was a disaster for Lewis Hamilton for various reasons. Even before the race started, he was having a poor Friday and Saturday. He was hoping to turn things around on Sunday, but things took a turn for the worse.
The Qatar Grand Prix hosted the 4th Sprint weekend of the season. This meant that the drivers would get only 1 practice session before qualifying for the Grand Prix. During the qualifying session, it was clear that Max Verstappen and the McLarens had the pace. As expected, they took the top 3 spots during qualifying as the session came to an end. Lewis Hamilton qualified in 5th behind his teammate and both the McLarens.
However, an investigation by the stewards concluded that both McLaren drivers had their final qualifying times deleted. This promoted Lewis to 3rd place with his teammate in second. While the team and the drivers took it positively, Sunday would prove otherwise.
Lewis Hamilton has received a reprimand and a 50.000€ fine for crossing the track to return to the pit lane.
The fine could be reduced to 25.000€ if there is no further breach of similar nature for the remainder of the 2023 season.#F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/hikbZSSl4r
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) October 8, 2023
During the race, Lewis Hamilton had a much better start than the 2 cars ahead of him. Going into the first corner, all 3 cars were side by side. However, Hamilton turned into his teammate taking the 7-time Champion out of the race while Russell was forced to fight his way back from the back of the field. He did manage a 4th place finish though.
After the incident, Lewis Hamilton decided to run across the track to reach the Mercedes garage. As it turned out, this was not allowed according to the FIA. Based on the rules set by the governing bodies, a driver cannot cross the track without assistance from a marshall who gets approval from the FIA. The other option is to get a ride from the medical car which will take the driver around the circuit back to the garage. Since Lewis Hamilton did neither, he received a fine of $53,000 along with a reprimand from the FIA.
Lewis Hamilton inches closer to Sergio Perez in silent battle for P2
While Max Verstappen has secured the Championship for this season, his teammate is struggling to keep Lewis Hamilton behind him for P2. Red Bull has never finished a season by taking the top 2 spots in the WDC. They did come close last season, but Charles Leclerc was able to secure his second-place finish after beating Sergio Perez during the last race of the season.
From the beginning of the season, it has been clear that Red Bull has the strongest car on the grid. As a result, a lot of teams are trying to take inspiration from Adrian Newey’s RB19. A lot of teams including McLaren and Aston Martin have poached key staff members from Red Bull in an attempt to catch up to them.
Lewis Hamilton has outscored Sergio Perez at 6 of 11 race weekends since the Miami GP. He’s also outscored Checo 42-34 since the summer break.
Lewis currently trails Checo by 33 points for P2 in the driver’s championship. Talk about really maximizing the W14. pic.twitter.com/H4Mqu7jDGC
— Dan’s DRS Zone (@F1GuyDan) October 5, 2023
While Mercedes has not made any gain strides this season, they have been developing the car consistently. This has allowed Lewis Hamilton to close in on Sergio Perez for 2nd place in the WDC. This could give some motivation for the team to work harder in the coming weeks. This motivation could carry on to next season where they will be hoping to fight for the Championship once again.
After winning the WDC and WCC, Christian Horner has said the next best thing would be to get a 1-2 finish in the WDC as well. He is expecting the team to do everything possible to make that a reality. According to Horner, Sergio Perez is just in a slump where he lacks confidence in the car. Once he gets his confidence back, he will be able to finish P2 consistently.
If Sergio Perez wishes to retain his seat at Red Bull, he will be looking to get his confidence back and deliver solid results for the team. The Mexican has his home race coming up in a few weeks time. He will be looking to gain his confidence back by then to take the fight to Max Verstappen for the race win.