Qatar Grand Prix 2023 Results

The Qatar Grand Prix was the latest race in the Formula 1 season and this was the race where Max Verstappen had the opportunity to seal the World Championship and become a 3 time World Champion. This track was not the best because F1 created special rules for this race such as every driver had to pit at least 3 times during this race. This was a very interesting race for a lot of reasons. 

Let’s look at the Results of the Qatar Grand Prix

Qatar Grand Prix 2023 Race Results

It is the first lap and both the Mercedes drivers are out of the race as Lewis Hamilton crashed into George Russell and the night just went from bad to worse for Mercedes. Max Verstappen took the lead of the race and he was in no mood to give it up. And the 2 McClaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were the best team of the race once again. This was a 57  Lap Race and George Russell was still in the rare after the crash. The race was going at a fast pace and Carlos Sainz did not start the race so the responsibility of Ferrari to get a decent finish in this race was in the hands of Charles Leclerc and he did not let his team down. For the first 15 laps of the race it was Max Verstappen who was getting far ahead as he was more than 5 seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri who was in 2nd place. 

Then at Lap 18 the drivers started getting for their first of 3 pit stops of this race. Sergio Perez was promoted to 13th place because of the crash and he was not able to make the most Of his opportunity. And after the first pit stop it was Max Verstappen who was more than 8 seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri with Lando Norris at 3 and George Russell and Fernando Alonso behind him. Then at Lap 34 , Oscar Piastri started the string of second pit stops of this race. Max Verstappen was increasing his lead every lap and by the time Lap 43 came and the time for the final pit stops came he was 10 seconds ahead. 

This was a strange race because the drivers had to pit 3 times in a 57 Lap Race whereas the normal pit stops are 2 even for a 60+ lap race. Max Verstappen won this race and he had already won the World Championship at the sprint the night before. It was the second two podium finishes fir McClaren as Oscar Piastri finished second and Lando Norris was 3rd. George Russell recovered well after the crash and finished 4th in the race. Sergio Perez finished at 10th and Zhou Guanyu got 9th place and was in the points as well. Only 5 races remain and it will be interesting to see who finishes second in the drivers Championship. Hopefully the Qatar track is a lot better next year when Formula 1 comes to town.

Qatar Grand Prix 2023 Race Standings