Qatar
RACE REACTIONS
What the drivers
had to say after race
day in Qatar
Alpine
Pierre
GASLY

“[Sunday's] result is a real pity as we definitely would have been in contention for scoring points after lining up in ninth place. I was really looking forward to the race with the potential we had after improving performance of the car [on Saturday]. We had some damage after running wide at Turn 14 and then Nico [Hulkenberg], on soft tyres, put a lot of pressure on for a few laps. I held my line into Turn 1, we were side by side and then he made contact with my front left while making the overtake. That was pretty much our race over with a puncture and it was always going to be difficult to recover from there with quite a bit of damage to the car. We look ahead to the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi. We will try to repeat our performance here and put ourselves in contention for points.”
Franco
COLAPINTO

“We knew starting from the pit lane, and with the maximum tyre stints for this race, that most teams would run similar strategies and there would be fewer variables to give us opportunities to make progress. So, there wasn't really much we could do, or many cards up our sleeves to play with. It made for a long and lonely evening, even if we did manage to make up a few places and stick on the back of the cars in front. The car felt better with the set-up changes we made, but ultimately, we lacked the pace and strategy options to attack. I was disappointed with myself [on Saturday] but [Sunday] was a better day, however I generally struggled for grip and sliding particularly in the final part of the race. There's lots to take away from the weekend with the team testing a few things. Now we're looking ahead to the final race in Abu Dhabi and trying to end the season on a positive note as a team.”
Aston Martin
Lance
STROLL

"We started from P18 and finished P17. It was always going to be challenging gaining back positions at [that] track so we tried something different with our strategy and undercut so that we could have the opportunity to make up ground later in the race in case of another Safety Car, which sadly never came. We look to Abu Dhabi now and hope we can be more competitive there."
Fernando
ALONSO

"Two points [on Saturday] and six [on Sunday] exceeds our expectations for [the] weekend. After the early Safety Car, we committed to the two-stop strategy along with everyone else. We didn't have the pace to fight ahead. We got a bit lucky with the DRS train of cars and with how difficult it is to overtake. We also got a bit lucky with the spin mid-race, because on another circuit maybe I would have ended up in the gravel. The points are a welcome boost in the battle in the Constructors' Championship as we head into Abu Dhabi."
Ferrari
Charles
LECLERC

"It’s been a really difficult weekend for us. We just didn’t have the pace we needed and none of the changes we made improved our outlook.
"On a positive note, I look forward to Abu Dhabi and want to finish the season on a high. We will do everything to extract the maximum from our car and I hope to jump on the podium one last time this year, to give the whole team a positive feeling before the holidays."
Lewis
HAMILTON

"We made a positive start and gained a few positions in the first stint, but the Safety Car didn’t play to our advantage and I lost two positions after the double stack. From that point I found myself in a DRS train, which made progress difficult on a circuit where overtaking is limited. The focus in now on Abu Dhabi, and hopefully we can end the season on a stronger note."
Haas
Esteban
OCON

“I don’t really have words for the penalty, I don’t know where that’s come from. I’ve done over 100 starts and have always done the same procedure. It killed our whole race, and then we had to serve a double penalty, and then being on the wrong tyre, that was the end of our race really. The next race will be an important one, last year the team had a lot of pace, so we’ll see what we get.”
Oliver
BEARMAN

“It’s a shame, as we were on for a good result, getting lucky with the incident ahead of us. We had the pace to be there though, and we were fighting in the top 10. Now we’ve lost some points against competitors, which is a shame, but we have one more race to go to do our best and claw it all back. I’ve got to look at the positives, and although the car was tough to drive, we found ourselves in a point-scoring position. I’m looking forward to resetting and ending the season on a high.”
Kick Sauber
Nico
HULKENBERG

"It’s such a big shame to have a promising race end so early, after being hit by Pierre [Gasly], as I genuinely think we could have scored points. I felt confident with the car [on Saturday] and the pace was there in the first seven laps. Overtaking opportunities [in Qatar] are very limited, so I went for a manoeuvre around the outside, which is always a bit riskier, but I gave Pierre plenty of space. It’s very unfortunate, as there were definitely opportunities for us. For now it’s only disappointment, but we’ll take a couple of days to refocus and try to finish our season in Abu Dhabi in the best possible way.”
Gabriel
BORTOLETO

“It wasn’t the most exciting race for me: there weren’t many overtakes, and I spent most of it being stuck behind Lewis [Hamilton]. Once he pulled a gap, I couldn’t really close it again, so my race just kind of stayed there from that point on. I had some battles at the start, but after that not much happened. There’s still something we can take from the weekend, and a few things we could’ve improved. The penalty from Las Vegas obviously affected my race, but our pace itself was encouraging. If we’d started around P14, we might have had a shot at the top ten. Overall, there are definitely some good learnings to carry forward into the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi.”
McLaren
Oscar
PIASTRI

"We had the pace for the win, we just didn't make the right call. I tried my best to catch Max [Verstappen], and we left it all out there, so it's painful not to get the win. Final push next week, I'll try and drive like I did this weekend and see what comes."
Lando
NORRIS

"Frustrating result, we didn't get it right, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. There was obviously the opportunity to finish higher, but we'll debrief as a team and come back stronger next week. We'll now ensure our focus switches to Abu Dhabi and do what we can to deliver the best possible result next weekend."
Mercedes
George
RUSSELL

"I lost several positions on the opening lap unfortunately and that compromised my race. The inside of the track, where I was starting from, is lower grip and that hurt me in the first few corners. I got caught out at Turn 2 as I lost the rear and then I dropped another position at our first stop as we had to wait for the fast lane to clear. We battled back where we could, but we saw on Saturday just how difficult it is to overtake [in Qatar]. We had to be patient and, whilst P6 is not a result we came into the day hoping for, we’ve put a few more points on our tally in the battle for P2 in the Constructors’ Championship.
"We are well positioned to claim that P2 in Abu Dhabi. It is only between us and Red Bull Racing now so hopefully we can get the job done. We won’t just be looking to play it safe though. We want to end the season, and this era in our sport, on a high so we will be aiming to get ourselves on the podium."
Kimi
ANTONELLI

"P5 is solid points but we could have had much more. We were slightly unlucky at the first pit stop where we lost a position to the Williams of Carlos Sainz; we had a slower stop and had to hold as traffic passed us in the fast lane. That delayed us leaving the pit box and ultimately, that is what changed our race and denied us the chance to fight for the podium. We were stuck behind him for the rest of the afternoon, and it was impossible to attempt an overtake.
"I was pushing hard to stay ahead of Norris in the closing stages and unfortunately just pushed a little bit too hard. I got out of shape through Turn 9 and then had a massive snap of oversteer. I was lucky to save the car but sadly dropped the position to the McLaren. It was a frustrating and disappointing way to end what had been a good race up to that point. We will focus on Abu Dhabi now though and look to secure P2 in the Constructors’ with a strong performance to end my rookie season."
Racing Bulls
Liam
LAWSON

"It's positive to come away from the race with points after where we started. We had really strong pace when we were in clean air, but then spent the majority of the race in traffic. It's a shame to not have both cars in the points after the damage Isack experienced towards the end, however I'm looking forward to closing out the season in Abu Dhabi while we fight for our position in the Constructors'.”
Isack
HADJAR

“It was just a very frustrating end of the race. When there were 10 laps left, I started to see the front left endplate vibrating a lot, so I tried my best to avoid the kerbs. Unfortunately, it broke, causing a puncture in the tyre and damaging the car, which led me to retire. It’s a shame as we lost out on many points, and after a difficult start which I’ll review together with the team, it would have been a very good reward for us as a team after fighting for P6 for the whole race. We take the positives from Qatar, where we showed good speed and bring them to Abu Dhabi for the last race of the season."
Red Bull Racing
Max
VERSTAPPEN

"I feel great, I am really proud of that one. We made the right call as a team there to box: it was definitely what made us win the race, as I felt like we were not on the same level as McLaren in terms of pace. When a Safety Car comes in it can shake up the grid and that was a great opportunity for us to then win the race. We did a very good job as a team and I was very proud of us, especially as we nailed the strategy. In Abu Dhabi, we have nothing to lose and we are going to give it everything that we have. Of course, we are relying on another crazy race like we had [in Qatar], but we are going in there with positive energy. We need to maximise the car and be as competitive as we can. We will stay focused, try and have a good time and hope that we start the weekend well."
Yuki
TSUNODA

"I can be pretty satisfied with the weekend overall, a solid result in the Sprint and a point [on Sunday]. I tried my best to get into the points, and we got there in the end, it was a really tricky race. The car felt good and the pace was okay, but the nature of the circuit and the two stop rule made it difficult. With the high speed corners and just one DRS zone, overtaking was nearly impossible and everyone struggled with it. Once the Safety Car came out, the strategy became fixed for almost everyone and that made it even trickier to make up positions. Over the last few races the team have given me a strong car and I've been able to stay as close as I can to Max, so I'll look to do the same next weekend. It was impressive to see him secure another win and I will help him as much as I can in Abu Dhabi."
Williams
Alexander
ALBON

"Starting on the hards, we were planning on trying to benefit from some clean air with those tyres, but the Safety Car happened early on and we had to pivot strategies. Having started on the hards we were out of position and had to finish the race on mediums which wasn’t ideal for our strategy. We maybe didn’t have the pace to get through all the cars in front, but I think we left something on the table as we had a good car, as Carlos demonstrated as well. The team secured P5 in the Constructors’ Championship which is massive – a big, huge well done to everyone on the team as this was a big step forward for us this year and something that we should all be proud of."
Carlos
SAINZ

"Extremely happy! We had a very strong start and from there we executed a perfect race with strategy, tyre management, pit stops and communication. By the end of the second stint, I saw Piastri struggled to overtake me on fresh tyres, and at that moment I realised we had to go for the podium. I was pushing to the limit of the car but six laps to the end something suddenly broke! I started losing a lot of lap time in Sectors 1 and 3 but I managed to keep it together and bring it home for P3!
"[The] result is testament to the team’s hard work; I knew we were taking the right steps and, despite some difficult race weekends along the way, I had full confidence in what we are doing. I’m extremely proud of everyone, we deserve this P5 in the Constructor’s Championship, and I look forward to finishing the season on another high in Abu Dhabi! Let’s go!"
