Qatar – EL1: Verstappen at ease, the Mercedes far behind

Discovering the Losail route, Max Verstappen probably had no trouble adapting. On track among the first to discover the particularities of the Qatari circuit, the driver Red Bull quickly set the tone by taking the lead with a lap of 1'24"855 on hard tires, 0"360 faster than his closest pursuer Lando Norris (McLaren) equipped with mediums.

ALSO READ > Qatar GP – History, MotoGP, promotion formulas… Everything you need to know about the Losail circuit

The first stint on hard tires completed, the Batavian then switched to soft tires to take the temperature and see the limits of the red rubber in the Qatari heat. Unsurprisingly and without much delay, Max Verstappen dislodged Yuki tsunoda from first place with a 1’23”723 to never let it go again. Behind, the Mercedes improved but failed to keep up with the pace set by the championship leader.

With its practically new engine and soft tires, Lewis Hamilton ranked 3rd, almost 8 tenths behind Max Verstappen! Not entirely comfortable for this first outing, the Englishman then had to end his session prematurely due to a problem on his W12 while Valtteri Bottas came between him and the Dutchman on the timesheet. Unfortunately for them, the Silver Arrows fell back one rank each as they approached the checkerboard, the fault being Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri).

In good shape and fast in recent weeks, the Norman has not been idle in this first session on Friday. The most active man on the track with 28 laps completed, the Habs finished in 2nd position, 0 behind Max Verstappen and therefore ahead of the Mercedes. His teammate Yuki Tsunoda also showed great things on the track with the 437th time just under a second from the best reference after having been the fastest man for a while. A good omen for the rest of the weekend.

Comme une impression qu'on va pas beaucoup appuyer sur le frein ce week-end 😍#QatarGP 🇶🇦

▶ https://t.co/7plkVVV12v pic.twitter.com/4B3Px0GYJO

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) November 19, 2021

Third force on the board at present, Ferrari placed his men in 6th and 7th positions with Carlos Sainz (+0″990) ahead Charles Leclerc (+1″067). Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Lando Norris (McLaren) completed the Top 10 of these EL1s in Qatar.

Not in spirit for the first session of the day, Fernando Alonso (Alpine) could not do better than 17th, 2″1 behind Max Verstappen’s time. His A521 was a bit capricious, the Iberian was forced to abandon it for a moment while his mechanics repaired it after having suffered some damage from passing over the vibrators.

First impressions of Qatar, @danielricciardo? 👌#QatarGP 🇶🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/Xqbu30RlwA

- Formula 1 (@ F1) November 19, 2021

The drivers will return to the track this Friday at 15:00 p.m. (French time) for the second and final free practice session of the day.

ALSO READ > Verdict on Verstappen-Hamilton incident pushed back to Friday