Burning rubber will add to the desert heat this weekend as the best drivers in the world go wheel-to-wheel on the illustrious Lusail International Circuit at the Qatar Grand Prix!
After a one-year absence due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which was hosted by Qatar, Formula One is back in Doha for an exhilarating race weekend. The Qatar Grand Prix will serve as a pivotal race for drivers like Max Verstappen, who is on the brink of winning his third Formula One World championship, and Liam Lawson, who is given yet another chance to prove his claim for a permanent seat moving forward.
Lewis Hamilton, the last Qatar Grand Prix winner, aims to defend his podium spot and bag the most points for Mercedes to cement their 2nd place spot in the constructors’ standings, as they are being hounded by Ferrari, who are in third. At this point in the season, with multiple teams battling for second in the constructor standings, there is virtually no room for error for every team and driver.
Max cements his legacy
After securing Red Bull’s back-to-back constructors’ championships at the Japanese Grand Prix, Christian Horner’s golden boy, Max Verstappen, can clinch the 2023 drivers’ title at the Qatar Grand Prix, and he could do it as early as Saturday’s Sprint Race.
Verstappen winning his third consecutive World Drivers’ Championship is practically a sure thing; the only question now is when. The Dutchman leads the 2023 driver standings by an astronomical 177 points. The closest threat is his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, but at this rate, no one is really worried that any other driver can overtake Verstappen in the standings.
Max bagged a huge haul after his masterful weekend in Suzuka, when he garnered a maximum of 26 points, bringing his total to 400 points. Perez, on the other hand, had a Grand Prix to forget, as he was forced to retire midway through the race, making him settle for 223 drivers’ points entering Qatar this weekend.
The Dutchman leads the 2023 driver standings by an astronomical 177 points, and with only 180 points up for grabs across the final six rounds of the season, which include three sprints, Max only needs to finish in the top six in the Saturday sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix to secure the 2023 F1 drivers’ title.
What’s next for Lawson?
In the latest Qatar Grand Prix 2023 news, Liam Lawson will take a crack at a Sprint format weekend for the first time as he once again fills in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo. Ricciardo is still healing from a hand injury he sustained during a practise session ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix last August.
It was speculated that the former Red Bull standout would make his return on the grid in Qatar, but it seems like Red Bull and Alpha Tauri decided to play it safe. The decision to be wary of Ricciardo’s health and recovery emanated when Alpha Tauri officially signed him to pair up with Yuki Tsunoda for the 2024 season.
Alpha Tauri turned to their super sub, Liam Lawson, for the fifth consecutive race. Lawson has been stellar for his team, as he finished 13th, 11th, 9th, and 11th consecutively. He impressively scored his first points in Singapore, a track he had never driven on before.
Lawson outperformed teammate Yuki Tsunoda in each of the four races he had participated in, but to the shock of many, Alfa Tauri decided to pass on Lawson to be one of their two drivers next season. Liam will instead be Red Bull’s third driver in 2024. But the New Zealander has proven his potential and is poised for a permanent seat in Formula One sooner than we think.
History
Qatar is one of the newcomers to Formula One, having made their debut in 2021. Merc’s Sir Lewis Hamilton is currently the only champion of the Qatar Grand Prix, due to Qatar’s absence in the 2022 Formula One season as they hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, and Fernando Alonso are the reigning podium finishers on the Lusail International Circuit. But the landscape of the Formula One grid has drastically changed since 2021, when Mercedes were still a convincing threat to Red Bull.
What are the odds?
After his FP1 finish in Suzuka, Max Verstappen is bound to win his third drivers’ title. The latest Qatar Grand Prix 2023 odds at SBOTOP have Sergio Perez as the heavy favourite at 1.10 to win the F1 World Championship 2023 – Winning Driver Without Max Verstappen.
Meanwhile, Mercedes and Ferrari lead the F1 World Championships 2023 – Winning Team Without Red Bull. The Silver Arrows are the slight favourites at 1.30, while the boys in red are priced at a modest 3.20. McLaren try to hang on in the battle for second, as they’re at a reasonable 26.0.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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