Qatar Grand Prix

Intensity in the desert

GRAND PRIX REACTION
Qatar portrait header Sunday

In the penultimate race of the season, Fernando finished inside the top ten and claimed six points, crucially moving the team up to seventh in the Constructors' Championship. Keep reading to get our team's thoughts.

  • Lance and Fernando both began the 57-lap race on the Medium tyre. Starting from P8, Fernando gained two positions to bring him up to P6 by the end of the opening lap.

  • A Safety Car on Lap 7 enabled our team to pit both drivers for fresh sets of Mediums. When racing got back underway, Fernando and Lance were running in P6 and P16 respectively.

  • At the end of Lap 24, Lance made his second pitstop for new Mediums. However, he acquired a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pitlane.

  • Eight laps later, Fernando came into the pits for C1s – this weekend's Hard compound.

  • Lance served his penalty when he pitted again on Lap 50 and switched to Softs for the final seven laps.

  • After claiming two points in yesterday's Sprint, Fernando added six more valuable points to his tally when he finished the Qatar Grand Prix in P7.

  • Next weekend, it's time of the final race of the season – a sunset showdown at Yas Marina to determine the winner of the Drivers' Championship. Lights out for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix takes place at 13:00 GMT on 7 December.

THE LATEST FROM THE TRACK

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
  • Position

    3RD

  • Fastest lap

    1:21.310 (SOFT)

  • Laps

    26

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    322.9

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
  • Postion

    9TH

  • Fastest lap

    1:21.669 (SOFT)

  • Laps

    26

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    322.0

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
One of the better qualifying results of the year for us.

"One of the better qualifying results of the year for us.

"The car felt in the window from FP1 and then we managed to put the laps together nicely in Sprint Qualifying despite some challenges with traffic.

"Let's go one step at a time and do the Sprint tomorrow and try to improve even further into Qualifying."

  • SQ3

    1:20.450 – 4th (SOFT)

  • SQ2

    1:21.272 – 9th (MEDIUM)

  • SQ1

    1:21.276 – 2nd (MEDIUM)

  • Laps

    18

  • Max. speed (km/h)

    330.1

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
Tomorrow is going to be tricky, but we'll see what we can do.

"I didn't manage to put the laps together tonight.

"At the end of SQ1, I hit some traffic in Turn 1 where it got a little messy and missed out on getting through to SQ2.

"Tomorrow is going to be tricky starting the Sprint from P16, but we'll see what we can do."

  • SQ1

    1:21.807 – 16th (MEDIUM)

  • Laps

    7

  • Max. speed (km/h)

    326.7

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
  • Position

    7th

  • Started

    4th

  • Fastest lap

    1:25.415 (Lap 4)

  • Tyres

    Medium

  • Laps

    19

  • Max. speed (km/h)

    306.4

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
  • Position

    19th

  • Started

    Pitlane

  • Fastest lap

    1:23.585 (Lap 15)

  • Tyres

    Medium-Soft

  • Laps

    19

  • Max. speed (km/h)

    334.1

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
Every point is crucial at the moment for the Constructors', so we will give it our all.

"I was quite surprised we were able to fight for Q3 again tonight and I'm happy with P8.

"We only had four sets of new Softs in Qualifying, so we opted to use them in Q1 and Q2 and it meant we were left with used tyres at the end in Q3.  

"We scored two points earlier in the Sprint, but I think it will be more difficult for us tomorrow as the tyre degradation is quite high. Every point is crucial at the moment for the Constructors', so we will give it our all."

  • Q1

    1:20.598 – 10TH (SOFT)

  • Q2

    1:20.219 – 6TH (SOFT)

  • Q3

    1:20.418 – 8TH (SOFT)

  • Laps

    21

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    328.3

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
It will be tricky tomorrow, but we'll see what chances we get.

"A frustrating day today, qualifying in P19. I feel like I'm on the limit with the grip that I have and can't find any more pace. I felt pretty good in the car, but the lap time is just not coming together for me here and I didn't manage to go any quicker than that.

"It will be tricky tomorrow to fight back any positions as it's hard to overtake at this track, but we'll see what chances we get."

  • Q1

    1:21.058 – 19TH (SOFT)

  • Laps

    10

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    325.0

Mike Krack
MikeKrack
We will be ready to capitalise on any opportunity.

"It was good to score a couple of points in the Sprint earlier today with Fernando in P7 – an important result as we close out the season.

"Fernando carried this momentum into Qualifying ending the session in P8. He enjoys this track and the car has been more competitive here.

"Lance delivered clean laps but was not able to progress into Q2.

"Let's see what happens tomorrow. It's usually a track position race – with everybody mandated to stop twice – but we will be ready to capitalise on any opportunity."

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
We look to Abu Dhabi now in a week's time and hope we can be more competitive there.

"We started from P18 today and finished P17. It was always going to be challenging gaining back positions at this track so we tried something different with our strategy today 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 in a week's time and hope we can be more competitive there."

  • Position

    17th

  • Starting position

    18th

  • Fastest lap

    1:23.484 (LAP 51) (SOFT)

  • Tyres

    Medium-Medium-Medium-Soft

  • Laps

    55

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    332.5

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
Two points yesterday and six today exceeds our expectations for this weekend.

"Two points yesterday and six today exceeds our expectations for this 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 tonight.

"We got a bit lucky with the DRS train of cars and with how difficult it is to overtake here. 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."

  • Position

    7th

  • Starting position

    8th

  • Fastest lap

    1:23.940 (LAP 57) (HARD)

  • Tyres

    Medium-Medium-Hard

  • Laps

    57

  • Max. speed (km/h)

    328.5

Mike Krack
MikeKrack
We focus now on closing the season well in Abu Dhabi next weekend.

"A strong race for Fernando this evening with six points helping strengthen our hold on seventh place in the Constructors' Championship.

"The early Safety Car dictated the strategy for the majority of the grid and limited our options. Fernando followed the conventional strategy and brought the car home in P7.

"With Lance, we suffered a radio issue, limiting our ability to speak with him, but we tried something different with an offset strategy in the hope that we might capitalise on a late Safety Car.

"Well done to the team here on the ground and back in the UK for their continued hard work and efforts. We focus now on closing the season well in Abu Dhabi next weekend."

All corners, all the time

22 down, two to go. The F1 season started in the Gulf with winter testing and it's ending here as well, with the second and third legs of our final triple-header being the penultimate round in Qatar and then the season finale at Yas Marina.

We're back on the alternative programme at Lusail for the final Sprint weekend of the season – and also have some unusual local rules for the Grand Prix that's going to make Sunday just as fast as Saturday, while producing a few headaches for strategists and race engineers.

Qatar is an opportunity to bounce back after failing to score last time out in Vegas. Lance was unlucky to be out at the first corner and Fernando struggled for pace, eventually tumbling out of the points after a very promising performance in wet Qualifying.

We also have Jak Crawford in action, with F2 back on the programme this weekend. Currently second in the F2 standings, and coming off a fantastic feature victory in Baku, he's got a clear target this weekend, before doubling up in Abu Dhabi with F1 and F2 sessions at Yas Marina.

Keep scrolling for your guide to one of the most demanding weekends in F1, including an exclusive interview with Lance on how he's gearing up for the weekend.

TRACK INSIGHTS

Lusail International Circuit

Qatar GP track header portrait
Qatar is a combination of speed and intensity. There aren't many slow corners; it's all medium- and high-speed, with big lateral g-loads.
Lance Stroll
Track map
  • Sectors
  • Turns
  • DRS
  • Circuit length (km)
    5.419
  • Number of corners
    16
  • Race distance (km)
    308.611
Session Times
FP1
Fri28NOV
SQ
Fri28NOV
SPR
Sat29NOV
Quali
Sat29NOV
Race
Sun30NOV
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