Thursday, November 28, 2024, 7:02 p.m.
The Losail International Circuit hosts the Qatar Grand Prix this weekend, the penultimate event of a Formula 1 season that has had everything and that, under the Netflix filter, can be described as epic. With an overwhelming dominance of Max Verstappen at the beginning and suffering at the end against a Lando Norris who deflated, strategic fights between teams to the point of having seven different winners – all of the ‘greats’, except Sergio Pérez – and, more recently , internal tensions that have further inflamed the atmosphere on the grid. With the drivers’ championship already decided in favor of the Dutchman, the focus is on the teams, the rivalries and the stories to be resolved on a track that always offers surprises under the night lights.
And of the battles that remain pending in these last two rounds of the 2024 championship, Ferrari arrives in Qatar with a heated atmosphere after the emotional and almost physical clash that occurred in the Las Vegas GP. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, teammates for two weeks but rivals on the track for years, starred in an episode that revealed the internal friction of the Maranello team. From that skirmish, both drivers were immersed in a direct fight that, although it did not harm the Scuderia’s aspirations to maintain its position as a contender for the constructors’ title, it did denote the bad blood between both drivers.
While Leclerc looked for a podium that seemed within reach, Sainz insisted on maintaining his position without giving up what, in fairness, was his. That crash led to a crucial loss of time for both, since neither reached the podium nor could the other aspire to be more than third. Although Ferrari tried to minimize the incident publicly, nothing else was talked about in the paddock. Will Qatar be the setting where these two drivers who are not at all friends can resolve their differences on the track, or will the tension transfer again off it?
For Sainz, who has shown consistency and ambition throughout the season despite being spat at, this race represents an opportunity to assert himself again against those who expel him. For his part, Leclerc will seek to vindicate himself and demonstrate that he is still the driver that Ferrari trusts for the future, despite the fact that Lewis Hamilton is going to make things very difficult for him, predictably, starting in January.
To a large extent, the absence of pressure for Verstappen, who has nothing at stake, can be a guarantee of uncertainty and show. The Red Bull rider arrives at Losail with nothing to lose and everything to gain in terms of spectacle. After being crowned world champion for the fourth consecutive time, Verstappen has shown that even in moments where he no longer has anything to prove, he is still a fierce competitor. The last few races have shown him to be a fighter as always, but without the weight of the numbers at stake we could see a more relaxed Verstappen and willing to take risks that he avoided in Las Vegas.
For Red Bull, the mission now is to try to sustain its candidacy for the constructors’ title, from which it is practically out. The absence of a very poor Sergio Pérez, whose best result since the summer has been several sixth places, will deprive Red Bull of glory also in the team section, where McLaren currently has an advantage. Unless unforeseen, this weekend they will be ahead again and will enter the battle with Ferrari, Mercedes and the brand new four-time world champion.
The last sprint
The one who will not be at the top, except for maximum surprise, will be Fernando Alonso. The Asturian driver arrives in Qatar after a season that is becoming very difficult for him. In Las Vegas the Aston Martins were unmitigatedly slow, becoming almost the seventh or eighth team of the ten on the grid, and only such a risky strategy as hopeless, they allowed him to get his hopes up with the meager prize of one point. In Qatar, where Alonso returned to the podium in 2021 after a seven-year gap, he will try to minimize the notable shortcomings that the Aston Martin AMR24 has demonstrated throughout the season.
This will be the last weekend of the year with a sprint format, in a scenario where it does not seem to be the most conducive to the show. Although Qatar is not as bland as Abu Dhabi, where they travel for the finale of the season, the lack of motivation for those at the top on a personal level can hinder interest in the event.
