The debut of Formula 1 in Qatar has been appreciated by the drivers as regards the design of the track, fluid and smooth, characteristics that allow you to better appreciate the potential of modern single-seaters. The Grand Prix, on the other hand, was dynamic and lively for the fights from third position down, while Hamilton’s victory was never questioned. But what shines on everyone in Losail is the blue of the Alpine di Fernando Alonso, able to return to the podium more than seven years after the one conquered in Budapest in 2014 with the F14-T, this time exalting an A521 perfectly prepared by the transalpine team.
As part of the world championship fight, Mercedes realizes the potential of the car and the predictions of the eve. On paper Losail was a track capable of bringing out the merits of the W12, precise and at the same time stable on the fast corners present in abundance on the Qatari track. Pirelli had also opted for the harder compounds in its range, with which the Silver Arrows are most at ease. The greatest threat to the reigning champions stemmed rather from the absolute debut in Qatar and therefore from the absence of preliminary track information, aspects that further increased the importance of the preparation work in the factory and the subsequent refinement of the track set-up. .
Mercedes, however, was also impeccable in this aspect, with Bottas who already from the statements released after free practice on Friday told of a good starting set-up, contrary to what emerged from the words of the Red Bull drivers. The Brackley team was therefore able to refine their already excellent start preparation session after session, progressively finding a balance that led to Verstappen trimming the widest seasonal gap seen in qualifying in dry conditions, equal to 455 thousandths. It should also be emphasized that in the last two appointments Mercedes has put on show two opposing and complementary qualities in the work of preparation. In fact, the team revealed that a thorough analysis of the data collected in previous editions, in which Mercedes had not excelled, had contributed to the search for the balance found in Brazil, while in Qatar the ability to immediately define a good starting set-up without information emerged. previous ones, relying solely on simulation work.
Red Bull imperfect and slowed down
In contrast to what is expressed by the rivals, Red Bull suffered from a far from optimal starting set-up, which had repercussions on the subsequent improvement work, compromising the performance growth over the weekend, shown by Mercedes instead. Sergio Perez himself at the end of Friday’s sessions had declared how in the team they were “not entirely happy with the balance of the car“. The refinement of the set-up was also slowed down by the choice of the rear wing and subsequently by the problems that occurred to the DRS. In fact, in FP1 the two pilots carried out a comparative test, with Verstappen turning with the wing under maximum load, while Perez mounted the medium load spoon wing, subsequently confirmed on both cars for FP2 and FP3 .
Subsequently, the malfunction of the DRS seen on the RB16B already in Mexico and Brazil occurred again, causing the mobile flap to swing dangerously with the risk of a failure. The two Red Bulls were therefore forced into the pits for a long time to try to remedy the problem, with some time being taken away from track tests and in search of the balance that Red Bull needed even more than Mercedes. In the end, the inability to repair the DRS forced the team to replace the rear wing with a different specification, to help prevent the problem, as it actually happened. Verstappen and Perez therefore returned to the high-load version immediately before qualifying, without being able to re-evaluate it on the track and above all going against the choice made previously. Preparation at Red Bull was therefore slowed down by some hitches, but overall the superiority expressed by Mercedes suggests that, at least on the flying lap, the gap could hardly have been bridged.
Set-up, strategy and talent: the recipe for the podium of Alonso and Alpine
In a season in which more than half of the riders on the grid had reached the podium, there was a lack of the name of Fernando Alonso, who in Qatar managed to fill this void by becoming the protagonist, together with Alpine, of an exceptional performance. The image of the level expressed by the Spaniard is contained in the pace maintained in the second stint after being overtaken by Sergio Perez. After the gap had opened beyond six seconds, Alonso had in fact slowly begun to catch up, before the Mexican returned for the second stop.
Fernando’s statements dating back to Friday suggest that the preparation of the one-stop strategy at Alpine had been planned for some time: “We will need to evaluate everything overnight if we want to set ourselves the goal of aiming for Q3 in tomorrow’s qualifying“. The team was therefore already evaluating, on the basis of the planned stops, how much to compromise the set-up on the flying lap to the advantage of the pace over the long distance, with the result, however, of obtaining excellent results both in qualifying and in the race. The Alpine technicians have launched a set-up capable of handling the soft tires so much that they can set up a race with a single pit stop while maintaining high rates, contrary to what was planned at AlphaTauri. Pierre Gasly had in fact declared that he wanted to start with soft tires at all costs, so much so that he competed in Q1 with medium tires to keep an extra set of soft tires for Q2, suggesting that the Faenza team was firmly convinced of a great Two-stop premium.
Alpine recently showed an inclination to make one less stop than rivals, an indication of a recurring strategy by the French manufacturer, but also of a car that is particularly docile on tires. In Turkey, for example, Ocon was the only one to reach the finish line with the same set of tires mounted at the start, while in Brazil both drivers entered the pits only once against the two of their rivals. However, several factors contributed to the result achieved in Qatar, starting from the great wake sought by Alonso in qualifying in Q3, who started his own lap immediately behind Hamilton who was on the point of finishing it.
The fifth place conquered by Ocon in the race, behind only Perez and Norris before the puncture in the mid-group race, testifies to the good overall competitiveness of the car in Losail. The riders’ words on Friday revealed good feelings right from the first practice sessions, testifying to the good simulation work carried out in the factory, which is crucial on a new track. The Qatari track was also a track similar to the characteristics of the A521, a fast car in high-mileage corners. Various factors contribute to this quality, but the design approach of the single-seater cannot be neglected a greater concentration of centrally located radiators, as can be seen from the generous dimensions of the bonnet, to draw narrower and hollow bellies in the lower part. The Alpine thus manages to convey a greater air flow along the bottom towards the diffuser, increasing the load released by the underbody. Finally, it should be noted that the Anglo-French team is among those who are able to exploit the stall of the diffuser in a straight line for longer to reduce drag, thus showing off excellent performance in the draw.
Italians below expectations
AlphaTauri had a great performance in qualifying, with two cars in the Top-10 and Pierre Gasly right behind the top three, but the strategy and pace expressed in the race were below expectations. The summary is surprising considering that on Friday Tsunoda showed that the car performed well on the medium tires and badly with the softer compound. Yet, as stated by his team-mate, the team tried at all costs to start with soft tires, only to go into trouble and switch to medium compounds very soon, on the ninth and thirteenth laps respectively with Tsunoda and Gasly. Despite the more aggressive two-stop strategy, which should have allowed them to maintain a higher pace, the pace over the long haul was not at the level of rivals. Alonso made the stop 13 laps later than Gasly, but on his return to the track the gap between the two had increased to 9 seconds, despite the Frenchman having used the cooler tires. All in all, the team from Faenza closed with a double zero after starting from the second and eighth pitch on the grid, a result that summarizes the poor performance in the race on a strategic and performance level.
In Losail, the big absentees were McLaren and Ferrari, who for the whole second half of the season were clearly ahead of the rest of the center-group. Lando Norris was slowly rebuilding the McLaren weekend, after finishing qualifying behind AlphaTauri and Alpine, but bad luck embodied by a puncture seven laps from the finish precluded a good result. However, regardless of the episode in the finale, it was expected that the Woking team could be far ahead in Qatar, as well as Ferrari. During the season, the ability of the Maranello Scuderia to arrive on the track with a good starting set-up was often praised, a quality that however failed in Qatar, with Carlos Sainz who said that the team had to change the set-up widely compared to the one initially prepared. Leclerc in particular highlighted on Friday the need to improve the balance in the first and third sectors, the fastest on the track, thus suggesting that the shortcomings of the SF21 could be mainly in the fast corners. The Monegasque also damaged the chassis in qualifying with an aggressive pass on a curb, compromising the stiffness of the body and altering the balance of the car, resulting in being excluded from Q3.
Ferrari also managed to win more points than McLaren, taking advantage of Norris’ puncture, with which the advantage in the standings grew to almost 40 points. The British team complains about several episodes in recent races that have affected the tally of points, but the deficit against the Maranello team starting from the Turkish Grand Prix is 57 points and highlights a marked decline in performance in the second half of the season. Similarly, the Qatari round directs the fight for fifth place in the World Championship increasingly towards Alpine, now 25 points ahead of AlphaTauri. On the other hand, the challenges valid for the two world titles are increasingly ignited. Red Bull is chasing Mercedes 5 points away, while Hamilton has gone from being on the last pitch on the grid in the Brazilian Sprint Race 19 points behind the lead to just 8 current points behind Verstappen. The next appointment is in two weeks in Saudi Arabia, on a track that simulations predict will be the second fastest on the calendar after Monza, where the gap could narrow further.
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