Qatar: pre-qualifying 2024

I do loathe the sprint weekends, but the contest is, it must be acknowledged, very useful for assessing genuine pace in race conditions.

Perez and Colapinto made some setup changes and started the sprint race from the pit lane. Medium tyres for everyone excep Zhou who started on softs. At the start, Piastri passed Russell, and Hamilton had a good start, rising two places into 5th, ahead of Leclerc and behind Sainz. Lawson had a terrible start, losing seven places. Verstappen also lost places, down to 9th on lap 4 (maybe earlier). The top 5 of Nor-Pia-Rus-Sai-Ham settled into a DRS train, with Leclerc close behind.

About 13 laps in both Haas drivers were doing well, Hulkenberg up to 7th (up two) and Magnussen rose from 15th to 10th. Same lap, Leclerc and Hamilton had a fun battle that saw the Monegasque pass the Briton. Lap 15, Perez pitted for a new front wing… rather sums things up.

According to F1 Gamer (YouTube channel) the McLaren race pace appears inferior to Ferrari. He may be right, but it could also be Norris pulling his punches to secure the 1-2. On the line, weirdly, Norris slowed down so Piastri won and Norris was 2nd.

 

For qualifying, I was somewhat tempted by a certain Monegasque driver. Leclerc is 13.5 on Betfair and 9.5 (boosted) on Ladbrokes which can be backed each way.

Decided, on balance, not to back that, so no tip.

Qualifying is at 6pm UK time.



Morris Dancer

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