A week after the historic victory at Interlagos, Lewis Hamilton amended another triumph, this time in the Qatar GP, and got even closer to Max Verstappen in the dispute for the Driver’s World title.
With two races to go in the season, Mercedes’ English is eight points behind Red Bull’s Dutchman, who finished second and earned an extra point for the fastest lap. Before the race in Brazil, the difference was 21.
This Sunday (21), Hamilton started on pole and was not threatened at the debut GP held in Lusail, a city built as an image strategy for the country that will host the World Cup next year.
The World Cup will open a year from now, on November 21, 2022. To celebrate the milestone, FIFA president Gianni Infantino attended the GP.
In recent years, Qatar has been widely criticized for disrespecting human rights and subjecting workers at the large construction site the country has become to precarious situations.
Hamilton has not shied away from marking position in recent days. “When sportspeople go to these places, they have a duty to bring these issues into focus. These places need scrutiny. Equal rights are a serious issue,” said the seven-time world champion.
He even wore a helmet with the colors of the LGBTQIA+ flag and the phrase “We Stand Together” throughout the weekend.
On the track, the Englishman had much less work than in São Paulo, when he had to overcome two penalties for losing his position to win.
This time it was Verstappen who ended up punished with five grid positions for not respecting a yellow flag during qualifying on Saturday. This caused him to start in seventh.
The Dutchman took just five laps to regain positions and fall behind Hamilton, but did not threaten his rival.
The Finn Valtteri Bottas lost three positions for the same reason as Verstappen, but he started badly, couldn’t help Mercedes and even abandoned the race.
Out of the main fight, who stood out in the race was the Spaniard Fernando Alonso. The two-time world champion started third after the penalties and managed to go on the podium with Alpine, the 40-year-old’s first on his return to F1.
After a weekend break, F1 will amend its last two stages on December 5th and 12th, in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.
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