International media | 'The situation for Verstappen is now precarious'

Lewis Hamilton has once again managed to close the gap on Max Verstappen in the world championship. The Brit drove an excellent Qatar Grand Prix and received a lot of praise from the international media. Of course, there is also a lot of attention for the impressive performance of Fernando Alonso.

La Gazzetta dello Sport

'The championship is wide open,' begins the Italian La Gazzetta dello Sport About the GP in Qatar. 'Mercedes and Hamilton were too good and at the moment Verstappen got a penalty, the race was already decided. Max reacted very well to the penalty, but now it's hard to imagine how he will bounce back in this fight.'

Bild

Victory for Hamilton makes championship even more exciting', headlines the German Bild after the race at the Losail International Circuit. 'This season we are already experiencing the most exciting F1 season in years, but the Qatar GP makes the fight for the grand final that much more exciting than it already was.'

Sky Sports

At the British Sky Sports they see a change in momentum after the Mercedes driver's victory. "From a lead of 21 points just eight days ago, Verstappen's advantage of eight points with 52 left to play for in Saudi Arabia (December 5) and Abu Dhabi (December 12) now looks precarious on the evidence of Hamilton and Mercedes' pace at the last two events."

Marca

The Spanish Marca headlines 'Hamilton parade', but of course most of the attention is on Fernando Alonso. 'Alonso had a masterful start and a race on the edge. He risked everything in every corner. It was pure magic for someone who never left but returned to Formula One glory.'

AS

To add to the Spanish hype, we also see an upbeat headline at AS' Alonso returns to the podium', to continue: 'seven years after his last podium, he rewrites the story of his biography. The image of the three best drivers on this grid finally on the podium together has been worth the wait.'