Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen showed once again that they are world class drivers at the Qatar Grand Prix. While the Briton was able to cash in on his pole position with a victory, Verstappen drove from P7 to second place. "Jeroen Bleekemolen states in an exclusive interview with GPblog: "The class radiates from it.

Verstappen had to deal with a five-place grid penalty prior to the race, which meant he started the race in seventh position. However, Bleekemolen was already expecting the Dutchman to end up in the top three. "Verstappen always gets the maximum out of his car and he did so again in Qatar. Hamilton also did well from the start. They both showed last weekend they have an extra piece of talent compared to the other drivers."

The Red Bull Racing driver then hoped to get even close to Hamilton, but it was against his better judgement. "Very realistically, of course, we knew that it was almost impossible to end up in first place. Verstappen would then have to be lucky that there was something wrong with Hamilton's car, but that was not the case. Second place was therefore the maximum we could have achieved."

Alonso puts in great performance with podium finish

By the end of the race, therefore, there was little tension at the front. On the remaining part of the track, however, Bleekemolen still saw plenty to enjoy, including third place for Alonso. "The car performed well all weekend. Of course Alonso was lucky that Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez didn't have a good race, which suddenly freed up a podium spot. Those two should be there with their car. On the other hand, it shows that he is still a great driver in this sport."

Alonso has been admired at Alpine since this season. According to Bleekemolen, however, the Spaniard still has a lot to offer. "I really think he is of an exceptional talent in Formula 1. He is having a strong season and shows almost every race that he can still reach a high level. If we were to give Alonso the chance to put down in a Mercedes or Red Bull car, I'm convinced he'd still be competing."