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Team results Qatar | Mercedes blunder costs points

Team results Qatar | Mercedes blunder costs points

22-11-2021 20:09

GPblog.com

The Qatar Grand Prix may not have been the most exciting race, but the different strategies of the teams made it interesting. The one-stop didn't end well for everyone. GPblog reviews the performance of the teams.

Alpine - 9

The Alpine team had an amazing weekend in Qatar. Fernando Alonso finished on the podium for the first time in seven years. Esteban Ocon tried to help his teammate by holding off Sergio Perez. Although he didn't manage to do so for long, he put up a good fight with the Mexican.

Mercedes - 8.5

Lewis Hamilton drove to a dominant win, but the team were too late to pit the Brit for a new set of tyres. As a result, they have to give away a bonus point to Verstappen, which could have a lot of consequences in the exciting title fight. With Valtteri Bottas it went completely wrong. The team allowed the driver to continue on the medium tyre for too long, hoping for a one-stop. The Finn had to park his car in the garage. Mercedes misses out on important points in the Constructors' Championship and Red Bull is closing in on them.

Red Bull Racing - 7.5

Red Bull had to start from scratch after qualifying on Saturday. Sergio Perez didn't make it to Q3 and started from 11th and Max Verstappen had to start from P7 due to a grid penalty. Still, the team made up for a lot. A perfect strategy allowed Verstappen to pit at the end of the race for a set of the soft tyre to get the fastest lap of the race and he managed a nice P2. The team did miss out on some points due to Perez's two-strike penalty, which meant he missed out on the podium.

Ferrari - 7.5

It wasn't a perfect race for Ferrari, but they still managed to take some important points in the Constructors' Championship. Once again, both drivers finished ahead of the McLaren team and increase their lead in the battle for third place.

Aston Martin - 7.5

Both drivers crashed out during Q2 of qualifying, but the team still picked up double points with a P6 and a P10. The one-stop worked out well with Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel managing their tyres well until the end of the race.

McLaren - 6

Lando Norris was forced to come in for new tyres in the closing stages of the race due to problems, forcing the team to give away a better position. Daniel Ricciardo had another down weekend and fell outside the top ten. Once again McLaren gives away a lot of points to their Italian rival Ferrari.

Alfa Romeo - 5.5

The Qatar GP was an invisible weekend for Alfa Romeo. Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi finished outside the top ten on a fourteenth and fifteenth place. The team opted for the two-timer and must make do with zero points.

Haas - 5

Once again Haas had little to contribute to the Qatar GP. Nikita Mazepin finished behind teammate Mick Schumacher again. Still, Schumacher's performance cannot be forgotten as the driver finished just a few seconds behind Giovinazzi's Alfa Romeo.

AlphaTauri - 5

What seemed to be a great race for AlphaTauri ended in a nightmare. Pierre Gasly started from the front row on P2 due to the grid penalties of Verstappen and Bottas, but the driver had a poor start and fell far back. Yuki Tsunoda also started in the top ten, but in the end, both drivers finished just outside the top ten due to the two-stop penalty. Their rival in the Constructor's Championship, Alpine, picked up a lot of points and is further ahead in the battle for P5.

Williams - 4

It's a weekend to forget for Williams. Both George Russell and Nicholas Latifi suffered punctures during the race. The one-stop was ultimately a big risk for the team after all. Latifi had to park his car along the track in the closing stages of the race. Russell finished only seventeenth, but wouldn't have finished much higher otherwise.