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Formula 1
Qatar GP
F1 Qatar GP Live Commentary and Updates – Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2023 Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix
Max Verstappen wrapped up his third F1 world title in the Qatar sprint on Saturday and starts today’s grand prix on pole looking to celebrate in style.
But the race has thrown F1 teams a curveball with a mandated maximum of 18-lap stints – effectively pushing all drivers into a three-stop strategy – due to safety concerns on tyre trouble.
In conjunction with Pirelli, the FIA made the emergency measures official on Sunday afternoon before the race, following Saturday’s track limit changes at Turn 12 and 13 to deter drivers from going over the new and harsher kerbs.
The Qatar GP gets under way at 6:00pm BST.
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Stroll - who got a track limits penalty in the sprint on Saturday - has now been shown the warning flag. One more and he'll join Perez with a penalty.
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"That's another five second penalty for track limits. This is hurting our race," Red Bull tell Perez with a clearly frustrated tone.
Piastri's next pitstop will be no later than lap 43, so within four laps, which should see him to the finish.
Penalty
Perez has been handed another five second penalty for abusing track limits. Another sorry chapter to an underwhelming season for the Mexican.
We are closing in on 18 laps to go which means the final pitstop window is approaching. Verstappen's lead is up to 7.1s over Piastri who has Norris 3.7s back.
Vowles has reported Sargeant has made comment about throwing up in his helmet. He confirms the driver was fit and healthy at the start of the race, with this illness brought on by the conditions.
Verstappen's lead is 5.8s over Piastri, so down by just over a second from the start of the last stint. But with fresh rubber, Verstappen should be able to pull out his lead once again.
Alonso is now officially under investigation for rejoining unsafely.
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"I'm not feeling well at all," says Sargeant in P18. Team principal Vowles offers the chance to retire the car but the American maintains he wants to press on and continue lapping.
Yellow flag
Alonso has a huge moment at Turn 2 and takes a trip across the gravel, dropping behind Russell in the process. But his rejoin has now been noted by the stewards, after he used an escape road to return to racing speed and fire his Aston Martin into the path of Leclerc.
Pit stop
At the end of lap 34 Verstappen duly pits, switching his mediums for fresh hards, and comes back out in the lead.
Verstappen's lead is up to 34s over Piastri who is back to second but the Red Bull driver is due to pit any lap now.
Pit stop
Russell pits from second on lap 33, his third stop of the race, meaning he'll need to pit again before the end.
Albon pits and comes out ahead of Tsunoda but the AlphaTauri driver fights back and forces his way back into P14 at Turn 6. There are battles everywhere tonight!
Pit stop
Perez pits from third and serves his track limits penalty. He takes on a used set of mediums and tumbles down the order to 12th.
Verstappen is asked to pick up his pace but keep it sustainable by engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. Go faster, but not too fast.
Norris moves up to sixth with a DRS-assisted move on Zhou on the main straight. 30 laps gone, 27 to go. Are you keeping up?
Gasly now gets the black and white warning flag for track limits. He, Albon and Lawson are the three drivers pushing their luck right now.
The Norris-Alonso battle has reached boiling point yet again, with the pair in close quarters after their latest stops.
Verstappen still leads, with his advantage up to 23s, with Russell now the lucky recipient of second place.
Pit stop
Norris, in second place for a lap, is next in and ditches his mediums for another set of fresh mediums. He comes out in seventh, just behind Zhou but ahead of Alonso!
Pit stop
Alonso has complained of a hot race seat in his Aston Martin and suggested the team dumps water into his cockpit at his next pitstop. He pits for tyres but no ice/water/cooler for his hot backside.
Penalty
A five second penalty for Perez for track limits. He is the first driver to be caught out tonight!
Pit stop
Hard tyres this time as Ocon and Leclerc both replace medium rubber with the white-walled hard compound.
It appears that Gasly has a problem with his hybrid system. The Alpine driver has reported that he 'cannot fight' with what he currently has at his disposal.
Pit stop
Verstappen leads by 8.3s as Piastri is called to pit for the second time in this race on lap 25. Alonso continues and moves into second.
This one is big - Perez has now been given his final track limits warning. A reminder, one more transgression will result in a five second penalty.
According to F1's data, Piastri cannot pit later than lap 25 - and it is lap 24 - so his time in second will be up shortly. The merry-go-round spins once more.
Albon has now been shown the black and white warning flag for track limits. He is the second driver after Lawson to be given this final warning.
Verstappen leads by 7.5s from Piastri and is largely able to run his own race. Everyone else is in all-out warfare with strategy and performance peaks and dips colliding.
Here comes the next round of stops! Are you paying attention closely?
On lap 21 Norris overtakes Stroll, who is on a different strategy, to move up to fifth and has Bottas in his sights next.
Alonso, with DRS, makes light work of passing Bottas and returns to third place. He is 4.2s off Piastri in second.
With the first pit shuffle seemingly having played out, Norris is in P6 with Leclerc following closely. Ocon, Gasly and Russell round out the points at present.
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"You need to let Fernando by as soon as possible. This is important. You are on a different strategy."
Stroll's reaction to the Aston Martin message was not broadcast but he has made the switch, allowing his team-mate to move into P4.
Stroll's reaction to the Aston Martin message was not broadcast but he has made the switch, allowing his team-mate to move into P4.
Pit stop
Albon and Zhou both pit at the end of lap 18 - right on the limit - which releases Verstappen back into the lead. Piastri is back up to second, 8s back from the Red Bull driver.
Pit stop
And in comes Verstappen, a 2.4s stop, and comes out in second place behind Albon - who will need to pit at the end of this lap. But a Williams leads this race!
Stopwatch
Verstappen puts in a fastest lap of 1m27.875s on lap 16 and, as expected, he must pit at the end of his current lap.
Verstappen leads by 22s from Albon but both are due to pit in the next lap or two.
Much like the Indy500, it's very difficult to actually confirm the true order due to the wide variety of pitstop plans on display. Time to get the calculators out!
By: Autosport Staff
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