00:00And the Qatar Grand Prix is go! Good reaction time for Lewis Hamilton, George Russell putting the pressure on Max
00:08Verstappen, Hamilton got the launch off the line, goes around the outside, he's hit his teammate, Lewis Hamilton turns into
00:14George Russell, and the Mercedes collide at the first turn, three into one, did not go, and the wheel came
00:21off there for Lewis Hamilton, the wheels come off for Mercedes, Max Verstappen leads, contact between Russell and Hamilton, absolutely
00:29dramatic success.
00:30In the first couple of corners, we will probably need a safety car intervention, scrappy start at the beginning of
00:36this one.
00:37Yeah, and Hamilton, unsurprisingly, gets that extra drive off those tyres, picking up a bit of a distant tour there
00:43from Max Verstappen as well, he then gets a little bit of a squeeze from his teammate, but goes brave
00:48on the brakes, but just shuts the corner down, I'm sorry, he just didn't leave enough space.
00:55Come on, what the hell?
00:57This would be interesting, I think Russell momentarily loses a little bit of grip as well, and washes wide, oh,
01:03barely, I mean, it is, you're right, DC, is Hamilton really turning in, going aggressive on the soft tyre, but
01:09it's his error there, and he's taken out his teammate, which is just worst case scenario.
01:14No snap, you're okay, mate.
01:16Yeah, I'm taking out my own teammate.
01:18Lewis is exceptional in wheel-to-wheel combat, but I think he got it wrong today.
01:23And that is Aniko going straight through, he must know what he's done here, suddenly you're looking at the back
01:29of a McLaren thinking, I wasn't close to these guys, was I?
01:32But that's where Carlos Sainz should have started.
01:35And we go across the line, and we begin lap 5 on an already dramatic weekend, here in Qatar, it
01:41is Verstappen, then Piastri, then Alonso, Leclerc, Ocon, Norris, Gasly, Tsunoda, Hülkenberg and Albon the top 10, looking to the
01:49inside there, car 22, Yuki Tsunoda up against his old teammate Pierre Gasly, hangs onto it around the outside.
01:58And now Yuki Tsunoda, in the Alfa Tauri, had been on the attack, on the restart, and Hülkenberg trying to
02:04go the long way round, and he does so in the Haas.
02:08Hülkenberg was so disappointed yesterday to be taken out at this corner, today though, it's a better result for him,
02:14and he's up to eighth.
02:15Here's Russell, once again, Perez on the hard tyre is struggling.
02:18Russell around the outside, did he make it work?
02:20He did make it work, and that's the compound advantage, and a tidy pass for George Russell, who manages to
02:26go the long way round, and take 13th place.
02:30Now on board with Alonso, that's what a big dose of overseer looks like, as he commits to the corner,
02:36and those fast hands, but there's no question, that takes him beyond track limits.
02:41As we join George Russell, and that pass on the Alfa Romeo, door wide open, he just slots it in
02:48there quite nicely, he's a man on the move.
02:52Great move for Lando Norris, as he fights his way by, trying to score his most podiums ever in a
02:58Formula One season, as he, through he went, and he's looking to be on the podium for the fifth time
03:03this year.
03:05That is George Russell making a pass once again, and fights his way back through.
03:10This was the attempt, DC, as he tried to go the long way round.
03:14Yeah, he just got a little bit squeezed on that entry phase, and I guess, you know, feisty George Russell
03:20will be a bit angry with that, because he was lining it up, wasn't he, as he entered the corner,
03:24and then got a little squeeze on the entry phase.
03:30If Russell can go round the outside, this time he does, and he's up to seventh place, past the Alpi.
03:35Yeah, nice move there from Russell.
03:38Here comes Fernando Alonso, into the pits, he comes to hit his marks, he's going to be under threat from
03:43Lando Norris on the evidence that we've seen of that stint.
03:47Each of these stops for McLaren have not been really that good for the drivers, they've put them out just
03:54in a bit of traffic each time.
03:56But he's ahead of Alonso, and that's the big one for McLaren.
03:59Norris went another lap or two, and he managed to clear Fernando Alonso.
04:05Considering there's only 18 cars in this race, and, well...
04:08Alonso, off the road, he was off for a minor moment earlier in the Grand Prix, that's a major one.
04:14He's been through the gravel, and there is Charles Leclerc, trying to punish the error, and he'll do so.
04:21Yeah, he turned in on the curb, and the rear said, no, no, not now, we're not giving you the
04:27grip you expect.
04:30And now, Stroll up against Ocon is the battle we're looking at, and Ocon's going to fight away by now.
04:36These two get on pretty well, they still get on brilliantly at the edge of the corner.
04:40The curb inspected by the Aston Martin, 8th place seized by the Frenchman.
04:47I don't feel well, man.
04:49You're the one making the call if you want to retire or not, look at it.
04:52There's no shame to retire if you're feeling unwell.
04:56I need to stop.
04:57Well, at least the car is going to be in one piece.
05:01McLaren struggling to get out of Q1 at the start of the season, now find themselves regularly troubling the podium.
05:08Piastri with a two-second stop, that's mighty handy for his quest for second place.
05:142.1, they are flying at the moment.
05:17It's going to be close.
05:17It's going to be so tight down the main straight, out of the pits comes Lando Norris.
05:22Through goes Oscar Piastri, though, to maintain second position.
05:27Having come out of the pits, this is Logan Sargent, easing himself out of the car.
05:32You can see him dripping from his race suit.
05:36Look at this.
05:37I think he was scooping some air.
05:38Look at that, he's just getting some air through his gloves.
05:40Tap, tap, tap.
05:41Let's get on with it.
05:42He's in 8th gear.
05:44He's heading down to Turn 1.
05:48This is Gasly up against Lance Stroll, and that's the long way around.
05:52That's too long a way around, that you can't overtake off the road.
05:54You'll have to feather back the throttle and give the position back there,
05:58because you cannot overtake with all four wheels off the racetrack.
06:02Gasly, I was going to say he knows it, but he doesn't know it, as he shuts the door on
06:06Stroll.
06:08So Gasly checking the mirrors.
06:11Stroll being pursued by Perez.
06:13Gasly told to give back the position.
06:15We're very nearly going three wide.
06:17Gasly tries to give the position back to Stroll, but there's also Perez on the inside.
06:21Perez takes the pair of them, or at least he will do.
06:24No, he won't.
06:24Stroll stays ahead.
06:25So Stroll fights there, and Perez carving left, carving right, trying to find a way back.
06:31He's soaring away at the back of the Aston Martin, and Lance Stroll turns in and keeps the place.
06:37And I thought we were heading to the gravel trap, but the Canadian driver hangs on to ninth.
06:43And now there's the opportunity for the Alpine, trying to take the place back up against Perez, and behind the
06:49building we go.
06:50So this time I think Gasly did keep all four wheels on the road, and Gasly gets through back on
06:54to tenth position, but with that penalty hanging over him.
06:58Max Verstappen is almost home.
07:01He was second yesterday in the sprint, but this has been 57 victory laps to celebrate the title that he
07:08won yesterday.
07:09Max Verstappen wins the Qatar Grand Prix, and it's his 49th career win.
07:15Oscar Piastri with a dream weekend, second in the Grand Prix today, from sixth on the grid, and it's tenth
07:21on the grid to third in the race for Lando Norris, who finished 1.1 seconds behind his teammate.
07:28It has been incredibly hot, humid, and heavy work out there, but no matter the conditions, whether they be wet,
07:36whether they be dry, whether the stints be mandated by Pirelli and the FIA,
07:41whatever format you throw at Formula One in 2023, Max Verstappen has an answer.
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