F1 News
"There's an ocean between Hamilton and Verstappen and the rest"
- GPblog.com
Valtteri Bottas leaves Qatar without any points. The Mercedes driver could not make the one-stop stop in Losail work. After his puncture, the Finn was able to continue, but he ultimately did not finish the race. According to Marc Priestley, it was not just bad luck, but Bottas underperformed.
There was more in it for Mercedes
Teammate Lewis Hamilton won the race brilliantly and Max Verstappen finished second. Mercedes' only piece of luck was that Sergio Perez's second pit stop prevented him from outsmarting Fernando Alonso, allowing Red Bull to catch up further. The standings in the Constructors' Championship are extremely close.
Although a Mercedes win should make for a successful weekend, F1 expert Priestley says there could have been more in it for Mercedes. The Briton states in a live video on YouTube: "It could have been a strong weekend for Mercedes. On Valtteri's side of the garage, things didn't go well from the moment they got the grid penalty."
Bottas was on the wrong side of the track as a result and had a very poor start. The difference with the two title contenders became very clear again. Priestley stated: "He just didn't have that killer instinct that we expected from Lewis Hamilton. We saw it with Verstappen though; he found his way between the gaps."
There is an ocean between Verstappen and Hamilton and the rest
Hamilton also overturned his grid penalty in Brazil in a particularly short space of time. The Brit had more places of a penalty than Verstappen had in Qatar, yet Priestley finds it comparable how Verstappen was already driving on P2 on lap five.
"From lap five, we had those two out the front again and he disappeared behind in the field. There is an ocean between those two drivers and the rest when it comes to the current performance of their cars amongst the current grid. That was very much on display this weekend."