Friday 19 November 2021

GAZYLY FASTER THAN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Formula 1 competitors are not separated by tenths

Off the track, Mercedes and Red Bull bosses are battling furiously, while world champion Lewis Hamilton and world championship leader Max Verstappen search for the perfect streak on the track in Qatar. There is a lot of fire in the guest debut in Qatar. Surprising guy takes advantage of this in training.

Lewis Hamilton was searching for the missing split second, even Max Verstappen had yet to find the perfect streak in the floodlights of Qatar – at the start of the Formula 1 premiere on the desert circuit, both title contenders still had room for improvement: the fastest man was Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas. Off the track, the World Championships entered their toughest round yet.

Vice World Champion Bottas took pole position in a Mercedes with a time of 1:23.148 minutes, with Pierre Gasly surprisingly second in the Alpha Torri race, followed by title contenders Verstappen and Hamilton by just 0.072 seconds. In Qatar too, the fight in the World Championship is still very tough – ahead of the third race of the last race of the season on Sunday (3 pm / sky and on ntv.de live tape) Only 14 points.

Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel finished the first day at Lusail in ninth place, Mick Schumacher finished 19th in Haas and finally finished second free practice.

Off the track, there was also a decision that was not unimportant. Mercedes had called for an investigation into Verstappen’s case during the week after he defended himself against eventual winner Hamilton with a tough maneuver in Brazil last Sunday. The stewards dismissed this on Friday, however, all eyes once again on the current race of the weekend.

Formula 1 visits Qatar for the first time. The track, which was originally designed for motorcycles, was added to the calendar for Australia in no time. At least some drivers had the opportunity to get acquainted with it in advance in the simulator, and for others – like Schumacher – it is completely new.

Qatar was also awarded a first class long-term contract. After the FIFA World Cup in 2022, the racing series will come to the emirate for an initial ten-year period from 2023. Like FIFA, Formula 1 has also been criticized for doing business with Qatar despite the critical human rights situation in country.