Purple Bull’s Max Verstappen took his ninth victory of the season on the Qatar Grand Prix.
The Dutchman acquired a one-place grid penalty after qualifying on pole however took the lead from Mercedes’ George Russell firstly.
McLaren have been unable to seal the constructors’ championship title, and the battle with Ferrari will go all the way down to the wire within the final race of the season.
BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson solutions your questions going into this weekend’s season finale, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Is Lewis Hamilton’s poor qualifying type a priority for Ferrari, having let go Carlos Sainz, whose performances have been stable these days? – Thomas
Ferrari staff principal Frederic Vasseur was requested this query after the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday.
He stated: “By no means. Take a look on the 50 laps he did in Vegas, beginning P10, ending on the gearbox of (winner George) Russell. I’m not frightened in any respect.”
There is no such thing as a doubt that Hamilton has not had an ideal ultimate season for Mercedes.
There have been highs – two wins, together with an outstanding drive on the British Grand Prix, and the climb up via the sphere at Las Vegas talked about by Vasseur are apparent ones.
However the reality he has been comprehensively and his common struggles with the automotive, have been a shock. And nobody – not Hamilton, not Mercedes – appears to essentially be capable of clarify why Hamilton has has had these issues.
What’s sure is that he has merely not bought on with this 12 months’s Mercedes automotive, which he finds unpredictable, and he’s not been in a position to deal with its idiosyncrasies in addition to Russell.
How Hamilton will get on at Ferrari subsequent 12 months alongside Charles Leclerc shall be one of many key narratives of subsequent season.
Is it not about time some credit score be given to George Russell’s qualifying performances? Aren’t they the reason for Lewis Hamilton’s doubts? – Stewart
George Russell definitely deserves credit score for his qualifying performances, and his performances generally.
Even earlier than this 12 months, Russell was principally a match for Hamilton in qualifying in 2022 and 2023, and this 12 months he has comprehensively overwhelmed him.
Nobody in F1 doubts that Russell is among the out-and-out quickest drivers on the grid, nor that he’s a number one mild of what you may name the ‘new’ era of stars together with Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris.
However Hamilton’s struggles this 12 months are, most would say, a bit separate to that.
Neither Hamilton nor Mercedes can correctly clarify simply why Hamilton is struggling a lot this 12 months in contrast with Russell. However it will probably’t be simple going via a 12 months with a tough automotive when you recognize you’re leaving on the finish of the season.
With all the pieces wanted to place a staff collectively and design and construct a posh F1 automotive, can Cadillac actually produce a aggressive automotive for 2026? – Clifford
When System 1 initially rejected what was on the time a joint bid from Cadillac and the US-based Andretti organisation in January, one of many causes they gave was the unlikelihood of the staff being aggressive.
F1 has since modified its tune. And the important thing distinction in F1’s view on the mission is that it’s now being introduced as a manufacturing unit entry from Basic Motors, Cadillac’s dad or mum firm.
All the identical, lots of the necessities of the brand new staff are the identical, when you drill down into what it’s.
It however is now being referred to by a unique identify, TWG, and co-founder Michael Andretti himself is now not concerned.
And the automotive is being designed by the identical staff that has been working for Andretti at Silverstone for a while. That is beneath the management of former Renault F1 bosses Pat Symonds, Rob White and Nick Chester.
One key distinction is that the brand new staff is not going to be utilizing a Renault engine when it makes its debut in 2026.
It nonetheless wants a buyer engine to plug the hole earlier than the bespoke Cadillac engine is prepared – in all probability by 2028 or so – however that’s now more likely to be a Ferrari.
In principle, Cadillac has the identical chance to provide a aggressive 2026 automotive as another staff – they’ve the identical entry to the foundations as anybody else.
The FIA appears to be in full shambles – with the particles error within the Qatar Grand Prix the most recent concern. Can F1 strain for Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s elimination? – Jonathan
The quick reply to this query is isn’t any. The FIA president is voted in by the FIA member golf equipment in an election each 4 years – the subsequent one is in December 2025.
Ben Sulayem is predicted to face once more, and in the intervening time there isn’t a apparent candidate to face towards him, though there are murmurings that at the least one particular person will attempt.
Having stated that, there may be severe concern inside F1 – each at Liberty Media and among the many groups – as to the best way the FIA is being run in the intervening time, and the variety of senior individuals who have ended up leaving this 12 months, a technique or one other.
on Sunday, when he stated: “It may have its personal actuality present of what’s occurring in the intervening time.
“All of us stakeholders want to remember that we have to defend this holy grail of a sport and do it with accountability and accountability and transparency. It doesn’t come throughout like that.”
How can Max Verstappen wrestle within the Qatar dash race however then qualify on pole place for the grand prix? – Jack
This comes all the way down to automotive set-up. R and after some adjustments between the tip of the dash and the beginning of qualifying.
The impact of those adjustments shocked even Verstappen himself, who stated: “I additionally did not anticipate that. I imply, we did change a bit on the automotive, however I by no means thought it could make such a swing in efficiency.”
At Mercedes, issues went the opposite means. Russell was aggressive within the dash however not so within the grand prix.
It is an instance of how delicate fashionable F1 vehicles are. A small change can take them out and in of what’s often known as the ‘set-up window’, and as soon as out, it will probably have a giant impact on efficiency.
How do F1 drivers recover from jet-lag? It isn’t simple flying throughout time zones, but they’re continually travelling. Are they simply used to it? – Dave
F1 drivers are elite-level athletes with unbelievable ability, however they’re nonetheless human beings, they usually get affected by jet-lag like everybody else.
So, in Las Vegas, for instance, Carlos Sainz stated this in regards to the huge time-zone shift between there and Qatar: “It’s all the way down to the health that you have collected throughout the first a part of the 12 months and protecting your self match and wholesome.
“Will probably be fairly a shock to the physique, however Should you’re match, you are wholesome, and you’ve got managed to maintain your self heat right here, do not get any colds, take melatonin each time you need to take melatonin, and fall asleep each time you’ve gotten to fall asleep, it ought to get it carried out.”
George Russell added: “There’s not likely something you are able to do in today. Preparation wanted to occur beforehand. And it is going to be a problem for everybody, however we’re all in the identical boat.
“So nobody’s going to be on peak situation personally, nevertheless it’s nearly limiting the losses.”
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