Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took home his third Championship trophy over the weekend after coming second in the Qatar Sprint Race and finalising the weekend with his 14th Grand Prix win this season on Sunday. Over the course of this year, Verstappen has been near impossible to stop, as he continues to break record after record. His closest competitor, his teammate Sergio Perez, stands a shocking 209 points behind him with five races still to go. It is undeniable that we are in the Verstappen-domination era, with no signs of him slowing down (literally). 

What has been most impressive from Verstappen is his pure consistency. He hasn’t DNFed (Did Not Finish) all season, and not since Australia last year. There is a constant desire for him to always be improving, despite being miles ahead of whoever is lucky enough to be in second place that day. Verstappen always wants the fastest lap, and to put in the best performance he can, even if he is already on track to win the race. It’s clearly not just about winning but winning by the biggest margin he can create. This is a man who wants to break every record he can and is undoubtedly already in the history books as one of the greats.

For one Red Bull success, we saw another Red Bull downfall. Despite currently sitting in second place in the Driver’s Championship, Sergio Perez has not met expectations and has only received a total of 5 points in the last three races. With a promising start to the 2023 season, Perez finished 2nd, 1st, 5th, 1st, and 2nd in the opening five races but, after Sunday, has had to face talks with Red Bull’s principal, Christian Horner. For a constructor renowned for axing their drivers midway through a season, Perez will be looking to make a great impression again in order to maintain his seat.

Along with Perez, the weekend was not great for a number of drivers. Before the race, The FIA enforced a three-pitstop rule which meant each set of tyres faced an 18-lap max. It left everyone having to treat each lap as though they were back in qualifying—an exhausting feat. This, combined with the fact that temperatures were believed to have exceeded 50°C in the cockpit, resulted in several drivers struggling to even climb out of their cars. Footage shows Stroll and Albon on shaky legs suffering from heat exhaustion before nearby medical centres checked them both out. Albon’s teammate, Logan Sergeant, was forced to retire from the race on lap 41 after claiming he felt unwell. Although Ocon finished 7th, his race was not without its plights as he revealed that on lap 15, he had thrown up into his helmet, but he showed unbelievable character and resilience to continue for the remaining 42 laps. Drivers have described the race as “too dangerous”, leaving the FIA to consider their standards and whether this was a fault that could have been foreseen and prevented.

For McLaren, Qatar was a weekend they will want to remember. After a difficult beginning to the year, they have recently seen great successes that will give them hope for the 2024 season. Rookie Piastri took the win in the Sprint race, and Lando Norris was on the podium too, before the two finished the Grand Prix second and third respectively.

Despite these victories, after mistakes in the qualifying sessions and Sprint Shootout, a reporter asked Norris what part of the car he was still struggling with, and visibly disappointed, he replied with ‘Nothing, just a lack of talent’.

Sunday will also be a day 7-time Championship winner, Lewis Hamilton, will want to forget, as he collided with his own teammate, George Russell, going into turn 1. It was impossible for fans not to think back to the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix when teammates Hamilton and Rosberg crashed in the build-up to their Championship battle finale. However, since the race on Sunday, Hamilton has admitted to 100% of the fault as the two of them plus Verstappen attempted to go three abreast. With aims to overtake around the outside of Russell, he unfortunately clipped his teammate’s front tyre, sending them both off the track. It forced Hamilton to DNF the race, whereas Russell managed to claw back to an impressive 4th place finish.

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