The 2021 Qatar Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Ooredoo Qatar Grand Prix 2021) was a Formula One motor race, held on 21 November 2021 at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar. The inaugural Qatar Grand Prix, it was the 20th round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the race ahead of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, while Alpine's Fernando Alonso scored his first podium since the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix, as well as his first podium with Team Enstone since the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix.
As a result of Hamilton's victory, Losail became the 30th different circuit where he has won a Grand Prix.
Background
The Qatar Grand Prix did not feature on the original calendar, but was added in place of the Australian Grand Prix, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first Qatar Grand Prix, with a 10-year contract to host the Qatar Grand Prix from 2023 at a new purpose-built circuit; there was no Qatar Grand Prix in , as the country hosted the FIFA World Cup.
Championship standings Heading into the race, Max Verstappen led the World Drivers' Standings with 332.5 points, 14 points ahead of second-placed Lewis Hamilton. Valtteri Bottas was in third on 203 points, too far behind Verstappen to be able to win the title but 25 points ahead of Sergio Pérez in fourth, with Lando Norris fifth on 151 points. In the World Constructors' Standings, Mercedes led with 521.5 points, 11 points ahead of second-placed Red Bull Racing. Ferrari were third with 287.5 points ahead of McLaren on 256. Alpine and AlphaTauri were fifth and sixth with 112 points each, with Alpine being ahead courtesy of a win, compared to no wins for AlphaTauri.
Entrants
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race or practice.
Tyre choices Sole tyre supplier Pirelli allocated the C1, C2, and C3 compounds of tyre to be used during this Grand Prix weekend.
Practice The event held three practice sessions, each lasting one hour. The first two practice sessions were on Friday, 19 November at 13:30 and 17:00 local time (UTC+03:00) respectively. The first practice session ended with Max Verstappen fastest for Red Bull Racing, ahead of AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. Second practice ended with Valtteri Bottas fastest, then Gasly and Verstappen. In the third practice session, held on Saturday from 14:00, Bottas was again fastest, with his teammate Hamilton second.
Qualifying Qualifying took place at 17:00 local time, and lasted one hour, with Hamilton qualifying on pole. Verstappen, who qualified second, received a five-grid place penalty for failure to respect double yellow flags in Q3.
Qualifying classification DriverConstructor144 Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:21.9011:21.6821:20.8271233 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda1:21.9961:21.9841:21.4247377 Valtteri BottasMercedes1:22.0161:21.9911:21.4786410 Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri-Honda1:22.5351:21.7281:21.6402514 Fernando AlonsoAlpine-Renault1:22.4221:21.8941:21.670364 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1:22.8391:22.2161:21.7324755 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari1:22.3041:22.2411:21.8405822 Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri-Honda1:22.4581:22.0581:21.8818931 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault1:22.5651:22.0121:22.0289105 Sebastian VettelAston Martin-Mercedes1:22.5491:22.1461:22.785101111 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda1:22.3981:22.346N/A111218 Lance StrollAston Martin-Mercedes1:22.5511:22.460N/A121316 Charles LeclercFerrari1:22.7421:22.463N/A13143 Daniel RicciardoMcLaren-Mercedes1:22.6881:22.597N/A141563 George RussellWilliams-Mercedes1:22.8631:22.756N/A15167 Kimi RäikkönenAlfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari1:23.156N/AN/A16176 Nicholas LatifiWilliams-Mercedes1:23.213N/AN/A1718991:23.262N/AN/A181947 Mick SchumacherHaas-Ferrari1:23.407N/AN/A19209Nikita MazepinHaas-Ferrari1:25.589N/AN/A20107% time: 1:27.634Source: Notes – Max Verstappen received a five-place grid penalty for failing to respect a double waved yellow flag in Q3. – Valtteri Bottas received a three-place grid penalty for failing to respect a single waved yellow flag in Q3.
Race The race began at 17:00 local time and was contested over 57 laps. The race was noted for four front-left tyre failures, as teams attempted to run one-stop strategies against Pirelli's advice. Hamilton won the race, leading every lap, but Verstappen, who finished second, denied him a grand slam by setting the fastest lap. Fernando Alonso finished third, taking his first podium since the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Race classification DriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredPoints144 Lewis HamiltonMercedes571:24:28.471125233 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda57 +25.743719314 Fernando AlonsoAlpine-Renault57+59.457315411 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda57+1:02.3061112531 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault57+1:20.570910618 Lance StrollAston Martin-Mercedes57+1:21.274128755 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari57+1:21.91156816 Charles LeclercFerrari57+1:23.12613494 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes56+1 lap42105 Sebastian VettelAston Martin-Mercedes56+1 lap1011110 Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri-Honda56+1 lap2123 Daniel Ricciardo56+1 lap141322 Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri-Honda56+1 lap814756+1 lap16159956+1 lap181647 Mick SchumacherHaas-Ferrari56+1 lap191763 George RussellWilliams-Mercedes55+2 laps15189Nikita MazepinHaas-Ferrari55+2 laps20 6 Nicholas LatifiWilliams-Mercedes50Puncture17 77 Valtteri BottasMercedes486Fastest lap: Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing-Honda) – 1:23.196 (lap 57)Source:
Notes – Includes one point for fastest lap.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points1 Max Verstappen*351.52 Lewis Hamilton*343.53 Valtteri Bottas2034 Sergio Pérez1905 Lando Norris153Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Constructor Points1 Mercedes*546.52 Red Bull Racing-Honda*541.53 Ferrari297.54 McLaren-Mercedes2585 Alpine-Renault137Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Bold text and an asterisk indicates competitors who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
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