06 October 2023 , 18:02
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Max Verstappen blew away the competition once again to secure pole position for Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix.
But the Formula 1 stewards were left busy at the end of the qualifying session with Verstappen one of several drivers being investigated. He and Carlos Sainz had almost collided in Q2, with that incident being looked at closely for "erratic driving".
And Lewis Hamilton is also being probed for failing to follow the race director's instructions. The stewards will look at whether or not he had a good reason to not match the minimum lap time imposed to avoid traffic building up on track.
In any case, Verstappen has put himself in prime position to make sure of his third F1 title. Sunday's race might not even be relevant in that regard, as he simply need a top-five finish in Saturday's sprint to make it mathematically certain.
With plenty of sand still on the track after only one practice session and with no support events this weekend, track evolution was significant throughout the session. Even just across Q1, lap times were improving significantly as the cars were continuously shifting dirt off the tarmac.
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Verstappen didn't take long to get heated over the radio as he complained about being held up by George Russell. "What an idiot," shouted the Red Bull racer over the radio, though he made sure it did not affect his weekend plans as he made it thought Q1 unscathed, as expected.
Zhou Guanyu and Kevin Magnussen booked their places on the back row of Sunday's grid. And Liam Lawson, in what may be his final F1 qualifying session for the time being, could only go 18th fastest.
Lance Stroll was 17th and was clearly furious about a fourth Q1 exit in a row and appeared to get involved in an altercation with an Aston Martin staff member in the garage after climbing out of his car. And the other unlucky racer to fail to reach Q2 was Logan Sargeant, who almost made it but was knocked out of the session by team-mate Alex Albon.
In Q2, Nico Hulkenberg, Albon and Yuki Tsunoda were among the bottom five. But the session also took two big scalps as Carlos Sainz could only go 12th quickest, one place ahead of Sergio Perez who had a lap time which would have seen him through deleted for a track limits violation.
Perez needs a perfect weekend to avoid team-mate Verstappen from making sure of the 2023 drivers' title. So the fact he will be starting Sunday's Grand Prix from so far back makes the already extremely slim chance that the championship isn't decided this weekend even more remote.
Lando Norris looked to go second quickest overall but had that lap deleted after the session. Oscar Piastri thought he had inherited a top-three starting spot as a result, but he too exceeded track limits and so was also bumped down the timesheets.