George Russell who speaks on behalf of the rest of the Formula One drivers has called on the FIA and the organisers of the Qatar Grand Prix to ensure there is fairness at there start of this evenings race. Speaking after he narrowly missed out on pole position to Max Verstappen by just 0.055 seconds George revealed there is a “big difference” between starting P1 and P2 at this dusty location in the middle eastern desert.

Verstappen remarkably claimed his last pole at the fateful Austrian Grand Prix in June, where he and Norris tangled whilst battling for the lead of the race.  The result was the McLaren driver was forced to retire whilst Max stumbled on to come home in P6.

This period has been in stark contrast with Verstappen’s 12 pole positions last year and the drought was sparked when Red Bull took a wrong turn in the development direction of their RB20 car.

Max loses pole after stewards decision

Yet Verstappen’s wait for a pole position is now set to continue given the stewards decision to penalise the four times world champion for driving too slowly on one of the cool down laps in-between his push efforts in Q3. Ironically it was Georg Russell he was deemed to have impeded and now the starting order for the race has seen the front two reversed with the Mercedes man at the front of the grid.

Prior to this decision being announced, Russell was ruing missing out on pole by fractions of a second explaining the difference between starting first and second was “big.”

Before George knew he would start from pole, he was asked how important it was to overtake Verstappen during the first lap of the race. He revealed his chances were slim: “It’s probably about one and a half cars length difference from the inside all the way to turn one. We normally judge it based on distance in four seconds, and we think it’s probably about four metres different left to right.”

The run down to turn one is shorter than average at the Lusail circuit and following the Sprint race the drivers starting with even numbered positions are on the dirty side of the track. This was something Russell experienced in the Sprint as Oscar Piastri passed him through turns one and two.

Schumacher goes after Perez

“Big difference” says Russell

“It’s quite a big difference here [between the dirty and the clean part]. I hope the guys tonight at the track can clean it a bit because it was pretty clear in the sprint that everyone on that right side made bad starts, and that’s obviously a little bit unfair to have those circumstances,” Russell concluded.

Verstappen too was starting the Sprint on the dirty side of the circuit losing two positions on the opening lap of the race. Liam Lawson, Alex Albon and Yuki Tsundo were all to suffer from having an even numbered start which without significant efforts from the circuit organisers will be a disadvantage again in this evenings Grand Prix.

Meanwhile Russell’s team mate is not enjoying the long farewell to his Mercedes career which brought him most of his F1 success. Cutting a desperate figure after Sprint qualifying, a dejected Hamilton stated in the media pen, “I’m just not fast anymore.”

“Maybe it’s Lewis kind of signed off mentally,” said ex-Ferrari boss Peter Windsor. “But it’s interesting to compare [him to] Carlos Sainz, who in theory should be signing off mentally – Ferrari have basically sacked him after a very good year with the Scuderia, and he’s driving for Williams next year, which is not the same as going to another front running team in the way Lewis is.

Why Verstappen only got a one place penalty

Theory is Hamilton ‘checked out’

“And yet it’s interesting the way Carlos has approached these last three races, out qualifying his teammate, winning races, looking really good. Whereas Lewis Hamilton on the other side of the defence looks quite defeated at the moment.”

The theory that Lewis has checked out and is mentally on his way to Maranello just doesn’t stack up, given how hard Lewis s talking his loss of pace. If he was apathetic he wouldn’t care, and clearly he still does.

Sky F1’s Naomi Schiff believes the massive advantage George has over Hamilton could be due to the team developing the car more in his direction given it is he who will take over the mantle of team leader when his team mate leaves for Italy.

Ex-F1 driver and Mercedes test pilot Anthony Davies noted an example of Hamiltons despondency when in the the second practice session Lewis failed to set a time quick enough on his first two push runs.

The story behind Piastri’s Sprint victory

Sky pundit spots bewilderment

“As he crossed the line on that particular lap, the hand goes up, as if to say ‘what on Earth do I have to do?’,” Davidson observed on Sky F1 “Luckily, he turned it around and he’s through to the next round [Q3].”

Hamilton throughout the weekend in Qatar has been around four tenths slower than his team mate who will be challenging for his third Grand Prix win of the season.

Sky F1 veteran reporter Ted Kravitz suggested we’ll only known the truth about Hamilton when he rocks up in Ferrari to compete alongside another driver wh is a master over one lap. Kravitz claimed if Lewis is consistently slower than Charles Leclerc, “then we’ll know its age,” he said during the Qatar qualifying notebook.

With one of there longest pit lanes on the F1 calendar, the race in Qatar has been called a one stopper by Pirelli. “Based on today’s data, the one-stop option is looking even stronger. It’s true that in the Sprint we saw some cars reach the limit in terms of tyre wear but it did not cause a significant drop in performance,” read the Pirelli analysis.

With no heavy breaking zones, overtaking is difficult at Lusail and as was evident in the Sprint DRS chains are probable in the Grand Print too. It could be some of the starters on the dirty side of the circuit opt for the soft tyre to start the race with to compensate for any lack of grip created by the dusty side of the grid. This would force them into a two stop race strategy, but with little tyre degradation evident on Saturday the extra stop may not deliver enough lap time to make it worth while.

Toto Wolff details Hamilton’s qualifying weakness

Sergio Perez once again cut a solitary figure in the paddock at the Lusail circuit. He failed to make it out of the first round of Sprint qualifying and eventually opted to start from the pit lane. This meant Red Bull were able to run some experimental setup on the Mexican’s car which proved invaluable come Grand Prix qualifying.

Max Verstappen is the bell weather on how the RB20 is performing and come Saturday evening in Qatar he had returned to his imperious best. Despite the McLaren pair claiming a 1-2 in the Sprint in the afternoon and looking set for a repeat in the Grand Prix, it was in fact Max and George Russell who fought it out for pole while Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri admitted their car was on the limit of its performance.

“Third isn’t the position we were hoping for after yesterday’s Sprint Quali, but it was the maximum we could do today. I’m happy with the lap but not happy with the result, we just weren’t quick enough compared to the competition,” said Lando Norris who qualified one place ahead of his team mate in fourth… READ MORE