Verstappen faces first match ball in Qatar to seal title

Two years ago, when it hosted an F1 World Grand Prix for the first time, a lavish podium finish had been completed at the Lusail circuit, winning ahead of Britain’s Lewis Hamilton (seven titles), the only three-time world champion currently at the circuit. Verstappen and Spanish double world champion Fernando Alonso; On this occasion, unless a real misfortune happens to those interested, ‘Mad Max’ will be crowned for the third time in a row with the competition it completed last Saturday. 26 years.

VerstappenWinner 13 times in the first 16 races of the year– They will have two chances in Qatar because mathematically they are only three points away from their third title. And in the fourth of the year’s six Grand Prix in the sprint format, he can become world champion again without waiting for Sunday’s race: finishing sixth in Saturday’s short test will be enough for him; and he may not even finish among the eight scorers in the reduced test, unless his teammate Mexican Sergio Pérez, with whom he improved 177 points (400 compared to 223), cannot finish in the top three.

Qatar, which did not participate in last year’s calendar and focused entirely on the organization of the football World Cup, will organize this Grand Prix and, in principle, will continue to do so next year. next nine yearsIt will continue to host one of the stops of the world’s main automobile championship.

Just two weeks ago, it became the third Middle Eastern country to host an F1 race in 2021 Saudi Arabia He finished fourth. By winning these two races, Hamilton spurred the most exciting World Cup in history, which is solved by:not indisputable– on the last lap of the last race: Abu Dhabi and in favor of Verstappen. That day he dethroned the magnificent and eccentric Stevenage champion.

bahrain – The new flagship of Asturia’s double world champion Fernando Alonso Aston Martin, won three times; and Mexico’s ‘Checo’ Pérez became the first country in the Arabian Peninsula to host a first-category Grand Prix. At the Sakhir circuit and in 2004: the year when Qatar began hosting one of the World Motorcycle Championship events with which it already regularly integrates its calendar.

It was exactly 4 of 4 of 4: Sakhir hosted the first Bahrain Grand Prix. April 4, 2004, With the victory of German Michael Schumacher, whose seven world titles equaled Hamilton (Mercedes) three seasons ago.

For the next two years (one of two championships) it was Alonso who took victory at the track on the outskirts of the city. manama; The Asturian prodigy – fourth in this World Cup, 16 points behind Sir Lewis (190-174) – achieved his third victory with Ferrari in 2010.

Bahrain has become the usual venue and in 2020 The World Cup of the pandemic continues, It ‘doubled up’ on the calendar with the second race, called the Sakhir Grand Prix, and was won by ‘Checo’, who scored the first of his six F1 victories with Racing Point on 6 December that year.

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, became the second Middle Eastern venue to enter the calendar. In 2009. In one of Alonso’s saddest nights, he missed what he would have missed that day, with the victory of German quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel, who would celebrate the first of his four titles with Red Bull at the Yas Marina circuit a year later. It was his third World Cup in his first season with Ferrari.

In Abu Dhabi, Verstappen made a last-gasp decision in his favor at the 2021 World Cup; Just a week after Hamilton relegated him to second place in his first race at the Jeddah street circuit in Saudi Arabia. Last year, in the race won by ‘Mad Max’, fellow Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) finished third and fifth, 24 points behind Alonso; and where this course is dominated by ‘Czech’.

Last March, the daredevil driver from Guadalajara took his first victory of the season (and his fifth of his six F1 wins) at the Saudi city circuit in question. In a race where Alonso, one of the great cheerleaders of this World Cup, climbed to the second of his seven podiums this year and confirmed that he had a tough experience second youthI am 42 years old.

The previous podium of these seven people was achieved brilliant Asturian pilot came to Qatar two years ago with the intention of staying; and is currently attracting international attention by hosting the second edition of the F1 Grand Prix.

Barring a big surprise, it will be the third coronation of the Dutch star, whose ceiling is unknown, and the first of the next ten circuits that the Lusail circuit will host – a circuit of 5,419 meters and 16 corners (six of which are bends). (left)-, located 30 kilometers north of Doha, the capital of Qatar; and 13 from the stadium of the same name, which hosted the World Cup final a year ago. Where in Argentina Lionel Messi Won after penalty shootout against France Kylian Mbappe.

Before last year’s World Cup, Qatar had already successfully organized, among other international events. handballIn 2015; and this athleticsfour years later.

Will host the World Cup next February swimming; It will host in 2027 Basketball. This weekend, and for at least the next nine seasons, Qatar will be in the international spotlight thanks to the F1 races hosted by Lusail.

On this occasion two tests – faceabout a third of the length of the Sunday test (planned as 57 laps to complete a 308.6-kilometer route), which will be determined by night and artificial light.