2021 Qatar GP Qualifying Update and Tips

Now, it’s time for James Punt’s 2021 Qatar GP Qualifying update:

After the three free practice sessions we have a better picture of the relative form of the cars at this new venue.

Mercedes is leading the way with Bottas fastest in FP2 and FP3. Lewis Hamilton was running a different set up to Bottas yesterday and was slower. The two set ups will have converged overnight and as a result Hamilton closed the gap to just 0.078. They were 0.341 faster than Max Verstappen in third but he only got 10 laps in, spending a lot of time in the garage with his engineers trying to fix his rear wing actuator. The upper element on his wing is flapping when the DRS is open and that is unlikely help his top speed. Red Bull are confident they can fix it in time for qualifying.

Pierre Gasly ended FP3 in fourth place, splitting the two Red Bulls. That is encouraging for Alpha Tauri, but should they really be that close to Verstappen in the Red Bull? For straw clutchers, it may suggest that we have not seen the best of the Red Bulls pace so far.

Ferrari Ahead Of McLaren

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished in sixth place, Leclerc in ninth. Importantly for them, well ahead of the two McLaren’s in eleventh and thirteenth. McLaren had seemed pleasantly surprised with their performance yesterday, admitting they didn’t expect this track to suit them. This morning’s time may be more realistic.

Our ante post selection for a double points finish, Alpine were seventh and eighth, leaving it late to do a soft tyre run and that would do this afternoon.

Today’s qualifying session will be run under the flood lights when the track will be cooler. Not by much, yesterday’s FP2 session saw track temps of 30 degrees and todays FP3 was around 35 degrees. That may affect performance, but it is not going to be a night and day difference. Well it is, because it will be dark….but you know what I mean.

Mercedes Battle For Pole

The battle for pole position does not look to be between Hamilton and Verstappen but Hamilton and Bottas. The Finn is a different driver since it was announced he would be leaving Mercedes at the end of the season. He is more relaxed and just having fun driving a top performing car before he returns to midfield obscurity next season.

Bottas loves a low grip track surface and perhaps the better set up combined with the dusty track yesterday explained his better pace on Friday. With the track cleaning up and rubbering in, it moves towards Hamilton. If the temperature drop takes a bit of grip out of the track later, he is in with a chance. He certainly looks better than a third favourite, unless Red Bull are massively sandbagging, which I doubt. There are no team orders in qualifying and I am sure Bottas will be trying his best to get his fourth proper pole position of the year.

2021 Qatar GP Qualifying Tip: 1 point Valtteri Bottas to be fastest qualifier @ 5.00 with Betvictor

At Ferrari, Carlos Sainz has found his feet and has out qualified his teammate in four of the last six races and he has been faster in every session this weekend.

2021 Qatar GP Qualifying Tip: 1 point Carlos Sainz to out qualify Charles Leclerc @ 2.00 with Pokerstars

Fastest qualifier without the Big Four would have to be Pierre Gasly. He has been second, second and fourth in the three sessions so far and he has qualified fifth in three of the last qualifying sessions this season. Sadly it doesn’t look like Ladbrokes are bothered to price up qualifying anymore.

-JamesPunt