All’s not always fair in love and war...
AMIDDLE EASTERN THREE-RACE flourish to this most astonishingly closely fought championship – with the outcome decided on the last lap of the last race, just as in 2008, but this time in rather more controversial circumstances.
The competitive breakthrough made by Mercedes in Brazil carried through into the first ever Qatar Grand Prix, run around the Losail Moto GP circuit. The drivers loved its fast, interconnected sweeps but Lewis Hamilton loved it maybe best of all as the Mercedes remained in that lovely sweet spot he and the team had found in Interlagos and he put it on pole by 0.4sec. Inevitably his closest rival was Max Verstappen, but the Red Bull-Honda was struggling a little with the emphasis the track placed upon the front end. The nature of some of the corners put the front tyres under combined braking and lateral load, which always places particular stress on the Pirellis – and the Mercedes is invariably able to load up the front end better. The Red Bull’s balance wasn’t improved when the team was forced to fit the higher downforce of the rear wings it brought, as the alternative was afflicted with a DRS flap fluttering, the hydraulic actuator unable to apply the necessary pressure to keep the flap open.
Verstappen was penalised five places from his second-fastest time for not slowing for double-waved yellow flags (). But he
