Verstappen secures his 30th pole position, Alpine reach Q3 with both cars for the first time in eight races and Sainz records his worst qualifying result in two years. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix!
VERSTAPPEN’S 10TH POLE OF THE YEAR
Max Verstappen secured pole position for the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, taking the 30th pole position of his Formula 1 career. That saw him equal Nico Rosberg for eighth place in the all time pole list.
This was Verstappen’s tenth pole position of the 2023 season, seeing him equal his personal best of most poles in a year. He also took ten pole positions in 2021. In total, it is the 18th time that a driver has recorded ten poles in a single year.
Lusail Circuit became the 19th different circuit at which Verstappen has taken a pole position. He equalled Michael Schumacher for sixth in the list of most circuits at which a driver has taken pole.
IN THE TOP 10
For the second time in the last three races, George Russell qualified on the front row of the grid for the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. He equalled his best qualifying result of the 2023 season, having also qualified second in Australia and Singapore.
Lewis Hamilton qualified third for the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, marking his first top three qualification since taking pole position at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso qualified in the top four for the first time since the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix, maintaining his record as being the only driver to reach Q3 at every race to date in the 2023 season.
Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso are the only drivers to qualify in the top five at both the 2021 and 2023 Qatar Grands Prix.
With Charles Leclerc qualifying in the top ten, Ferrari became the first team to reach a total of 30 Q3 appearances in 2023. Fifth place marked Leclerc’s first qualification outside of the top four since the Dutch Grand Prix.
With both Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon reaching Q3, the Alpine team recorded their first double Q3 appearance since the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix, eight races ago.
Gasly reached Q3 for the first time since the 2023 British Grand Prix, ending the second-longest Q3-less streak of his career to date.
Ocon progressed to Q3 for only the second time in the last nine races. He qualified eighth, which is the same position as when he last reached Q3 at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Alpine and Mercedes are the only teams to reach Q3 with both cars on both appearances at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Valtteri Bottas recorded Alfa Romeo’s fourth Q3 appearance of the season at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. Three of the team’s Q3 appearances this year have been courtesy of Bottas, who had last reached Q3 at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Bottas’ Q3 appearance is the only time that an Alfa Romeo driver has not been eliminated in Q1 at the Qatar Grand Prix.
LAP TIME DELETIONS FOR McLAREN
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri originally set the second and fourth fastest lap times in Q3 but were demoted to tenth and sixth on the grid respectively after their lap times were deleted for exceeding track limits.
Tenth place is Norris’ worst qualifying result since the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix, which is when his current streak of 12 consecutive Q3 appearances began.
Piastri’s sixth place saw him qualify in the top six for the fifth time in the last eight races.
OUT IN Q2 AT THE 2023 QATAR GRAND PRIX
For the eighth time this season, Sergio Perez failed to reach Q3 at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix.
For only the second time in 2023, Carlos Sainz failed to qualify in the top ten at the Qatar Grand Prix. 12th place marked the Spaniard’s worst qualifying result since he qualified 15th at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
For a second visit in a row to Qatar, Ferrari saw one driver eliminated in Q2 and the other reach Q3. In 2021, it was Sainz who reached Q3, while Charles Leclerc was out in Q2.
With 15th place, Nico Hulkenberg became the first Haas driver to not qualify on the back row at Lusail Circuit. Kevin Magnussen qualified on the back row at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, while Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin set the two slowest times in qualifying in 2021.
OUT IN Q1 AT THE 2023 QATAR GRAND PRIX
Qualifying 17th for the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, Lance Stroll was eliminated in Q1 for the fourth consecutive race.
Liam Lawson recorded AlphaTauri’s first Q1 exit since he qualified last on debut at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix.
With 19th place, Kevin Magnussen qualified on the front row for the fifth time in the last nine races.
For the fourth time in his career, Zhou Guanyu qualified in last place for the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. This was the second race of the season at which Zhou qualified last, after the Canadian Grand Prix.
This was Zhou’s third consecutive back row qualification.