Drivers argue that unsafe heat meant Qatar race conditions were on the limit of acceptable.
The Qatar Grand Prix saw Max Verstappen dominate once again, claiming his 14th win of 2023. But despite the Grand Prix starting at nightfall, temperatures in Qatar reached a scorching 40 degrees with humidity and high-speed corners making the drive brutally grueling.
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Several drivers were taken to the medical centre post-race, visibly struggling with the extreme physicality of the drive. Williams driver Logan Sargeant (who is the only driver on the grid without a seat next year) withdrew after 40 laps, after being told by his team over radio there was ‘no shame’ in retiring. The 22-year-old was taken to the medical centre, and later discharged.
The Williams team released a statement on the driver’s behalf, which read: “Following Logan’s retirement from the grand prix, he has been assessed and cleared by the medical team on-site after suffering from intense dehydration during the race weakened by having flu-like symptoms earlier in the week,”
Sargeant’s teammate Alex Albon also struggled and was reportedly taken to the on-track medical centre, where he was treated for heat exposure. A concerning video clip of the driver has rapidly circled the internet in the last 24 hours. Caught the moment he attempted to exit the car, Albon can be seen leaning against a Williams team member to help keep his balance. This ignited many risk versus reward racing conversations between fans.
Many of the drivers were vocal about the extreme conditions of the Grand Prix. McLaren driver Lando Norris told reporters that F1 had ‘found the limit’ of conditions drivers can withstand at the Qatar Grand Prix, saying it is
“too much for the speeds we’re doing, it is too dangerous.”.
Lando Norris
Others found the circumstances of an 18-lap limit on tyres particularly demanding. This meant teams were forced to make a minimum of three pitstops, resulting in drivers pushing harder than normal throughout the Grand Prix. With a disregard for tyre management, every lap was raced as though it was qualifying.
Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc told Sky Sports:
“I think everybody [struggled], no exceptions. I think it was the toughest race of our careers as drivers.
“The heat was absolutely crazy. Secondly, we’ve got a lot of high-speed corners. And, third, which I think is the most significant thing, is adding three stops. We were all speaking about tyres that it would be a full-push race for tyres with little management.
But I think we maybe underestimated that that meant we were under so much more stress in the high-speed corners, which is normally not the case.”
Charles Leclerc
Esteban Ocon, who finished 7th place for Alpine on Sunday’s race, revealed just how much the heat exhaustion affected him.
“I was throwing up by lap 15, 16. For two laps I think,”
Ocon told Sky Sports F1, divulging just how taxing the race had been.
After a two-year hiatus, the Qatar Grand Prix was certainly action packed with edge-of-the seat racing. It is set to return in December of 2024…where hopefully conditions are much cooler.
Do you think these conditions were too extreme for drivers?
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Image courtesy of Dan Istitene.