BEIJING (Reuters) - Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton made it two wins in as many weekends in the 2021 Formula 1 season, dominating the Qatar Grand Prix to move within eight points of championship leader Max Verstappen.
In F1’s first-ever visit to Qatar, Hamilton was the class of the field all weekend long at the Losail Circuit, and took an easy win from his pole position, shrugging off concerns about tyre wear after several other drivers suffered late punctures.
Verstappen’s race was one of damage limitation after being demoted to seventh on the grid for ignoring yellow flags during qualifying, but the Red Bull driver quickly made his way up to second behind Hamilton, with the two title rivals streets ahead of the chasing pack.
Though Verstappen had no answer to Hamilton’s outright pace and had to settle for second place, the Dutchman did at least limit the damage to his championship lead by taking the bonus point for fastest lap away from Hamilton.
Behind the top two, Fernando Alonso rolled back the years with a fine drive to third in his Alpine, marking the first time since 2014 that the veteran had appeared on an F1 podium.
Sergio Perez took fourth in his Red Bull, ahead of Alonso’s teammate Esteban Ocon on a good day for Alpine.