The Dutch Ace only needs to leave Qatar with a lead of 146 points, which means he could sew up the title during Saturday's sprint sessions as he just needs to secure a sixth-place or higher finish in the Sprint to go three from three.
Qatar Grand Prix
Sunday 8 October
Losail Circuit
To Win Race Outright
Max Verstappen 2/9 | Sergio Perez 12/1 | Lando Norris 12/1 | Lewis Hamilton 25/1 | Charles LeClerc 25/1 | George Russell 25/1 | Carlos Sainz 28/1
Previous Race
Japan proved to be something of a mixed-bag for Red Bull as despite Sergio Perez retiring from the race, they still managed to sew up the Constructors’ Championship title with six races to spare courtesy of Max Verstappen’s 13th win of the season.
The Dutch ace was joined on the podium by a couple of young guns with the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri producing the goods to claim second and third respectively.
It was the Ferrari and Mercedes show next up with Charles LeClerc taking fourth, Lewis Hamilton claiming fifth, Carlos Sainz crossing the line in sixth and George Russel in seventh. The two sides are in a massive battle to claim second on the Constructors’ standings with Mercedes currently 20 points ahead of the Prancing Stag. We can expect more wheel to wheel racing between the sides over the next six race weekends.
Fernando Alonso was next across the line with the veteran bringing his Aston Martin across the line in eighth. The former Ferrari ace was followed by the twin Alpines with Esteban Ocon claiming ninth spot and Pierre Gasly finishing in 10th.
Track
This will be the second time drivers take to Losail track with last year’s race at the venue cancelled due to the Fifa World Cup.
There’s not much track data for the circuit as it has only staged one race which was back in 2021. Lewis Hamilton won the inaugural race staged here with Max Verstappen claiming second and Fernando Alonso rounding out the podium.
We only saw two retirements during the inaugural race and both were due to tyre punctures, so the circuit tends to be on the easier sort of drive side.
The track features 16 turns, a short straight and a long straight. The short straight, which is between turns 15 and 16, leads onto the long straight which runs from turn 16 to the start finish line. The series of turns between corners 4 and 9 are the most challenging with the air at turn 6 one of the more demanding aspects of the track.
The field simply cannot escape rain this year with showers being forecast for the usual dry Grand Prix. The most rain is set to fall during Saturday’s qualifying and sprint sessions, while there’s also a small amount being forecast for Sunday’s main event.
Value Bet
Fernando Alonso – Podium – Yes
I’ve been toying with the sprint race as my value bet but I’m going to go with the man race and the usual podium finish here. I reckon Fernado Alonso may be worth a shout in backing for a podium finish here.
Yes, the Aston Martin’s have struggled since the mid-season break but Alonso is a wiley old customer who could produce on a track that not many drivers know too well. He did this when Losail debuted finishing in third place at the venue back in 2021.
To Win Race Outright
Max Verstappen
He’s been in incredible touch this term winning 13 of this year’s 16 races. He’ll want to break his duck at this venue as well having finished as runner-up at Losail in 2021. He may be extremely short odds for the win but bet against him at your peril.
