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The qualifying sessions of the 2023 F1 Qatar GP saw Max Verstappen secure his 10th pole of the season. He will be accompanied by George Russell on the front row as the Mercedes driver was able to put together a good lap.
Russell's teammate Lewis Hamilton is in P3 and will be joined by Fernando Alonso on the second row of the grid.
In a session where Verstappen paced himself to the top of the charts, plenty took place behind him. Quite a few drivers lost out due to track limit penalties, which has become a talking point for the first time since the race in Austria.
In all of this, who would be unhappy with how the session went, and who would be feeling a bit more satisfied? Let's take a look.
2023 F1 Qatar GP Qualifying
Winner
Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen played down his impending coronation this weekend and focused on wanting to execute every session perfectly. As it turns out, he did just that.
The Red Bull driver was brilliant in the manner in which he built up pace. It wasn't until Q3 that we saw the real pace advantage that Verstappen had and it was all built over the first two sessions.
He looks certain to win his third championship title at the 2023 F1 Qatar GP and could also do it in some style.
Loser
Sergio Perez
The last six races of this season are crucial for Sergio Perez. There have been question marks over his performance levels and while the Mexican can say nationality leads to bias in the media, his performances are not helping.
Max Verstappen secured the pole position for the 2023 F1 Qatar GP with a gap of around half a second to the chasing pack. In the same car, Perez couldn't even reach Q3.
Winner
Mercedes
Mercedes is the third fastest car on the grid at the 2023 F1 Qatar GP. At the same time, what once again worked and came to the fore was how good their drivers were in maximizing the results on the table.
Both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell got the job done for Mercedes. Meanwhile, both McLaren drivers will start down the order because their laps were canceled by track limit infringement.
Loser
McLaren
McLaren is the second fastest car on the grid at the 2023 F1 Qatar GP right now. Yet, neither of the two drivers got the job done and that will hurt.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are talented, and they perform well more often than not. At the 2023 F1 Qatar GP's qualifying sessions, however, they messed up with the track limits.
Winner
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris got involved in a strange back-and-forth this weekend. The Spaniard claimed that McLaren was starting to get overconfident, while Norris replied in kind.
During the 2023 F1 Qatar GP qualifying, however, Alonso did the best with his car while Norris couldn't. After a strange couple of race weekends where Aston Martin was slower, Alonso was more competitive and will start the race from the second row.
Loser
Lance Stroll
Lance Stroll made headlines for punching the wall, being rude to the interviewer, and shoving his trainer's hand away when he was trying to console him. Stroll seems to be facing the fate that almost every underperforming driver suffers when he has an extremely talented teammate in the other car.
It's reaching a point where someone almost needs to put him out of his misery at Aston Martin.
