McLaren respond in Qatar Sprint, Red Bull limit damage, Ferrari lost

McLaren were in top form with Piastri, who was unchallenged throughout the 19-lap Sprint on Saturday at the Lusail International Circuit, which was a good sign for the Australian himself in light of his recent struggles, while his team also were satisfied for bouncing back after their double disqualification in the Las Vegas Grand Prix one week ago.

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella said after the Sprint with Piastri first and Lando Norris third: "It was a strong reaction in terms of the result on track.

"We understood why we found ourselves in that unfortunate circumstance. I'm very proud. Our culture was tested by a hard situation.

"We emerged even stronger and aware that we have more work to do to not face those situations. At the same time, we proved we have a really strong team that we can be proud about. It was important to transfer that reaction, response to what we do trackside.

"A good result in Sprint Qualifying and the Sprint today. Some aspects to improve in terms of car balance, especially on Lando's side.

"There's high tyre wear, graining; we would like to have a bit more pace. A lot of work to do before Qualifying," the Italian concluded.

As for McLaren's rivals, namely Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing, it was far from being smooth sailing, as the Dutchman continued to complain about the bouncing of his RB21 and managed to finish fourth, losing more ground to Norris in the Drivers' Championship.

However, Red Bull Racing boss Laurent Mekies insisted his team will keep trying to sort out the car, and when reflecting on the Sprint, he said: "A bit of damage limitation.

"It's fair to say we are not quite happy with the car; hopefully we have more to come. We have to try to see if we can extract a tenth or more out of the car. The top four guys were quite close, but on our side, there's something more we can do.

"The optimum performance window is undoubtedly very narrow," the Frenchman admitted. "That's not a secret. We don't rest until we are in that window.

"That's how we go racing. We don't take second for an answer. We will keep trying," he concluded.

As for Verstappen, who has is now seeing his chances of retaining his F1 Title almost gone, he said: "It's been difficult so far.

"The start was, of course, good, and the first three laps I pushed a bit more compared to the guys ahead to try and have an opportunity, knowing that passing was tough.

"But after that you just get into the same trouble, and the more the tyres wear the more you feel those kind of issues. That basically also prevented us from following them; I was basically just doing my own race out there.

"We need to work on that. We need to try and get rid of the bouncing, jumping, understeer in general in the long corners; that's still a big problem," Verstappen concluded.

Further down the order we have Ferrari, with the performance of their SF-25 fluctuating with every tyre compound as both their drivers, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, have suffered so far, the latter even more so after his elimination from Sprint Qualifying in SQ1.

While Leclerc started the Sprint from ninth, he dropped down the order on Lap 1 and could not manage more than 13th at the end after a few off-track moments, showing how hard his Ferrari was to drive.

As for Hamilton, the team decided to start him from the pitlane opting for changes to his SF-25's setup after some simulator feedback from Maranello.

However, the seven-time F1 Champion reported that his car was worse, which is no surprise given how Ferrari are operating these days.

He explained: "We started from the pit lane because we wanted to explore and make some changes. They had some things they found on the simulator last night.

“So we implemented those changes, and the car was really in the wrong direction and very, very difficult for whatever reason, clearly for both of us.

“But we just don’t have any stability," the Briton lamented. "When I say that, [I mean] the rear end is not planted, so it’s sliding, snapping a lot.

"Then we have bouncing, so when you’re going into corners like Turn 10, the thing starts bouncing, we have a lot of mid-corner understeer, and then you apply the steering and then it snaps and you try to catch it.

"It’s different between low, medium, and high (speed), and it’s a fight like you couldn’t believe," Hamilton concluded.

With Parc Ferme conditions lifted between the Sprint and Qualifying, it would be interesting to see what the teams change with the cars as they prepare for the next round of battle.

(Quotes from Sky Sports F1)