Lewis Hamilton won Sunday’s inaugural Qatar Grand Prix with a lead of eight points from Max Verstappen.
Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton celebrates with his trophy. (AFP)
Max Verstappen shot from the seventh position and came behind Hamilton despite having a grid penalty after qualifying. This year’s remaining two Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi will determine the winner. Hamilton said to reporters,
“It was pretty straightforward, it’s pretty lonely at the front. Of course, I enjoy those races, we needed those points today, so a really solid job from the team.”
He further said,
“I can’t wait to watch a replay of the race to see what happened behind me. I’m really grateful for these points. It puts us in good stead for the next two.”
Even though Verstappen experienced his second consecutive loss, he showed signs of optimism with regards to the weekend results. He said,
“Of course our starting position was a bit compromised, but we had a really good start. At the end of the day to get that fastest lap was nice, it’s going to be difficult to the end.”