Lewis Hamilton cruised to victory in the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix to cut his world championship deficit to just eight points and set up a blockbuster end to the season.
The seven-time world champion completed the race in serene fashion as he led from pole position all the way to the chequered flag virtually unchallenged on the sport’s first trip to the Losail International Circuit.Championship leader Max Verstappen survived a five-place grid penalty to finish second and limit the damage with Fernando Alonso rounding out the podium.
Sergio Perez finished fourth in the second Red Bull with Esteban Ocon coming home fifth for Alpine.
Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin beat the Ferrari pair of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc with Lando Norris’ McLaren and the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel rounding off the top 10.
“It was pretty straightforward,” Hamilton said after the monumental win. “Of course I enjoy those races when you’re battling through but it was a really solid job from the team with the pits stops and the car and I can’t wait to see a replay of the race to see what happened behind me. It has been a hell of a year so to be at the end of the year and have back-to-back wins is a great feeling and puts us in good stead.”
Lewis Hamilton has also been praised by Racing Pride for wearing a rainbow colour helmet as the seven-time world champion hopes to educate people around the world and have positive conversations on the matter.
Interestingly Hamilton will continue to wear his LGBTQ+ community-supporting rainbow helmet livery in the final races of Formula 1 2021, which are taking place in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.
Hamilton said during the pre-event press conference in Qatar that when sports organisations visit countries with poor human rights records, they should highlight problems such as human rights issues. The Mercedes driver said: "I do think as these sports go to these places, they are duty bound to raise awareness for these issues. These places need scrutiny, and the media needs to speak about these things. Equal rights is a serious issue."
Earlier in 2021, Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel had also worn a rainbow T-shirt to express his solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community in Hungary and has also altered his helmet livery at events this season to include the rainbow.
There are now just two grands prix remaining: in Saudi Arabia on December 5 and in Abu Dhabi the following week. The momentum is with Hamilton, who has won the last two races after a long barren spell since the Russian Grand Prix in September.