After the highs of winning his 3rd Formula 1 world championship yesterday during the Sprint, Max Verstappen stormed to yet another victory at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. But while yesterday’s P2 that sealed the title for him would’ve seemed easy, today, during the race, the Dutch lion was tormented by adversity. For starters, the temperatures at the Lusail International Circuit soared to an alarming 88 degrees. If that wasn’t enough for physical toil, the 3x champion had a 57-lap McLaren assault to deal with, too. As the adrenaline waned away, Verstappen couldn’t take it anymore and requested a wheelchair, as per Express UK.
The 2023 season was seemingly a walk in the park for the 26-year-old Dutch racing ace. With the Qatar GP, he has amassed a whopping 14 wins this season. But while Verstappen admitted he enjoyed the race, he did concede that it was one of his toughest race weekends. “It was definitely a tough race out there. It was one of the toughest races I’ve done. Top five probably,” declared Verstappen.
On the Max Verstappen podcast tonight!
Oscar: “Was it Lewis and George that crashed?”⁰⁰Lando: “Yeah”⁰⁰Oscar: “Haaaa…wow thank you Mercedes”#QatarGP pic.twitter.com/jADVnV1axj
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) October 8, 2023
That being said, Verstappen’s post-race state shouldn’t raise any questions about his fitness per se. As it turns out, the entirety of the grid was plagued by the torrid conditions that faced them in Qatar. As the TV footage showed, many drivers barely even managed to get themselves out of the car after the Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen was pushed to the absolute limit at the Qatar GP
McLaren were on fire today. And that ramped up the heat in the already scorching Lusail circuit for Verstappen. He admitted after the race that the Papaya duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were a handful to deal with throughout the race.
But the 57-lap onslaught orchestrated by both Piastri and Norris took a toll on them, too. In the cool-down room footage, the young Australian was seen lying down on the floor as an exhausted Verstappen dryly quipped, “Does someone have a wheelchair?”
It was a tough day in the office for all the drivers out there today. F1 cars are on rails. On a normal race weekend, the drivers pull insane amounts of G-force, corner after corner. Now imagine that with the soaring temperatures at Lusail. Naturally, after 57 excruciating laps, all the drivers felt extremely sick.
F1 drivers face the wrath of nature after torturous Qatari nightmare
The 2023 Qatar GP was really a race of attrition. But it was more of a health concern than a reliability one. Just to gauge the gravity of the toll this race has taken on the drivers, reports suggest that Esteban Ocon actually puked in the cockpit on lap 15 but still soldiered on.
Sargeant qui finit pas la course, Ocon qui vomit dans sa voiture, Stroll au bord du malaise à la sortie, Leclerc pâle comme un linge en interview et sans compter tout les pilotes qui en ont chier à la sortie de voiture… Va falloir revoir qq’chose. HEALTH FIRST. @fia #F1 #Qatar
— Choca/Killian 🇺🇦 (@qsrChoca) October 8, 2023
It was worse for Williams’ Logan Sargeant, however, as the American rookie was forced to retire due to how sick he got during the race. His teammate, Alex Albon, and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll struggled, too. They were seen struggling to even get out of their cars in Parc fermé.
Albon was eventually helped out by his mechanics. But Stroll chose to directly visit the medical center as he hoped on to the ambulance.
