Video: Lewis Hamilton’s overtaking masterclass in Qatar
12th January 2024
In the midst of absolute dominance by Red Bull, the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix threatened to deliver the second surprise result of the F1 season when McLaren turned up and looked ...
But while the sprint race will be remembered for giving Oscar Piastri his first win in F1, albeit not a full grand prix win, there were several other highlights during what proved to be a pretty exciting weekend of racing.
Something we didn’t actually get to see during the race coverage itself was the exploits of Lewis Hamilton during the final lap of the sprint. After 18 laps, he’d worked his way up into seventh place, right on the tail of both Ferraris. With Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz struggling ahead on soft tyres, it looked as though Hamilton’s decision to start on the mediums was about to pay dividends.
Hamilton made his first move down the start-finish straight, nailing Leclerc around the outside under braking, with so much more grip that he almost ran into the back of Sainz before the apex. With one down, you can sense from this onboard footage that he was gunning for more.
You can see he has far more confidence on the brakes, and after a perfect exit from turn six, he makes a move to the inside on the short straight to turn seven. It’s enough to distract Sainz ahead, who moves across and misses his breaking point. The door opens up for Hamilton to strike.
It’s a brilliant overtake that perfectly demonstrates how the very best racing drivers are constantly thinking of their next move.
