RACE REPORT | F1 Qatar 2024

Max Verstappen clinched his ninth victory of the season after a Qatar GP masterclass in a race full of safety cars, penalties and drama.

Max Verstappen, starting second after a grid penalty, quickly took the lead from George Russell at Turn 1. Lando Norris also saw a chance to move up and tried to challenge the Dutchman but in the end only managed to pass Russell, who lost two places within the first two corners.

Meanwhile, Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin didn’t really want to turn into the first corner, which resulted in a contact with Alex Albon, who then reported over the radio that he knew Stroll would do that.

Zhou Guanyu, who started from amazing 12th place for Sauber, lost three positions after the start as he had to avoid both of the cars involved in the crash.

Similarly, Lewis Hamilton also dropped three places down the leaderboard but due to his own mistake as he jumped the start. Later on, he received a five-second time penalty for that.

There was even more drama all the way at the back, where Nico Hulkenberg also didn’t fit his Haas into turn one, starting a domino effect by hitting Esteban Ocon, who then hit Franco Colapinto. While Hulkenberg managed to recover, for the Frenchman and Argentinian it was the end.

After this incident, a safety car was deployed for four laps to let the marshals clean all the debris from the track and recover both damaged vehicles.

Right after the restart on lap 5, there was another contact between Liam Lawson and Valtteri Bottas, which had a big impact on the rest of their races as they got stuck at the back.

Stroll received a ten-second time penalty for the incident from lap 1 with Albon, but two laps later he headed to the pits to retire his Aston Martin.

Oscar Piastri has a big in the final corner. He ran wide and lost about six-tenths of a second. Luckily he had DRS from Russell, allowing him to keep up and not to lose too much time because of the mistake.

Lewis Hamilton kept asking his engineer about the pace of the drivers in the front. When got an honest answer about him missing 1,2 seconds per lap, he asked: “Is the car broken or…?” The only response he got was that Mercedes is fighting with balance.

The first one from the front to come to the pits to change his tyres was Russell on lap 24 but it was a slow 7-second stop from the Mercedes crew. As a result, he came out straight into traffic behind Fernando Alonso.

Alex Albon then lost his mirror on the main straight, which landed in the middle of the track. However, the race control was taking a lot of time to figure out what to do about it. Not long after, Sainz and Hamilton drove over the debris and got punctures.

Eventually, a safety car was deployed, leading to chaos in the pit lane as many drivers seized the opportunity to change their tyres. Pierre Gasly gained the most from the situation, emerging in sixth place, while Zhou also made the most of the moment, rejoining in eighth.

However, more drama was awaiting after the restart. Sergio Perez spun off the track, apparently because of a technical problem, while Nico Hulkenberg made a mistake and ended up in the gravel, bringing out a third safety car of the day.

After the restart, Lando Norris was slammed with 10 seconds stop and go penalty for failing to slow down under a yellow flag, which pushed him all the way to P15, ending his hopes for a victory and McLaren’s to clinch the Constructors’ Championship in Qatar.

At this point Lewis Hamilton was begging Mercedes to retire his car as he received a drive-through penalty for speeding the pit lane, however, the team refused.

Max Verstappen triumphed at the Qatar Grand Prix, claiming his second victory in the last three races. The Dutchman dominated the race from start to finish, crossing the line ahead of Charles Leclerc, who secured second place. 

Oscar Piastri rounded out the podium, while pole-sitter George Russell finished just off it in fourth. The Mercedes driver also received a 5-second time penalty after the race for safety car infringement but no changes in the order.

Pierre Gasly amazingly defended against Carlos Sainz, securing 10 points for Alpine, while the Ferrari driver had to settle down for sixth place.

Fernando Alonso finished seventh for Aston Martin, while Guanyu Zhou managed to score Sauber’s first points of the season with eighth place.

Kevin Magnussen crossed the line in ninth place, while disappointed Lando Norris completed the top 10, earning at least two points for McLaren (including bonus for the fastest lap of the race), which might be important in the battle for the Constructors’ Championship, which is now delayed to Abu Dhabi.

Race results: