Max Verstappen lost pole position for the F1 Qatar GP race to George Russell after receiving a one-place grid penalty for impeding the Mercedes driver on a warm-up lap. Verstappen had initially claimed pole with a lap of 1:20.520, just 0.055 seconds ahead of Russell, but the penalty reversed their front-row positions. Sprint race winners McLaren remained on the second row, with Lando Norris in third and Oscar Piastri in fourth.
Russell got away to a strong start, but Verstappen held the inside line and took the lead into Turn 1. Norris fought down the inside as well, going wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen before settling into 2nd. The order was running Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Leclerc, Piastri.
A safety car was deployed almost immediately, after Nico Hulkenberg caused contact between Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto. There was also contact between Alex Albon and Lance Stroll.
The race restarted on Lap 4. Piastri immediately got past Leclerc. Liam Lawson flew off the road near the back of the grid but rejoined. No further investigation for Hulkenberg, Ocon, and Colapinto. Stroll received a 10-second penalty for causing a collision, but retired the car.
Fernando Alonso was noted on Lap 9 for unsafe reentry, Hamilton was noted for a false start, and Valterri Bottas and Lawson were noted for the incident that sent Lawson off the road at the restart.
Lawson received a 10-second penalty. Hamilton received a 5-second penalty.
On Lap 13, the order was still running Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Piastri, Leclerc. Further back, Kevin Magnussen, Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda, and Fernando Alonso were all fighting back and forth over 9th through 12th place.
There was not much overtaking or action, as Verstappen and Norris pulled away from Russell. Most of the field had settled at least 1 second behind the car in front on Lap 19. Yuki Tsunoda was rapidly losing places to the cars around.
Russell pitted first out of the frontrunners, but the stop was slow. He came out in 11th place. The running order on Lap 25 was Verstappen, Norris, Piastri, Leclerc, Sainz.
Both Mercedes drivers reported an inability to turn on their radios. On Lap 34, no front runners had pitted but Russell. Lewis Hamilton’s and Carlos Sainz’s front left tyre were both punctured.
Piastri pitted for hard tyres and came out in 5th, Sainz came out in 10th. A safety car was called in Lap 35, while frontrunners Verstappen, Norris and Leclerc pitted.
The race restarted on Lap 39 and Verstappen got his elbows out against Norris. Positions didn’t change at the front, and another Safety Car was deployed on the very next lap, as Sergio Perez’s Red Bull lost drive and Nico Hulkenberg retired after going into the gravel trap.
The race restarted again on lap 42, and the positions remained the same at the front despite Leclerc attacking Norris.
Lando Norris was handed a 10-second stop/go penalty for failing to slow under a yellow flag. He came out in 15th, far behind the rest of the field. Lewis Hamilton was given a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane, and came out right behind Norris.
Hamilton wanted to retire the car on Lap 49, but he was denired by the team, eventually making passes towards the end on the RBs.
With 5 laps remaining, the running order was Verstappen, Leclerc, Piastri, Russell, Gasly.
Norris climbed up into 10th place on Lap 54. Alex Albon was given a 10-second penalty. George Russell was noted for safety car infringement.
Max Verstappen saw the chequered flag first in the F1 Qatar GP race, with Leclerc and Piastri completing the podium. Russell is 4th, Gasly 5th, Sainz 6th, Alonso 7th, Zhou in 8th, Magnussen 9th, and Norris 10th, plus a point for the fastest lap. The 8th place finish from Zhou Guanyu gave Sauber their first points of the 2024 season.
Norris’s penalty and dramatic drop-off confirms that the Constructors Championship battle between McLaren and Ferrari will go down to the wire in Abu Dhabi — the gap is 21 points.
