Max Verstappen powered to victory at the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix after a penalty denied him a pole start. 'An angry Max is a dangerous Max,' as he showed on a night packed with incident, controversy, and talking points. But one where nothing was going to stop the Red Bull ace.
It was a Grand Prix of big drama and high attrition with several cars involved in various Turn 1 and lap one skirmishes down the order. Verstappen scurried into the lead inside of Russell into the first corner, with Norris also scurrying past the Mercedes, who went from pole to P3.
Thereafter it was a race of cat and mouse between Verstappen and Norris. The gap was always less than a couple of seconds, with the fastest laps being traded. A great contest by the standout drivers of this season. Until it wasn't!
After complaints from Verstappen questioning if Norris had adhered to a yellow flag on the straight. He hadn't. Thus on Lap 44, F1 Stewards handed the McLaren driver a 10-second stop-and-go penalty.
Game over. By the time the dust settled on that shocker, Verstappen led Charles Leclerc by around four seconds with Oscar Piastri stalking the Ferrari and George Russell in his mirrors. And that's how it stayed for the top three.
It was classic Verstappen. Already the fourth title bagged, and after a really disappointing Sprint Qualy and Race, Red Bull made big changes; it was faster, and their man Max delivered pole... But then he was found to have impeded George Russell in qualifying.
That piqued the Dutchman's interest and provided all the inspiration he needed to win. Verstappen thrives on being the 'victim,' which brings out the most vicious competitor in him. Who else but Max would've spotted Norris not lifting under yellow on the main straight?
Verstappen said of his race:
Earlier at the start, losing P1 into Turn 1, Russell could not make inroads into the top two, and with Piastri closing fast, they pitted the Mercedes on lap 27, the earliest of all. But it was a tardy stop, and thereafter he grafted his way to P4.
Hence Leclerc found himself in P2, which delighted him: "I'm very happy. Honestly, I would have signed straight away a bit of paper that told me we would have finished second on a track like this after a weekend like this because our car characteristics is not fitting very well with this track."
Also in Parce Ferme, Piastri added: "It was a tricky race. The cars at the front seemed to have very similar pace to each other, and it was really tough to make the inroads to get into DRS and then far enough into DRS to overtake. A couple of good moments with Charles out there, and nice to end up on the podium, but not quite the result we were looking for."
Once again stunning all (remember Brazil?) Pierre Gasly gave Alpine another strong P5 after fending off Carlos Sainz late in the race. Making amends for teammate Esteban Ocon's first lap DNF.
In the other Ferrari, Carlos Sainz looked set for a podium until he suffered a puncture during the "mirror on track" incident, which meant P6 for the Spaniard in his penultimate GP weekend with the Scuderia.
The result means the 2024 F1 Constructors' heads to Abu Dhabi to be decided, with McLaren leading Ferrari by 21 points. The Reds last won an F1 Constructors' title in 2008, with the Wokinh outfit hunting one for the first time since 1998.
Fernando Alonso had an action-packed race, complaining about the speed of the Aston Martin team but then brawling his way to P7, heading home Guanyu Zhou, who scored the first points of the season for Sauber. Kevin Magnussen was his feisty self, in several brawls on track rewarded with P9 for the Haas driver.
During an action-packed race, another game changer for several came on Lap 32 when a mirror on the track got shattered by the Sauber of Valtteri Bottas, which caused punctures for Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton. A second Safety Car period ensued when Nico Hulkenberg beached his Haas.
In the other Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton seemed incredulous throughout the race at how slow his car was. He toiled and complained his way to P12. The end of the great Hamilton-Mercedes story could not come any sooner for driver and team.
The seven-time F1 World Champion was even told not to retire the car when he was informed of a penalty for a silly error.
Report in progress...
2024 Qatar Grand Prix Provisional Top 10
How the Qatar Grand Prix Unfolded
Start: After keeping the Mercedes waiting on the P1 grid spot, Verstappen snatches lead from Russell as Norris nips past too. Grid Penalty? What grid penalty
Lap 1: Colapinto, Ocon and Hulkenberg make contac. Safety Car deployed to remove the Williams and Alpine. The Haas limps back to the pits. Albon and Stroll also make contact. Lawson and Bottas also in the wars.
Lap 5: Safety Car ends. Verstappen easily leads Norris into Turn 1 with Russell in his mirrors and Piastri getting past Leclerc for P4. Sainz is P6.
Lap 6: Sewtting fastest laps Verstappen out of DRS range from Norris.
Lap 10: Stroll retires.
Lap 12: Lawson 10-second penalty for first lap incident.
Lap 13: Gasly swoops around Tsunoda through Turn 1. Hamilton 5-second penalty for false start confirmed.
Lap:15: Zhou sweeps past Tsunoda in Turn 1.
Lap 18: Norris sets fastest lap at this stage, Verstappen leads him by 1.5s.
Lap 19: Verstappen responds with fastest lap. Stalemate across the field.
Lap 22: Piastri closing on Russell.
Lap 24: Russell pits from P3, but it's a slow 7-second stop.
Runners after 26 laps before leaders (apart from Russell) stopped:
Lap 30: Leaders in traffic, Verstappen stalked by Norris, a little over a second separate the pair.
Lap 32: Mirrors on track, gets shattered by Bottas. Punctures ensue for Sainz and Hamilton. Ferrari stop is long.
Lap 35: Verstappen gets called in and Safety Car is deployed. They all peel into the pits.
Lap 36: The top three come to get 'free' stops. Russell complains he is on Hards.
How they lined up for the SC restart:
Lap 40: Green Flag! Norris gets close but not close enough, Verstappen back in the lead.
Lap 41: Another yellow becomes a Safety Car as more bent metal; this time Hulkenberg is beached. Perez also out.
Lap 43: Green Flag! Verstappen gets a better start.
Lap 44: Verstappen fastest driver on the track. Norris hanging in as the pair pull away from Leclerc and Piastri.
Lap 44: Norris gets 10-second stop and go. Game over for the race victory.
Lap 46: Norris comes out last.
Lap 50: Magnussen overtakes Bottas for P9.
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