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Verstappen wins controversial Qatar GP filled with harsh penalties

Max Verstappen takes victory despite losing pole position to a grid penalty. But a series of harsh penalties will make for lots of discussion ahead of the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Max Verstappen racing in the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix

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George Russell had a good start from pole position, but Max Verstappen kept alongside on the run down to the first corner. They were side-by-side in turn one, with Verstappen running Russell wide. Lando Norris used the opportunity to dive inside, briefly ahead of the Red Bull. Verstappen hung on in the second corner. Norris was all over Verstappen but had to settle for P2 while Russell fell to P3.

The safety car was deployed at the back of the grid when Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, and Franco Colapinto collided. Hulkenberg struggled for grip into the first corner, spinning and collecting Ocon and Colapinto. Hulkenberg was able to rejoin the circuit, pitting to fix a puncture. The other two drivers had to retire. The stewards decided not to investigate the issue, feeling it wasn’t penalty-worthy.

There was also an issue for the other Williams car, as Alex Albon was spun by Lance Stroll in turn four. Both continued, but the stewards eventually awarded Stroll a ten-second penalty for the infraction. Once the penalty was confirmed, Aston Martin decided to retire Stroll, but not before pitting to serve his penalty to avoid a grid penalty in Abu Dhabi.

There was more drama when the race resumed on lap five. Liam Lawson suffered from oversteer in the first corner and spun, similar to Hulkenberg. He nearly collected Valtteri Bottas, with the Finn having to take major evasive action to avoid the skidding Williams. The stewards deemed Lawson was at fault and gave the rookie a ten-second penalty for causing a collision.

Further ahead, Oscar Piastri judged the restart to perfection, overtaking Charles Leclerc down the main straight to promote himself to P4. That move was beneficial for the World Constructors’ Championship battle, in which McLaren and Ferrari are still fighting for the title. Piastri then spent many laps trying to chase down Russell, but couldn’t get close enough. On his closest chance, he suffered a snap of oversteer in the final corner, losing time.

Russell was the first driver to trade in his medium tyres for a set of hards on lap 24. It was a slow seven-second pit stop for Mercedes due to issues getting the left-rear tyre off the car. This mistake was enough to cost him the net P4 and rejoining behind Fernando Alonso would hurt him further. The rest of the field extended the stint.

On lap 30, a mirror fell off the sole remaining Williams of Albon, coming to a rest just off the racing line. The yellow flag was shown, but no effort was made to clean up the debris. The inevitable happened a few laps later and Bottas ran over the mirror and it exploded into shards of carbon fibre. In that same lap, both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz received punctures and had to limp back to the pit lane. The race director was forced to finally deploy the safety car to let marshals clean the main straight.

The safety car triggered chaos in the pit lane as most drivers made their pit stops. Sainz had a slow stop because his car fell off the jacks. Russell, who made his second pit stop of the race, was unhappy with the decision to put another set of hard tyres on the car.

Max Verstappen leads the field during the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix
© Pirelli & C SpA

The race restarted on lap 40. Verstappen had a terrible restart, crawling through the final corners before finally launching. Norris was close enough to challenge for the lead around the outside, but Verstappen forced him wide and Norris had to back out of the move.

Further back, Pierre Gasly ran deep in the first corner, locking up and running wide while running P5. Piastri pressured Charles Leclerc in the opening corners, running wheel-to-wheel, but he couldn’t make a move stick.

The race was quickly neutralized behind the safety car again for two incidents on track. Sergio Perez suffered a bizarre spin coming to the restart, potentially experiencing a mechanical failure. Later in the lap, Nico Hulkenberg ran wide and beached himself in the gravel.

On the second restart attempt, Verstappen had a much better restart. This time, it was Norris who was under pressure from Leclerc behind. The McLaren took the defensive line into the first corner, fending off any overtaking chance by the Ferrari.

But any chance of Norris challenging for the lead was crushed by the stewards in a controversial move. Norris hadn’t slowed when going through the yellow flag zone for the stranded mirror on the main straight. This earned him an unprecedented ten-second stop-and-go penalty, which dropped him to the back of the field.

To add to the controversy, Lewis Hamilton was given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane when the safety car made a detour through the pit lane. Hamilton wanted to retire from the race, but the team refused.

With his competition out of contention, Max Verstappen had no problem crossing the finish line first to take the victory. Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri stood alongside him on the podium. Lando Norris was able to drive back into the top ten and earned an additional point for the fastest lap but the World Constructors’ Championship title fight will be decided in the final round of the championship.

But the feel-good story of the weekend was a P8 finish for Guanyu Zhou, earning Sauber their first points of the season.

There is now only a single race remaining in the 2024 season. The season finale will be held in Abu Dhabi on December 8.

Race Results

Pos.DriverLapsTimePoints
1M. VerstappenRed Bull571:31:05.32325
2C. LeclercFerrari57+6.03118
3O. PiastriMcLaren57+6.81915
4G. RussellMercedes57+14.10412
5P. GaslyAlpine57+16.78210
6C. SainzFerrari57+17.4768
7F. AlonsoAston Martin57+19.8676
8G. ZhouSauber57+25.3604
9K. MagnussenHaas57+32.1772
10L. NorrisMcLaren57+35.7622FL
11V. BottasSauber57+50.243
12L. HamiltonMercedes57+56.122
13Y. TsunodaRB57+61.100
14L. LawsonRB57+62.656
15A. AlbonWilliams56+1 Lap
DNFN. HulkenbergHaas39
DNFS. PerezRed Bull38
DNFL. StrollAston Martin8
DNFF. ColapintoWilliams0
DNFE. OconAlpine0

Drivers’ Championship

1M. Verstappen429Secured
2L. Norris349-80Same
3C. Leclerc341-88Same
4O. Piastri291-138Same
5C. Sainz272-157Same

Constructors’ Championship

1McLaren640Same
2Ferrari619-21Same
3Red Bull581-59Same
4Mercedes446-194Same
5Aston Martin92-548Same