In Qatar Verstappen wins the GP after never leaving the lead. The Dutchman burned Russell at the start and did not let himself be overwhelmed by the two McLarens. Leclerc resists and arrives second, while Norris only crossed the finish line in tenth position, after having received a heavy ten-second penalty. Great race by Gasly and Zhou, with the latter obtaining the first points of the season for Sauber.
Qatar GP: Verstappen takes the lead at the start
The lights go out at the Losail circuit at 17pm Italian time. George gets off to a pretty good start Russell from the first position but it's not enough: Verstappen takes the lead. An unprecedented excellent start by Norris, who takes the slipstream of the Red Bull driven by the Dutchman and manages to gain momentum to overtake Russell's Mercedes. The Ferraris don't sit back and watch and Leclerc gets the better of Piastri, overtaking him on the outside at turn 1. Sainz, on the other hand, tries to threaten Piastri, who remains in battle with the Monegasque. However, the race is neutralized by the Safety Car even before the end of the first lap. In fact, there were several contacts at the start. At turn 1 Hulkenberg gets to the block and takes out the Alpine of Ocon and the very unlucky Colapinto. Bad luck also affects the other Williams, with Albon spinning after being touched by Stroll's Aston Martin. The only ones to come back in are Hulkenberg and Stroll, both of whom have mounted the Hard tyres.
Restart on the fifth lap of the race: Leclerc loses the position on Piastri
The Qatar GP restarts on the fifth lap of the race with the return of the Safety Car. Everything is regular in the top positions, with Leclerc who is surprised by Piastri, with the Australian who returns the favor in turn 1 on the outside. In the meantime, still in the back, another contact for Stroll, who this time is taken off the track by Lawson's Racing Bulls. The Canadian regains the track, but is given a ten-second penalty for the contact with Albon. Aston Martin thus decides to stop Stroll in the pits to serve the penalty and not take it to Abu Dhabi, and then retire the car on the tenth lap.
Lewis Hamilton is also struggling, finding himself in eighth place after making a terrible start, which brought him under the scrutiny of the race officials for jumping start. A five-second penalty for the Englishman, who finds himself behind Perez on lap thirteen. Magnussen and Gasly complete the top ten, both battling with Tsunoda to earn precious points in the constructors' standings. The Japanese seems to be the one in the most difficulty: from lap thirteen to lap fifteen he lost two positions. First on Alonso and then on Zhou.
Ferrari vs McLaren: The long-distance battle continues
There is an apparent calm among the first six positions. The Ferraris, especially with Leclerc, are trying to manage their tires very meticulously, while maintaining a distance that varies from three to two and a half seconds from Piastri. The Australian McLaren driver tried to threaten George Russell, but on the seventeenth lap he was the protagonist of a fleeting off-track, from which he did not lose much. In front, however, Verstappen, who continues to lead the race with a certain calm, and Norris seem to be the fastest of the leading group, taking the fastest lap from each other.
At twenty-four Russell, the slowest of the leading group, pits. The Mercedes number 63 fits hard tires instead of softs, but loses a lot of time during the pit stop because the right rear doesn't want to come out. The Englishman finds himself in traffic behind Alonso and Gasly in eleventh position. And so the Ferraris in front try to push to try to grab the position at least from Russell. It is a qualifying race, with the top five remaining on the track pushing really hard. Norris, meanwhile, doesn't want to let Verstappen escape. The number 4 McLaren wants to put pressure on the four-time world champion before returning to the pits for the first pit stop.
Puncture for Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz
After lap 30, Alex Albon, who had previously suffered a contact with Stroll, lost his mirror on the main straight. The latter was then hit by Bottas, covering the track with debris. The race direction did not give the yellow flag and the ones to pay for it were Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes and Carlos Sainz's Ferrari. A bad blow for the constructors' championship, already quite compromised given the situation on the track. After the two punctures, the Safety Car came out on the track and all those who still had to stop made their pit stops. The one to pay for it, however, was Oscar Piastri, who came in for the pit stop just before the race direction put the safety car on the track. Verstappen is still in first place, followed by Norris. Third is Leclerc, with Piastri and Gasly behind him. The Frenchman from Alpine exploited the situation to perfection, thus risking bringing home important points for the constructors.
Chaotic restart of Qatar GP: Norris vs Verstappen
At the restart, everything happens. The McLarens bite the ones in front of them. It's Norris against Verstappen and Piastri against Leclerc. In the meantime, Sainz tries to recover positions, who tries in every way to get the better of Gasly and then Russell. However, everything is frozen by a new safety car. The first to retire is Sergio Pere due to technical problems and then Hulkenberg who ends up in a gravel after a spin.
New restart on lap 43. This time, however, it is Leclerc who threatens Norris, with the Englishman who in the meantime has ended up under investigation for not respecting the yellow flags. While Verstappen continues to lead the race, Sainz is in great difficulty with the hard tyres, probably also the victim of some damage to the bottom of the car after having previously completed half a lap on three wheels due to a puncture.
Plot twist: Norris penalized with ten seconds of stop and go
The investigation into Lando Norris has taken a turn for the worse. The Englishman is forced to return to the track on lap 46 to serve his penalty. He returns to the track in last place. A penalty that is perhaps truly excessive, for not respecting the speed limit during the safety car period. Lewis Hamilton also gets a drive-through penalty, guilty of exceeding the speed limit in the pit lane. An infraction that in the past usually required a five-second penalty.
Returning to the action on the track in the Qatar GP, Sainz tries to threaten Gasly again to gain points in the constructors' championship, especially now that Norris is out of the game. Piastri, however, seems to be able to worry Leclerc, with the Monegasque in second place who is trying to keep his hopes for the world title alive. Zhou's race is also surprising. The Chinese driver is eighth behind Fernando Alonso. On lap 51 of the Qatar GP, the top ten is then closed by Magnussen and Albon, with the Dane making a great overtaking move on Williams. Haas must defend itself from Alpine's assault on sixth place in the standings.
Last five laps of the race: Norris tries to recover to get back into the points zone
Lando Norris does not give up. Even one point could be important on the road that could lead McLaren to win a title that has been missing since 1998. The English driver first overtakes Tsunoda, then Albon and finally Bottas, who had brilliantly gained tenth position. Sainz, in the meantime, tries to overtake Gasly, with the Frenchman who has put in a great race. Up front, the battle between Leclerc and Piastri is not over: the two are separated by barely a second on the penultimate lap.
Max Verstappen wins after dominating. Zhou scores with Sauber
After a sprint racing very complicated, Max Verstappen wins the Qatar Grand Prix. Behind him comes a stoic Charles Leclerc, with Piastri unable to regain the position. The Monegasque raced the entire race without being able to drink, but he did not give up. Behind him are the Australian Russell and Gasly, who manages to keep the injured Carlos Sainz behind him. Both are unable to take advantage of the five-second penalty inflicted on Russell after crossing the finish line, again assigned to him due to infringements that occurred during the safety car.
Great race then for Zhou, who scores the first points of this year for Sauber. Too bad for Bottas who, as mentioned, had to surrender to the comeback of Lando Norris in the last laps, with the Englishman who finished the race in tenth position and with the fastest lap. Ninth instead for Kevin Magnussen, who keeps Haas afloat for the fight for sixth place in the constructors against the aggressive Alpine.
Thus ends the penultimate stage of this 2024 season. The duel between Ferrari and McLaren, however, will only be resolved in the last race, on the controversial Abu Dhabi circuit.
