Lando Norris apologises for ‘f—— up’ Qatar GP as McLaren hit out at FIA penalty

An ugly bust-up between Qatar Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell; Lando Norris apologising for “f—–g up” the race; McLaren hitting out at the FIA for what they perceived to be a “disproportionate penalty” for their driver; yet more misery for Lewis Hamilton; multiple crashes; three safety cars; two punctures, both potentially caused by debris from a wing mirror which was bizarrely left on the track following an earlier collision. All that was missing was a partridge in a pear tree. December 1 certainly delivered on the Formula One front.

An extraordinary, chaotic day in Doha ended with Verstappen slamming Russell for what he perceived to be “two-faced” behaviour on the Briton’s part following qualifying on Saturday. Effectively whingeing to the stewards to get the Dutchman a grid penalty having acted “all nice” in public. That spat is what will grab the headlines.

But perhaps the bigger picture was the chaos of the race itself, and whether it was handled as well as it might have been. The FIA’s decision to dispense with the services of F1 race director Niels Wittich last month, and then sack the F2 race director prior to this race, meant the Portuguese Rui Marques had his hands full, covering both F1 and F2 in Qatar. It is difficult to know whether that contributed to the chaos which unfolded in Qatar, but it is certainly valid to ask. The FIA, unusually, issued a statement on Sunday night saying it would be “putting together an explainer on issues arising from today’s race”.

Either way, Verstappen took victory, his ninth win of the season and clearly a satisfying one from his perspective given what happened in qualifying, while Norris, who at one stage looked as if he might challenge the Dutch driver for the win, and possibly even secure McLaren the constructors’ championship in the process, was left to rue another costly error.

The Briton was hit with a calamitous 10-second stop/go penalty for failing to slow under yellow flags, dropping him to the back of the pack with around 10 laps remaining. The field had been squeezed at the time due to the third of the day’s safety cars.

Although Norris recovered to finish 10th, and also bagged the fastest-lap bonus point, it still allowed Ferrari to claw back ground in the championship.  The Scuderia now trail McLaren by 21 points heading to the final race in Abu Dhabi next weekend with a maximum of 44 available.

Norris held his hands up to the error. “I’ve let the team down,” he said. “The team gave me a great car today, easily the quickest out there, and I f—-d it up. I’m not an idiot. If there’s a yellow flag I know I need to slow down. That’s rule No 1. You learn it in go-karts. For some reason I didn’t do that today because I’ve not seen it or I’ve missed it or something.”

Norris’s team principal Andrea Stella admitted his driver was at fault, although he questioned the removal of the yellow flag soon afterwards despite the track condition being the same and was apoplectic about the size of the punishment.

“I think we have lost any sense of proportion, and any sense of specificity,” he said. “I think there’s an opportunity to do better from the FIA.”

Stella was not the only person seething at the end of this race. After a start in which Verstappen pinched back the lead of the race he had lost to Russell in the stewards’ room, there were no fewer than three safety cars brought about by multiple crashes, and debris on track. Was Alex Albon’s wing mirror, left out there for laps on end, to blame for the punctures to Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Hamilton? Possibly. Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said it was “for sure” because of the debris, although others felt it may have been the sharp kerbs.

Whatever, it was another race in which Hamilton suffered. The seven-time world champion was penalised for a false start, complained that his car was “broke”, suffered the aforementioned puncture, and was penalised again with a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

He eventually finished 12th, at one stage threatening to “park the car” during his drive-through, only to be told to stay out unless he wanted a five-second penalty at the next race.

Hamilton’s team principal Toto Wolff conceded it was tough times as they approach their last race together in Abu Dhabi. But he once again dismissed social media conspiracy theories that Mercedes are somehow sabotaging Hamilton’s prospects as the work of “lunatics”.

Verstappen, as he has all year, blocked out the noise, got the job done, and then celebrated with a two-footed attack on Russell.  “Karma is a wonderful thing,” his race engineer told him at the finish. “You didn’t drive ‘unnecessarily slowly’ today.”

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06:15 PM GMT

All to play for next week in Abu Dhabi

In the constructors’ anyway. That race is the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina, a track which has produced improved racing in recent years. McLaren. We will be back for qualifying on Saturday.

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06:14 PM GMT

McLaren’s Andrea Stella strong on Norris’s penalty

Well, as strong as he gets in his traditional, measured engineer-speak. He said that the FIA had lost “any sense of proportion and any sense of specificity” and that there is an opportunity for them to do “much better”.

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06:08 PM GMT

Norris on his penalty

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06:01 PM GMT

Updated drivers’ standings

The 24-point gap between Russell and Hamilton means it is almost certain than the former finishes behind the latter. Hamilton needs to win and Russell score no better than 10th and without the fastest lap point for that to happen. Hamilton has never lost to a team-mate over a season more than once.

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05:57 PM GMT

Updated constructor standings

21 points the gap between McLaren and Ferrari.

You would rather be in McLaren’s place than Ferrari’s but 21 points puts the title certainly in play.

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05:53 PM GMT

An interesting Alpine update

The Race are reporting that Esteban Ocon (below), who leaves for Haas in 2025, will step aside for the final round and let Jack Doohan step in. Doohan will line up alongside Gasly next year so it kind of makes sense. That sort of thing has happened before but it is rare. A bad weekend here for Ocon and he was again very distant from his team-mate.

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05:46 PM GMT

Verstappen reacts to his first dry GP win since Spain

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05:45 PM GMT

Second place in the drivers’ standings is within reach for Leclerc, too

He is now within eight points of Norris.

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05:41 PM GMT

63 GP wins for Verstappen

He is happy about it.

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05:39 PM GMT

Qatar GP – Classification

1. VER 25pts

2. LEC 18pts

3. PIA 15pts

4. RUS 12pts

5. GAS 10pts

6. SAI 8pts

7. ALO 6pts

8. ZHO 4pts

9. MAG 2pts

10. NOR 2pts

Russell gets a five-second time penalty for the SC infringement but that does not drop him down a slot so he keeps fourth and 12 points. Norris takes the bonus point for fastest lap.

26 points to Ferrari and 17 to McLaren, so Ferrari reduce McLaren’s lead.

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05:36 PM GMT

MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE 2024 QATAR GRAND PRIX

A brilliant drive, really. Nothing much more to say. Was under pressure for a lot of it but it was Norris who slipped up by not slowing under double yellows. And Verstappen was the one who spotted that. Such a quick driver with a smart mind, too.

Leclerc keeps second, Piastri third. Zhou holds on for eighth for his and Sauber’s first points of the season. He doesn’t have a seat for next year so this is some cheer in what will likely be his penultimate F1 race. Well done.

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05:35 PM GMT

FINAL LAP

Sainz and Gasly is the battle to watch. Sainz gets DRS down the pit straight but isn’t close enough to try a move and I think that will be that.

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05:33 PM GMT

Lap 56 of 57 – Piastri nearly within a second of Leclerc

Not quite. McLaren could do with him overtaking him. They are going to lose points to them today but limiting that would be very helpful. Norris currently has the fastest lap bonus point.

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05:33 PM GMT

Lap 55 of 57 – Norris runs wide

I think 10th is about the limit of his ambitions here. Magnussen is eight seconds up the road. George Russell has been noted for a Safety Car infringement. Not sure what that is all about…

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05:32 PM GMT

Lap 54 of 57 – Top 10 and gaps

1. VER

2. LEC +5.8

3. PIA +7.1

4. RUS +9.0

5. GAS +15.2

6. SAI +15.6

7. ALO +18.5

8. ZHO +23.6

9. MAG +28.4

10. NOR +37.1

Hamilton is still out there, by the way. In 15th and chasing down Liam Lawson.

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05:30 PM GMT

Lap 53 of 57 – Bottas gets Albon for 10th

But he has Norris behind him on fresh tyres who is likely to be impossible to hold off. Verstappen cruising here. Sainz within DRS range of Gasly. Albon has a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision. What a chaotic afternoon this has been. Great, though.

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05:28 PM GMT

Lap 52 of 57 – Norris up to 12th

Verstappen 4.6sec ahead of Leclerc in second with Piastri in thied 1.5sec behind Leclerc. Russell 1.5sec behind Piastri and Gasly a distant sixth has Sainz chasing him down, 1.6sec down the road.

Bottas is chasing Albon for the final points position. A double points finish for Sauber?!

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05:26 PM GMT

Lap 51 of 57 – Norris might yet score a point here

Not that it matters much, though it does for McLaren. He is in 13th and is lapping about three or four seconds ahead of his rivals.

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05:25 PM GMT

Lap 50 of 57 – Here is the top 10

1. VER

2. LEC

3. PIA

4. RUS

5. GAS

6. SAI

7. ALO

8. ZHO

9. MAG

10. ALB

Five different cars in the top five and nine different manufacturers in the top 10 by my calculations. Just RB who lack a driver up there.

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05:24 PM GMT

Lap 49 of 57 – Hamilton now in last after that stop

Hamilton gets his wish to retire the car. Or at least it is granted. I don’t think it’s that unreasonable. You never know what crashes can happen and there are only 15 runners in this race. Well, he keeps going anyway, so not sure what is happening there.

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05:22 PM GMT

Lap 48 of 57 – Hamilton is told of his penalty

“Park the car,” he says. “I wanna park the car mate,” he says. “Negative,” he is told by his race engineer Peter Bonnington.

Ouch. A disastrous weekend in a poor season. It just seems to get worse for him, really as he comes to the end of his Mercedes career.

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05:21 PM GMT

Lap 47 of 57 – Gasly in fifth…

Alpine in a fight with RB and Haas for sixth and this will do them the world of good with just one race to go. How much has that penalty cost Norris? Well, he is 12.7sec behind Liam Lawson in last-but-one.

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05:20 PM GMT

Lap 46 of 57 – Verstappen leads Leclerc by 3.7sec

I think Norris was the only driver who had the chance to beat Verstappen here and that has now been taken away from him.

Hamilton gets a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane! Not a good day for the British drivers so far.

Zhou Guanyu is in eighth for Sauber, a team who have scored zero points all season.

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05:19 PM GMT

Lap 45 of 57 – Norris serves his penalty

That drops him back to last and is in effect a 35-second penalty. He is a little perplexed on the team radio…

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05:18 PM GMT

Lap 44 of 57 – BIG PENALTY FOR NORRIS

It’s a 10-second stop/go penalty for Lando Norris for failing to slow under yellow flags. That is the biggest penalty you can get short of disqualification.

That is massive and will drop him back to the back of the pack as it stands. That is not good news for McLaren’s championship hopes. He needs to serve that in the next three laps.

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05:16 PM GMT

Lap 43 of 57 – Race restarts

It’s a much better restart for Verstappen and Norris has to worry about Leclerc behind and not look in front! He keeps second, though, as Verstappen bolts. Piastri concerned about the front left as he can see sparks coming from it. Russell runs wide but nothing too much to worry about.

Verstappen leads Norris by 0.7sec with Leclerc 1.4sec behind the lead McLaren.

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05:14 PM GMT

Lap 42 of 57 – SC in at the end of this lap

Hamilton is told he is in 12th. “Guys, the cars is messed up mate,” he says. Will Verstappen make a better effort of this restart?

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05:12 PM GMT

Lap 41 of 57 – Norris noted for not slowing under yellow flags

Not sure if Perez was hit before he stopped but he definitely lost power afterwards.

Here’s the order:

1. VER

2. NOR

3. LEC

4. PIA

5. RUS

6. GAS

7. SAI

8. ALO

9. ZHO

10. MAG

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05:10 PM GMT

Lap 40 of 57 – Race restarts

Verstappen backs the pack up, Norris is right behind him waiting for him to gun it. Verstappen made a bit of a mess of that one, losing his rear end for a moment which means Norris is right on his rear wing down the pit straight!

Norris tries to take the lead at turn one but Verstappen keeps it with some robust defending… Norris attempted to stick it out around the outside but couldn’t make the move. Nothing too dodgy there from Max.

But Sergio Perez has stopped at turn 15! He is moving again I think, but very slowly? Nope. I think he’s stuck with no power. It’s a Virtual Safety Car… and now Nico Hulkenberg is in the gravel! Not sure why or how…

That means it’s a full Safety Car…

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05:07 PM GMT

Lap 39 of 57 – SC in at the end of this lap

Verstappen asked about Norris not lifting under the SC again a few laps ago and Red Bull told him that they were in conversations with the FIA about it. No word on whether Norris has been noted for it yet, though. That sort of thing requires quite careful analysis.

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05:02 PM GMT

Lap 38 of 57 – We are still under the SC

So let’s do a quick constructors’ championship maths check.

McLaren on course to score 18 points for Norris and 12 for Piastri, so 30. Ferrari scoring 15 with Leclerc and four with Sainz so 19. A gap of 11, which is not enough for them to win the constructors’ here in Qatar.

Hamilton is between Verstappen and Norris currently but may be allowed to unlap himself. Norris thinks Hamilton brake-tested him as they headed through the pit-lane.

Next lap the SC will use the start finish straight. Bottas and Hamilton have now been allowed to unlap themselves.

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05:00 PM GMT

Lap 37 of 57 – Russell is not happy

He has stopped again and gone ontot he hard tyres. He did not have any fresh mediums. “Why have we put hards on? Why have we put the f—– hards back on?! They’re s—!” he says, furiously.

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05:00 PM GMT

Lap 36 of 57 – Top 10 under SC

1. VER

2. NOR

3. LEC

4. PIA

5. PER

6. GAS

7. RUS

8. SAI

9. ALO

10. ZHO

The SC is for the debris caused by Bottas running over the mirror on the straight. SC will go through the pit lane so that the debris can be swept away.

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04:58 PM GMT

Lap 35 of 57 – You have to ask why that mirror was left there

Sainz comes out of the pits, Hamilton makes it to the pits and a Safety Car is finally called.

“Just trust me to have this luck, man” Hamilton says. Verstappen pits and laps Hamilton in the process. Norris stops also, both the lead drivers – and Leclerc – get a cheap stop there.

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04:56 PM GMT

Lap 34 of 57 – Bottas runs over the stray wing mirror

Verstappen has found some extra pace from somewhere.

And Hamilton has a puncture! Has he picked that up from the wing mirror? I am not sure Hamilton will make it back to the pits here. I think Sainz is also in trouble here, dropping well back. Both cars have a front-left puncture…

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04:54 PM GMT

Lap 33 of 57 – Verstappen leads Norris by 1.8sec

Piastri now 9.1sec adrift of Norris. Replays confirm that Norris did not lift on the straight under yellow flags. Norris has now dropped half a secodn to Verstappen over the last lap or so… I am not sure why or where?

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04:52 PM GMT

Lap 32 of 57 – Verstappen asks if Norris lifted for yellow flags

The Red Bull driver tells his team to check if he lifted on the straight and seems to suggest that is why Norris closed up. “He did not lift,” Verstappen is told. 1.7sec the gap again.

Will we see a safety car?

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04:51 PM GMT

Lap 31 of 57 – 0.6sec Norris took from Verstappen last lap

The wing mirror is still in the middle of the track.

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04:50 PM GMT

Lap 30 of 57 – Double waved yellows

Magnussen was going slowly, I think. There’s a wing mirror in the middle of the pit straight. Could this be a VSC? Norris has gained a bit in that Bottas lapping period as Verstappen’s lead is now down to 1.3sec. 

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04:48 PM GMT

Lap 29 of 57 – Magnussen pits from the top 10

He comes out behind Liam Lawson and in 16th. Norris matches Verstappen in the first sector, which is where the Red Bull has been strongest. Loses time in the final sector, which is where the McLaren has been strongest. I think he might just be starting to feel the effect of the dirty air. They are coming up to lap Bottas, though, so that might give him an opportunity.

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04:47 PM GMT

Lap 28 of 57 – Top 10 and gaps

1. VER

2. NOR +1.7

3. PIA +10.3

4. LEC +12.4

5. SAI +16.0

6. PER +25.2

7. HAM +27.2

8. MAG +40.9

9. GAS +42.2

10. ALO +44.5

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04:46 PM GMT

Lap 27 of 57 – Norris takes 0.2sec out of Verstappen on the last lap

That is the most since they began, I think. Verstappen isn’t in traffic so maybe his tyres have gone off a little. But let’s see. I’d say that was a little premature. Russell says the car isn’t turning on fresh hard tyres.

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04:44 PM GMT

Lap 26 of 57 – Will Norris or Verstappen pit first?

How much is the undercut worth? Hard to know Russell’s true pace because he came out in dirty air. He would not have done so had the stop been a normal-length one.

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04:43 PM GMT

Lap 25 of 57 – Verstappen leads Norris by 1.8sec

Status quo at the front, pretty much though Norris was marginally quicker the last time around. Hamilton has dropped a second to Perez in the last seven or eight laps.

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04:42 PM GMT

Lap 24 of 47 – Hamilton asks if his car is broken

“Just underbalanced,” he is told. Not sure how many positions Russell will lose with that slow stop, possibly even more than one to Piastri. The Ferraris might be ahead after they step.

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04:41 PM GMT

Lap 23 of 57 – Verstappen just edging out his lead

A smidgen over two seconds here. Piastri is closing in on Russell but Russell has been todl to pit to, I assume, avoid the Piastri undercut.

Unfortunately it is a painfully slow stop which will almost certainly hand the position to Piastri. Seven seconds he was stationary… ouch.

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04:40 PM GMT

Lap 22 of 57 – Let me run through the maths on that, Tom

Norris would score 26 and Piastri 15 if they gain a position, taking McLaren to 41 for the day with the fastest lap bonus point to Norris. Leclerc is in fifth which is 10 points and Sainz sixth which is eight points, so Ferrari’s total would be 18 points. 18 points to 41 is a 13-point gap today which takes their overall lead to 43, which isn’t quite what McLaren need by my calculations. It’s close though.

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04:37 PM GMT

Lap 21 of 57 – Constructors’ update

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04:36 PM GMT

Lap 20 of 57 – Norris says he’s pushing flat out

Still he cannot break into within 1.7sec of Verstappen. Russell has dropped well back now so this race is becoming a two-horse race, it seems. Bottas gets Tsunoda for 13th. Zhou is the next man up the road, his team-mate.

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04:34 PM GMT

Lap 19 of 57 – Hamilton told he’s lapping quite a bit slower than the leaders

A difficult race for him.

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04:33 PM GMT

Lap 18 of 57 – Another fastest lap by Norris

But the gap is still around 1.7-1.8sec. Verstappen looks to have it in hand though it is difficult to know how much Norris is pushing. Russell has dropped back to 3.8sec off Norris whilst Piastri 1.7sec behind Russell. Hamilton’s five second penalty does not currently lose him any places as Magnussen is more than nine seconds behind.

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04:32 PM GMT

Lap 17 of 57 – Top 10

1. VER

2. NOR +1.6

3. RUS +5.4

4. PIA +6.9

5. LEC +9.3

6. SAI +11.3

7. PER +15.8

8. HAM +17.6

9. MAG +26.2

10. GAS +27.0

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04:31 PM GMT

Lap 16 of 57 – Norris takes more than a tenth out of Verstappen

Norris sets the fastest lap of the race again, but Verstappen then responds with the fastest first sector. Norris is then marginally faster in the middle sector, though, and it has normally been faster in the final sector. That is the case this lap too as Norris takes nearly two tenths out of Verstappen there and sets the fastest lap of the race again.

Might we have a fight emerging for the lead? There isn’t much in it, it could come down to strategy. Probably will to some degree.

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04:28 PM GMT

Lap 15 of 57 – Russell has dropped back from Norris now

2.6sec the gap between him and Norris as Piastri is staying within DRS range but is unable to get by. Norris just staying around two seconds behind Verstappen. Is he biding his time and not getting too close, hoping for a tyre advantage? Normally you would expect him to perhaps drop back if he doesn’t have the pace, though two seconds may just be about enough to save his tyres and stay in touch.

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04:27 PM GMT

Lap 14 of 57 – Five-second time penalty for Hamilton

Hmmm. Another black mark in a difficult year for the seven-time champion.

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04:26 PM GMT

Lap 13 of 57 – Norris takes a tenth out of Verstappen

It has been the trend that the longer the stint the better the McLaren is, relative to its rivals. But let’s see, Verstappen is the one in clean air and that is a great help for tyre life.

And another tenth or so at the end of this lap in Norris’s favour, with the fastest lap of the race.

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04:24 PM GMT

Lap 12 of 57 – Gaps opening up a little in the top six now

Piastri is within DRS range of Russell and Sainz is within DRS range of Leclerc ahead. Verstappen extends his lead over Verstappen to 2.2sec with the fastest race lap.

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04:23 PM GMT

Lap 11 of 57 – Norris sets the fastest lap of the race

It was, however, just 0.001sec faster than Verstappen before you get too excited about a battle for the lead.

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04:21 PM GMT

Lap 10 of 57 – Hamilton noted for a false start

Doesn’t look obvious to me but Hamilton did apologise to his team.

Norris trails by nearly two seconds. Russell is 1.2sec behind him with Piastri on his rear-wing.

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04:19 PM GMT

Lap 9 of 57 – Top 10

1. VER

2. NOR

3. RUS

4. PIA

5. LEC

6. SAI

7. PER

8. HAM

9. TSU

10. MAG

Russell nearly within DRS range of Norris now…

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04:18 PM GMT

Lap 8 of 57 – Verstappen leads Norris by 1.3sec

Stroll looks to be coming into the pit lane to retire with a car too damaged to continue. He picked up a 10-second time penalty for that Albon incident. A poor race in a poor season for the Aston Martin driver. Verstappen is flying in the first sector, as has been the case the last few laps.

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04:17 PM GMT

Lap 7 of 57 – Norris not within DRS range of Verstappen

He did pull a couple of tenths back in the final sector. Piastri within DRS range of Russell for third, though.

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04:16 PM GMT

Lap 6 of 57 – Piastri up one place on the restart

Alonso loses places, whilst Hamilton is up to eighth behind Perez. Verstappen leads Norris by 1.3sec as they head into turn 12. Alonso going backwards, into 12th and complains about “worrying” speed on the straights.

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04:15 PM GMT

Lap 5 of 57 – Race restarts!

Verstappen was never under any threat from Norris there. Piastri had the Ferrari of Leclerc right on his rear wing. Lawson and Stroll have dropped back after running wide and possibly colliding. Norris comes back a bit on Verstappen towards the end of the lap but there is no DRS yet.

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04:13 PM GMT

Lap 4 of 57 – SC in at the end of this lap

Can Norris make a move? Probably not because he gets a bit twitchy at the final corner and finds himself under more pressure from Russell than he pressures Verstappen ahead.

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04:13 PM GMT

Lap 3 of 57 – SC still out there

I do not think we are far off a restart, though. Replays from an onboard on Verstappen’s car, ensured that he had the inside line. Russell did not want to risk a collision and, really, it was Verstappen’s corner at that point.

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04:10 PM GMT

Lap 3 of 57 – Stroll and Albon collide on lap one too

Albon around the outside, Stroll on the inside. Not sure if that will be a penalty for stroll.

Some questions over whether Hamilton has jumped the start though nothing has been noted so far. He is down in ninth from sixth, so not a good start however you look at it.

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04:08 PM GMT

Lap 2 of 57 – Safety Car

Here is the top 10:

1. VER

2. NOR

3. RUS

4. LEC

5. PIA

6. SAI

7. PER

8. ALO

9. HAM

10. TSU

It was a great start from Verstappen and he had the ability, grip and bravado to take and keep the lead. He took the inside line and then kept it. It looked like Norris was going to hang it around the outside at turn two but he backs off.

Hulkenberg cannoned into Ocon who then crashed into Colapinto. Hulkenberg’s fault, certainly. He went too deep on the hard tyres and lost the rear end. Another crash for Williams.

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04:05 PM GMT

THE 2024 QATAR GRAND PRIX IS GO!

Verstappen points his car on second towards Russell and the racing line. They get away and it’s Russell with the marginally better start but the second stage of the start is better for Verstappen and he takes the lead!

Russell runs wide and Norris tries to come back in the second and third corners but Verstappen keeps the lead!

There’s a three-car crash, at least, at the back involving Hulkenberg and Ocon and Colapinto. The latter of two are out with significant damage. Hulkenberg keeps going, though. This will almost certainly be a Safety Car.

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04:01 PM GMT

The formation lap is go

Everyone on mediums apart from Nico Hulkenberg in 18th. Some new, though, like Verstappen. Russell is on used mediums.

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03:59 PM GMT

We are nearly ready to get going

Predictions? Here is my top six:

1. RUS

2. NOR

3. VER

4. PIA

5. LEC

6. SAI

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03:56 PM GMT

Race strategies today

Pirelli predict that it will likely be a one-stop race with a medium to hard switch between lap 19-25. But a two-stop race is also possible going medium-hard-hard. Tyre degradation was a big issue last year but not so much this year.

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03:55 PM GMT

A family affair for the Verstappens

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03:52 PM GMT

About 10 minutes until lights out

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03:48 PM GMT

Is Verstappen fired up?

The thing is Max Verstappen being fired up is often when he’s at his angriest. And we’ve seen that a few times this season. Pole sitter George Russell says yes:

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03:45 PM GMT

Footballers on the grid (again)

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03:43 PM GMT

Christian Horner speaks to Sky Sports F1

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03:42 PM GMT

What can Ferrari do today?

They did everything to talk down their chances this weekend but I don’t think they have been quite as bad as they were making out. Leclerc starts fifth and Sainz is in seventh. I think their race pace will be better than their qualifying pace but they might struggle to make inroads.

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03:38 PM GMT

Starting grid

A little rejig since the end of qualifying yesterday, but here is how they all line up today:

1. RUS 2. VER
3. NOR 4. PIA
5. LEC 6. HAM
7. SAI 8. ALO
9. PER 10. MAG
11. GAS 12. ZHO
13. BOT 14. TSU
15. STR 16. ALB
17. LAW 18. HUL
19. COL 20. OCO

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03:34 PM GMT

Speaking of 2025… here is how the grid looks next season

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03:31 PM GMT

Hamilton on the radio

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03:31 PM GMT

The pit lane is open in Qatar

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03:22 PM GMT

How the 2025 calendar looks

Again it will be a 24-race season with six sprint races. Is 25 possible? F1 is really on the limit at the moment, but I would not be surprised to see that happen. We would need more structured and prolonged breaks, though, even if that means an extended season. Whilst we had an extended autumn break n addition to the usual summer break this year, next year there it is not there.

Things do ease up a little once we get into July with two weekends with no racing between the British and Belgian races before the summer break (three weekends without racing).

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03:16 PM GMT

Current driver standings

Another two points for Nico Hulkenberg takes him to 37 points for the season. In their entire history in F1 only once has a Haas driver scored more points than that over a season.

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03:03 PM GMT

Why Verstappen took a one-place grid penalty

For this, basically.

The critical reason was that he was over the maximum delta time on this lap, which alerted the FIA stewards to it. That he got in the way of Russell was arguably why he was given a penalty and not just a reprimand. In fact, below is the FIA’s full verdict.

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02:55 PM GMT

A reminder of the constructor standings

44 points is the maximum any team can score at the next round in Abu Dhabi so 45 points is the gap McLaren need to win the title this weekend with one round to spare. They currently lead Ferrari by 30 points so would need to increase that by 15.

A 1-2 would give them 43 points which makes the best Ferrari could do 28 points for third and fourth, plus the fastest lap bonus point. 43 minus 28 is 15, so a 1-2 finish would secure it whatever Ferrari do.

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02:51 PM GMT

The FIA’s bloodbath under Ben Sulayem: Who is next?

Read Tom Cary’s full feature here.

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02:45 PM GMT

Full qualifying records 2024

For perspective, before this season Hamilton had only been out-qualified over a season by a team-mate once, in 2014 against Nico Rosberg. And that was 7-12 in the German’s favour. Hamilton hasn’t yet reached seven after 29 qualifying sessions…

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02:40 PM GMT

It was another day where Hamilton was beaten by Russell in qualifying

Drivers who have a worse qualifying record against their team-mate than Hamilton: Oscar Piastri, Zhou Guanyu. It is now 22-6 to Russell across main and sprint qualifying. Next year Hamilton goes up against Charles Leclerc who is renowned as one of the masters over one lap. Mind you, that was the case for Hamilton until this season…

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02:37 PM GMT

Times after qualifying

1. Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1min 20.520secs

2. George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:20.575

3. Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:20.772

4. Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:20.829

5. Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:20.852

6. Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:21.011

7. Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spa) Ferrari 1:21.041

8. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1:21.251

9. Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1:21.425

10. Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:21.500

11. Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:21.437

12. Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Kick Sauber 1:21.501

13. Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Kick Sauber 1:21.731

14. Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) RB 1:21.771

15. Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:21.911

16. Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:22.390

17. Liam Lawson (Nzl) RB 1:22.411

18. Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Haas F1 1:22.442

19. Franco Colapinto (Arg) Williams 1:22.594

20. Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1:22.714

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02:29 PM GMT

Good afternoon

Welcome to our coverage for the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix, the penultimate race of the 2024 Formula One season. Max Verstappen wrapped up the drivers’ championship in Las Vegas last weekend but there is still the small matter of the constructors’ championship to be decided. That could happen this weekend if McLaren leave Qatar with a 45-point advantage over Ferrari.

The Scuderia currently trail McLaren by 30 points after the Woking squad’s 1-2 in the sprint race yesterday. A 1-2 finish in the race today would secure them the championship, which would be their first constructors’ championship since 1998, when Mika Hakkinen won his first drivers’ title.

Will that happen? Well, it looks unlikely. McLaren did look in strong form in qualifying and the race for the sprint but they could only qualify third and fourth yesterday. That was better than Ferrari’s fifth and seventh but it does not suggest they will be running away with this one.

Elsewhere in qualifying, Max Verstappen thought he had taken his first pole position since the Austrian Grand Prix back in June after a superb, and unexpectedly quick, lap in the final part of qualifying. In the end, though, he picked up a highly unusual (and possibly unprecedented) one-place grid penalty for “driving unnecessarily slowly” during Q3, an incident in which he got in the way of George Russell, whose best lap was 0.055sec off pole.

The stewards decided that because neither driver was on a hot lap, but that Russell’s hot lap was likely affected by this incident, then a one-place grid penalty was appropriate. It is slightly odd but does not feel like a terrible outcome. Is it a terrible precedent? We will have to wait and see the implications of drivers getting in the way of one another on preparation laps, then.

As it turned out it means the front row is swapped round and Russell scores his fifth career pole position as he attempts to win his third race of the year and second in a row. He has looked rapid all weekend in fairness, but you wonder whether McLaren might come back into it over a race distance and, indeed, how much of a thorn Verstappen might be.

The race begins at 4pm under lights in Qatar and we will be here for all of the build-up, live race updates and reaction from the race.

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