2024 Qatar Grand Prix

2024 Qatar Grand Prix
Race 23 of 24 in the 2024 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Layout of the Lusail International Circuit
Race details[1]
Date	1 December 2024 (2024-12-01)
Official name	Formula 1 Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2024
Location	Lusail International Circuit Lusail, Qatar
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.419 km (3.367 miles)
Distance	57 laps, 308.611 km (191.762 miles)
Weather	Clear
Attendance	154,973[2]
Pole position
Driver	George Russell[a]	Mercedes
Time	1:20.575
Fastest lap
Driver	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:22.384 on lap 56 (lap record)
Podium
First	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT
Second	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
Third	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders

The 2024 Qatar Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2024) was a Formula One motor race held on 1 December 2024 at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar. It was the twenty-third and penultimate round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship and the sixth and final Grand Prix weekend of the season to utilise the sprint format.

Lando Norris of McLaren took pole position for the sprint event, and then ceded position to his teammate Oscar Piastri in the closing lap of the sprint. Piastri won his second sprint race ahead of Norris and George Russell of Mercedes; the latter took pole position for the main race after Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing, who set the fastest time in qualifying, was demoted a position due to driving slowly during qualifying. Despite the penalty, Verstappen went on to win the race ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Piastri.

The event was held at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail for the third time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 29 November – 1 December.^[5] The Grand Prix was the twenty-third and penultimate round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship and the third running of the Qatar Grand Prix.^[6] It was also the sixth and final Grand Prix in the season to utilise the sprint format and the second time overall that the Qatar Grand Prix will feature it.^[7]

Going into the weekend, Max Verstappen, who clinched the title at the previous Grand Prix, led the Drivers' Championship with 403 points, 63 points ahead of Lando Norris in second, and 84 ahead of Charles Leclerc in third. McLaren, holding 608 points, entered this round as the leader of the Constructors' Championship from Ferrari and Red Bull Racing, who were second and third with 584 and 555 points, respectively.^[8]

McLaren had an opportunity to secure its ninth World Constructors' Championship title at this event, the first since 1998. At the conclusion of this Grand Prix, there would have been one race left in the 2024 Formula One World Championship, with 44 points still available. McLaren could have won the title if they had outscored Ferrari by at least 20 points, and would not have been outscored by Red Bull Racing by more than 9. The title could not be decided at the end of the sprint.^[9]

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with two exceptions:^[10] Franco Colapinto, who replaced Logan Sargeant at Williams from the Italian Grand Prix onwards, and Liam Lawson, who replaced Daniel Ricciardo at RB from the United States Grand Prix.^[11][12][13]

The Grand Prix marked Esteban Ocon's last race start for Alpine before moving to Haas for 2025. Reserve driver and 2025 signing Jack Doohan is set to replace him for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.^[14]

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C1, C2, and C3 tyre compounds (the three hardest in their range) designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at the event.^[15]

The DRS zone leading in to turn 1 was shortened by 100 metres (330 ft).^[16]

The only free practice session was held on 29 November 2024, at 16:30 local time (UTC+3),^[1] and was topped by Charles Leclerc of Ferrari ahead of Lando Norris of McLaren and his teammate Oscar Piastri.^[17]

Sprint qualifying was held on 29 November 2024, at 20:30 local time (UTC+3), and determined the starting grid order for the sprint.^[1]

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times			Sprint grid
				SQ1	SQ2	SQ3
1	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	1:21.356	1:21.231	1:21.012	1
2	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:22.021	1:21.488	1:21.075	2
3	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	1:22.218	1:21.548	1:21.171	3
4	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	1:21.838	1:21.809	1:21.281	4
5	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:22.156	1:21.818	1:21.308	5
6	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	1:22.033	1:21.784	1:21.315	6
7	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:22.151	1:21.734	1:21.474	7
8	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	1:22.586	1:22.352	1:21.978	8
9	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	1:22.569	1:22.318	1:22.088	9
10	30	Liam Lawson	RB-Honda RBPT	1:22.705	1:22.393	1:22.577	10
11	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	1:22.499	1:22.433	N/A	11
12	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	1:22.705	1:22.526	N/A	12
13	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	1:22.506	1:22.538	N/A	13
14	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	1:22.522	1:22.599	N/A	14
15	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1:22.560	1:22.738	N/A	15
16	11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	1:22.718	N/A	N/A	PL1
17	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB-Honda RBPT	1:22.722	N/A	N/A	16
18	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	1:22.906	N/A	N/A	17
19	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	1:22.948	N/A	N/A	18
20	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams-Mercedes	1:23.423	N/A	N/A	PL1
107% time: 1:27.050
Source:[18][19]

Notes

• ^1 – Sergio Pérez and Franco Colapinto qualified 16th and 20th, respectively, but were required to start the sprint from the pit lane as their cars were modified under parc fermé conditions.^[19]

The sprint was held on 30 November 2024, at 17:00 local time (UTC+3), and was run for 19 laps.^[1]

Sergio Pérez and Franco Colapinto both started from the pit lane due to unauthorised changes to their cars in parc fermé. Lando Norris led into turn 1, with Oscar Piastri narrowly ahead of George Russell. McLaren instructed Norris to keep Piastri within a second of him in order to give Piastri DRS to help him stay ahead of Russell. On lap 10, Charles Leclerc overtook Lewis Hamilton to take fifth place. Zhou Guanyu was forced to box to replace his graining soft tyres, while Pérez would also box for a new front wing.

On the race’s last lap, despite McLaren’s wishing to keep the order, Norris slowed down to let Piastri take the chequered flag first, handing him victory. Norris later clarified he was "returning the favour", after Piastri allowed Norris to overtake him to take a sprint victory in the São Paulo Grand Prix. Russell completed the podium ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr., Leclerc, Hamilton, Nico Hülkenberg and Max Verstappen, who was unable to catch Hülkenberg after being overtaken by him on the first lap.^[20]

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	19	27:03.010	3	8
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	19	+0.136	1	7
3	63	George Russell	Mercedes	19	+0.410	2	6
4	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	19	+1.326	4	5
5	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	19	+5.073	5	4
6	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	19	+5.650	7	3
7	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	19	+8.508	9	2
8	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	19	+10.368	6	1
9	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	19	+14.513	8
10	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	19	+15.485	15
11	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	19	+19.204	11
12	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	19	+23.351	13
13	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	19	+24.421	14
14	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	19	+30.379	17
15	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	19	+33.062	12
16	30	Liam Lawson	RB-Honda RBPT	19	+34.356	10
17	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB-Honda RBPT	19	+35.102	16
18	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams-Mercedes	19	+35.639	PL
19	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	19	+1:11.436	18
20	11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	19	+1:14.371	PL
Fastest lap: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 1:23.923 (lap 18)
Source:[19][21]

Qualifying was held on 30 November 2024, at 21:00 local time (UTC+3), and determined the starting grid order for the main race.^[1]

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times			Final grid
				Q1	Q2	Q3
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	1:21.579	1:20.687	1:20.520	21
2	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:21.241	1:21.069	1:20.575	1
3	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	1:21.578	1:20.983	1:20.772	3
4	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	1:21.821	1:21.121	1:20.829	4
5	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:21.278	1:21.000	1:20.852	5
6	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:21.637	1:21.095	1:21.011	6
7	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	1:21.447	1:21.199	1:21.041	7
8	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	1:21.608	1:21.208	1:21.251	8
9	11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	1:21.675	1:21.425	1:21.425	9
10	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1:21.891	1:21.387	1:21.500	10
11	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	1:21.843	1:21.437	N/A	11
12	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	1:22.103	1:21.501	N/A	12
13	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	1:21.927	1:21.731	N/A	13
14	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB-Honda RBPT	1:22.364	1:21.771	N/A	14
15	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	1:22.011	1:21.911	N/A	15
16	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	1:22.390	N/A	N/A	16
17	30	Liam Lawson	RB-Honda RBPT	1:22.411	N/A	N/A	17
18	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	1:22.442	N/A	N/A	18
19	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams-Mercedes	1:22.594	N/A	N/A	19
20	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	1:22.714	N/A	N/A	20
107% time: 1:26.927
Source:[22][23]

Notes

• ^1 – Max Verstappen set the fastest time in qualifying, but received a one-place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly in Q3.^[23][24]

The race was held on 1 December 2024, at 19:00 local time (UTC+3), and was run 57 laps.^[1]

Max Verstappen won the race having taken the lead from George Russell at the start, ahead of Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri and Russell, who finished fourth despite a five-second penalty for a safety car infringement. Zhou Guanyu finished eighth to score his first points of the year for Sauber. Lando Norris was tenth – he was running second for much of the race before receiving a ten seconds stop and go penalty for ignoring yellow flags. Lewis Hamilton finished 12th after having received a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. The race saw three safety cars. The first was for the lap 1 incident between Nico Hülkenberg, Franco Colapinto and Esteban Ocon, the second to clear debris from Alexander Albon's wing mirror, and the third after Hülkenberg and Sergio Pérez spun off following the end of the second safety car period.^[25]

The result dropped Red Bull out of contention for the World Constructors' Championship that the team had won in the previous two seasons, leaving McLaren and Ferrari with a chance to claim the title in the season finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.^[26]

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	57	1:31:05.323	2	25
2	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	57	+6.031	5	18
3	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	57	+6.819	4	15
4	63	George Russell	Mercedes	57	+14.1041	1	12
5	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	57	+16.782	11	10
6	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	57	+17.476	7	8
7	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	57	+19.867	8	6
8	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	57	+25.360	12	4
9	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	57	+32.177	10	2
10	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	57	+35.762	3	22
11	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	57	+50.243	13
12	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	57	+56.122	6
13	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB-Honda RBPT	57	+1:01.100	14
14	30	Liam Lawson	RB-Honda RBPT	57	+1:02.656	17
15	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	56	+1 lap	16
Ret	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	39	Spun off	18
Ret	11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	38	Clutch	9
Ret	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	8	Collision damage	15
Ret	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	0	Collision	20
Ret	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams-Mercedes	0	Collision	19
Fastest lap: Lando Norris (McLaren-Mercedes) – 1:22.384 (lap 56)
Source:[23][27][28][29]

Notes

• ^1 – George Russell received a five-second time penalty for falling more than ten car lengths behind the safety car. His final position was not affected by the penalty.^[27]
• ^2 – Includes one point for fastest lap.^[28]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
• Competitor marked in bold and with an asterisk is the 2024 World Drivers Champion.

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