Verstappen victory, Ferrari still believes in the world title

Max Verstappen won the Qatar Grand Prix ahead of Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri. The race was marked by multiple interventions by the safety car as well as the penalty imposed on Lando Norris. Guanyu Zhou offers the first points of the season to Sauber, Pierre Gasly brilliant fifth restores sixth place in the Constructors' Championship to Alpine.

A turbulent start to Qatar

At the start, George Russell was overtaken in the first corner by Max Verstappen as well as by Lando Norris! Behind, Nico Hülkenberg, Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto caught on during the first braking, causing the safety car to enter the track and the Frenchman and the Argentinian to retire. In the first lap, there was also a collision between Lance Stroll and Alex Albon.

We therefore found behind the safety car, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz. Bad start for Lewis Hamilton who found himself in ninth position even though he started from the sixth mark on the starting grid.

The race was restarted at the start of the fifth lap. At the first corner, Oscar Piastri overtook the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, moving into fourth position. Yuki Tsunoda was the driver who made the best start to the race by gaining five positions, allowing him to move up to ninth place.

The Japanese driver, however, was overtaken by Kevin Magnussen, after a sublime maneuver. The RB driver then saw Pierre Gasly's pink Alpine return in his mirrors. At the same time, race management was examining Lewis Hamilton's possible false start. The stewards ultimately gave the Mercedes driver a five-second penalty.

Pierre Gasly, in turn, passed Yuki Tsunoda's RB to enter the points zone. Another superb maneuver, with a nice overtake from the outside at turn 1. The Japanese's pace subsequently collapsed, overtaken in quick succession by Alonso and Zhou.

For his part, Pierre Gasly fought to get back on the Haas of Kevin Magnussen, ninth in the race. The two teams are currently competing for sixth place in the constructors' standings.

By the twentieth lap of the race, the top 10 consisted of Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Piastri, Leclerc, Sainz, Pérez, Hamilton, Magnussen and Gasly.

Read also: The F1 starting grid for the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix

Is there anyone in the race director's office?

The first lead driver to stop was George Russell, but all did not go well. The Briton was stuck in his pit for seven seconds, costing him dearly on the track.

On the 31st lap of the race, the drivers preferred to stay on the track with the medium tires rather than switching to the hard tires which seemed not to work.

While a piece of the mirror had been in the middle of the track for several laps, the race direction was probably asleep. Valtteri Bottas was unable to avoid the piece of carbon throwing debris everywhere on the straight. Consequence… puncture for Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz.
The safety car once again entered the track, this time removing carbon debris. Max Verstappen still led the race ahead of Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Sergio Pérez, Pierre Gasly, George Russell, Carlos Sainz, Guanyu Zhou and Fernando Alonso. A Sauber in the points, will the Swiss firm finally score points in 2024?

Lando Norris heavily penalized

On the restart Lando Norris went to put pressure on Max Verstappen without finding the opening. Behind, Pierre Gasly almost had a strike at the first corner while trying to delay his braking. For his part, Sergio Pérez lost control of his car, just before the restart of the race, retirement for the Mexican driver. The safety car returns to the track to give the track marshals time to remove the Red Bull of Pérez as well as the Haas of Nico Hülkenberg.

Max Verstappen once again restarted the race, this time keeping Norris' McLaren in his mirrors. At the same time, Lando Norris received a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for failing to slow down under the checkered flag.

Verstappen wins in Qatar

With ten laps to go, Max Verstappen led the Grand Prix ahead of Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri. Pierre Gasly was fifth, Guanyu Zhou, eighth! The ordeal continued for Lewis Hamilton who received a drive through penalty for exceeding the minimum speed in the pit lane. When serving his penalty, the seven-time World Champion even mentioned the idea of ​​retiring the car.

Starting last after his penalty, Lando Norris put together the best laps to get back into the points zone.

Max Verstappen took the checkered flag first at the Qatar Grand Prix, winning ahead of Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri. Guanyu Zhou took Sauber's first points of the season, while Pierre Gasly, who scored a brilliant fifth place, helped Alpine regain sixth position in the constructors' standings.

2024 Qatar Grand Prix results