Key events
Tour 13/57: On Norris’ radio, we hear his team say that Verstappen’s tires are in the same condition as his and Russell’s are slightly worse.
Tour 12/57: Magnussen overtakes Tsunoda.
Tour 11/57: Norris now has the fastest lap, but Verstappen is still just under two seconds ahead of him.
Tour 10/57: Stroll has officially retired. He rejoined so he could serve the 10-second penalty so it wouldn’t affect him in a future race.
Tour 9/57: Hamilton has now officially been flagged for a false start. This is usually a five second penalty. Replay shows it was tight and he apologizes on the radio. It is currently in 8th place.
Tour 8/57: Alonso is not happy. He swears on the radio, saying he’s having trouble on the lines. And an incident for him was noted for re-engaging the track unsafely. There may be problems because of this.
Tour 7/57: Huge differences between Verstappen, Norris and Russell. Stroll retired but then rejoined the race.
Round 6/57: Lawson spins as he tries to pass Bottas. Lawson lost traction and began to spin.
Tour 5/57: Verstappen opens the gap between him and Norris.
Piastri runs fourth from Leclerc – big for McLaren’s chances of securing the constructors’ championship today.
Tour 4/57: The safety car ends… we only had about half a lap of the race but here we are.
Tour 3/57: The safety car is still out. There are murmurs on the net about Hamilton and whether he made a false start, but nothing official yet.
Hugh contact via email:
That was weak of Lando. The roles were reversed and Verstappen, quite rightly, would cut across him on the straight and take the inside at Turn 1. Too polite.
I’m still confused as to why he pulled away! Did you feel something in your car? Or he thought Verstappen would push him away. Very strange.
Round 2/57: The safety car remains out as we catch some replays of the crashes and race leaders.
Norris looked to creep up first in turn one, but dropped back a bit as Verstappen passed. Stroll had to pit to change tyres.
Tour 1/57: Russell is on the outside line to start. The temperature on the track is only 23 C, much lower than previous years. Verstappen surged into the lead into the first corner and Norris moved into second. The safety car comes out after Colapinto and Ocon, the 16th crash for Williams this season. Hulkenberg also had an accident and he continued but his rim popped off his car.
The race for the Qatar Grand Prix begins
They’re leaving for the formation tour! We are underway on the Lusail International Runway.
We are minutes away from lights out at Lusail. We have just heard about the national anthem performed by the Qatar Music Academy Choir.
Here is our starting grid.
-
George Russell – Mercedes
-
Max Verstappen – Red Bull
-
Lando Norris – McLaren
-
Oscar Piastri – McLaren
-
Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
-
Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
-
Carlos Sainz – Ferrari
-
Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin
-
Sergio Perez – Red Bull
-
Kevin Magnussen – Haas
-
Pierre Gasly – Alpine Renault
-
Zhou Guanyu – Sauber
-
Valtteri Bottas – Sauber
-
Yuki Tsunoda – RB Honda
-
Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
-
Alexander Albon – Williams
-
Liam Lawson – RB Honda
-
Nico Hulkenberg – Haas
-
Franco Colapinto – Williams
-
Esteban Ocon – Alpine Renault
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told Sky Sports that George Russell was driving at high speed during the sprint and likened him to “a footballer diving in the box”.
“I’m not quite sure why we ended up with a one-place penalty, but if Max needed extra motivation, she gave it to him. He’s wired for it.
Our first email of the day! Louise writes:
What are your thoughts on Verstappen’s punishment? Both Verstappen and Russell were on a “slow” lap. Usually you’ll try to get some fresh air in front of you right before you start a fast lap. You can see there is another driver in front of Verstappen and Russell is speeding. This seems to be the race engineers fault for not telling them what happened rather than the drivers fault? Verstappen said he was preparing his fast lap and suddenly saw Russell on his tail.
The other driver was Fernando Alonso and you are right, he was going at the same speed. Verstappen kept the same distance through both corners, he didn’t just decide to stop to the right while going into the corner. It’s certainly strange and I think that’s why they reduced Verstappen’s penalty. Normally this situation would be a three place grid penalty.
McLaren could win its first constructors’ title since 1998. today if:
-
They lead Ferrari by 15 or more points if they don’t win the race or ahead of Ferrari by 14 points if they win the race.
-
Not to be outscored by Red Bull by 23 or more points.
A look back at how Verstappen became champion in 2024.
Max Verstappen spoke to Sky Sports about qualifying and his punishment:
The qualification was very positive. The car seems to be running a little better. I hope that in the race we will be competitive and fight in front positions.
We will try to fight for the victory. I’m one place behind, but let’s see how it goes.
Ben Sulayem: How the FIA is run is none of your business
This was said by the president of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem Formula one drivers to mind their own business after questioning where money from racing fines was going and why senior figures had left the governing body.
In an interview ahead of today’s race, Ben Sulayem suggested the drivers stick to what they know best.
“Should we tell them? When something in the teams changes, do they tell us?” Ben Sulayem said when asked about the surprise departure of race director Nils Wittich ahead of last weekend’s title-deciding Las Vegas Grand Prix. “We have rules, we follow our rules. We don’t follow other people’s rules. Just like that.
Wittich said he had not resigned and the FIA had not given a public explanation for why he suddenly left, other than to say it was to seek new opportunities. The media reported that he had been fired.
Mercedes driver George Russell, director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), said on Thursday that drivers wanted clarity and an understanding of “what’s going on and who’s going to be fired next”.
Ben Sulayem, a former rally driver who was elected as head of the FIA in 2021, responded: “Do we tell them how to drive? Do we tell them what to have as their strategy? It’s none of their business. Sorry… I’m a driver. I respect drivers. Let them go and concentrate on what they do best, which is racing.
The GPDA issued a landmark statement last month, in response to the FIA’s anti-swearing measures, in which they asked Ben Sulayem to treat them like adults and mind their own language with them.
They also called for financial transparency and said all stakeholders, including drivers and teams, should jointly determine how and where fine money is spent – with some suggesting it could help fund professional stewards.
“They talk and then they say, where do you put the money? Why don’t we do this? I’m not saying, ‘Oh, sorry, are you?'” Ben Sulayem said. “Drivers cover 100 meters. Shall I ask where they spend it? No. It depends on them. That is their right… we do what we do with the money. This is our job. So is their money with them. That’s their job.”
Ben Sulayem said the drivers had his mobile number and he had nothing to hide. He said he “lives for free” in the brains of critics in the media and doesn’t need them, nor does he care what people say. He also rejected any suggestion that the FIA was in crisis and suffering from staff leaving under his leadership.
Despite its “none of your business” stance, the emirate later said 10.3 million euros had been invested in grassroots single-seater races last year.
“Do you really think I would waste the money? This is not commercial. This is the members’ money and I was elected to look after it,” he said. He added that 64 officials had joined the FIA in 2023. and 92 in 2024. “I have been chosen to fix the FIA. and I fix it. I am very pleased with our new team. Very happy. I inherited FIA with an operating cost of €23 million. And where is he now? This will be the first year we are in the red.” Reuters
Preamble
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen may already be our 2024 Formula one champion, but the battle for second place in the drivers’ standings and top honors in the constructors’ standings is still very much alive in the penultimate race of the season.
Mercedes’ George Russell will start from pole position in Qatar after Verstappen received a one-place grid penalty for tripping during qualifying. In the final laps of qualifying, Verstappen slowed down in sector three, forcing Russell onto the gravel.
Verstappen’s alleged offense was “unnecessarily slow driving” and after Russell gave his version of events, the decision was announced more than three hours after the end of the session.
It wouldn’t be F1 without drama, would it?
Verstappen’s points total is 404 points. Second is Lando Norris of McLaren with 347 points and third is Charles Leclerc of Ferrari with 323 points.
In constructors, McLaren leads with 623 points. Ferrari is second with 593 points and Red Bull is third with 556 points.
As always, if you have any thoughts, questions, predictions, complaints or jokes you’d like to share, then send me an email.
