The 2024 Qatar Grand Prix Thread

[cmlean]

This is the place to discuss everything related to the 23rd round of the 2024 season taking place in Qatar between the 29th of November and the 1st of December.

The event timetable for the Qatar Grand Prix.

Friday
Practice 16:30 local time - 13:30 GMT
Sprint Qual 20:30 local time - 17:30 GMT

Saturday
Sprint Race 17:00 local time - 14:00 GMT
Qualifying 21:00 local time - 18:00 GMT

Sunday
Grand Prix 19:00 local time - 16:00 GMT

[cmlean]

FP1

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:21.953	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
2	1:22.378	Lando Norris	  McLaren
3	1:22.425	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
4	1:22.535	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
5	1:23.045	Yuki Tsunoda	  RB
6	1:23.064	Valtteri Bottas	  Sauber
7	1:23.099	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
8	1:23.160	George Russell	  Mercedes
9	1:23.161	Alexander Albon	  Williams
10	1:23.188	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
11	1:23.213	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
12	1:23.227	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
13	1:23.245	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas
14	1:23.562	Liam Lawson	  RB
15	1:23.620	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
16	1:23.715	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
17	1:23.880	Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber
18	1:24.039	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
19	1:24.200	Franco Colapinto  Williams
20	1:24.280	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine

[cmlean]

The refinements to the track have worked! The organizers have taken the savage tops off the kerbs which have allowed the drivers to use the full extents of the racing surface. That and the addition of small gravel traps to make the drivers self monitor track limits has created clearly defined boundaries.

[cmlean]

Sprint Qualifying

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Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:21.012	Lando Norris	  McLaren
2	1:21.075	George Russell	  Mercedes
3	1:21.171	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
4	1:21.281	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
5	1:21.308	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
6	1:21.315	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
7	1:21.474	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
8	1:21.978	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
9	1:22.088	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas
10	1:22.577	Liam Lawson	  RB
11	1:22.433	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
12	1:22.526	Alexander Albon	  Williams
13	1:22.538	Valtteri Bottas	  Sauber
14	1:22.599	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
15	1:22.738	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
16	1:22.718	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
17	1:22.722	Yuki Tsunoda	  RB
18	1:22.906	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
19	1:22.948	Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber
20	1:23.423	Franco Colapinto  Williams

[cmlean]

What a session! Times plummeted compared to the previous visit with pole basically 2 seconds faster compared to the previous pole.
Quite a few drivers had their lap times deleted due to exceeding track limits. Both Oscar Piastri and Liam Lawson lost times however Piastri had one chance to redeem himself and that he did ending in P3. Lando Norris' first run was enough to secure pole as tyres started to lose their initial adhesion on their second runs.

[cmlean]

Sprint

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Pos	Driver		  Team
1	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
2	Lando Norris	  McLaren
3	George Russell	  Mercedes
4	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
5	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
6	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
7	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas
8	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
9	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
10	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
11	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
12	Valtteri Bottas	  Sauber
13	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
14	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
15	Alexander Albon	  Williams
16	Liam Lawson	  RB
17	Yuki Tsunoda	  RB
18	Franco Colapinto  Williams
19	Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber
20	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing

[cmlean]

That was a great job by the McLaren team and Lando Norris.
Lando controlled the race from the from keeping his team mate, Oscar Piastri, within DRS range to protect him from the faster Mercedes of George Russell. Oscar Piastri did his part by passing George Russell around the outside from the start through turn 1. There were a couple of instances that required some robust defence entering turn 1 but, as the race progressed, Norris did his part to keep Russell at bay. McLaren decided prior to the race that, given the right opportunity, the drivers would return the favour given in Brazil and the drivers would swap positions. Lando left it to the last possible moment, reminiscent of other instances that this has occurred during this season.

[cmlean]

Qualifying

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Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:20.520	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
2	1:20.575	George Russell	  Mercedes
3	1:20.772	Lando Norris	  McLaren
4	1:20.829	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
5	1:20.852	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
6	1:21.011	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
7	1:21.041	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
8	1:21.251	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
9	1:21.425	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
10	1:21.500	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
____________________________________________________
11	1:21.437	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
12	1:21.501	Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber
13	1:21.731	Valtteri Bottas	  Sauber
14	1:21.771	Yuki Tsunoda	  RB
15	1:21.911	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
_____________________________________________________
16	1:22.390	Alexander Albon	  Williams
17	1:22.411	Liam Lawson	  RB
18	1:22.442	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas
19	1:22.594	Franco Colapinto  Williams
20	1:22.714	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine

[cmlean]

Red Bull found something between the Sprint race and qualifying.
Both drivers made it through to Q3 with Max taking pole for the first time since Austria.
George Russell continued his good form while McLaren had a small step backwards. That said, they are both starting ahead of the Ferrari drivers which will put McLaren in the prime position to score the majority of the points against their main rivals.

[cmlean]

Race

Code: Select all

Pos	Driver		  Team
1	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
2	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
3	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
4	George Russell	  Mercedes
5	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
6	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
7	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
8	Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber
9	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
10	Lando Norris	  McLaren
11	Valtteri Bottas	  Sauber
12	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
13	Yuki Tsunoda	  RB
14	Liam Lawson	  RB
15	Alexander Albon	  Williams
DNF	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas
DNF	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
DNF	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
DNF	Franco Colapinto  Williams
DNF	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine

Next: Round of Abu Dhabi '24
Date: 6th-8th December 2024