Formula 1’s final fortnight of the season brings the circus back to the Middle East. While the Drivers' title is now decided, with Max Verstappen crowned champion for the fourth consecutive year, the battle for the Constructors' title is far from over. With 103 points still up for grabs, McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull remain in contention, making every point crucial.

The last back-to-back races of what is the longest Formula 1 season in history begin in Qatar, marking the sixth Grand Prix weekend to feature the Sprint format this year. Doha and Las Vegas are separated by 13,000 kilometers (as the crow flies) and an 11-hour time difference. Both events are night races held near large deserts, but the similarities end there. In Nevada, drivers contended with a street circuit featuring medium-to-low-speed corners, with air and track temperatures barely exceeding 50°F (10°C). In contrast, Qatar’s Grand Prix is run on a permanent circuit with medium-to-high-speed corners and ambient temperatures hovering around 77°F +(25°C).

This is the third edition of the Qatar Grand Prix, following previous events held in 2021 and 2023.

FRIDAY

The one and only free practice session saw most drivers focusing on the Medium and Soft compounds. Exceptions included the Ferrari and Williams drivers, who opted to use one of their two available sets of Hards.

It was windy throughout the day, although the wind gradually weakened as time went on. Conditions were unusual for this region, with temperatures around 20 degrees lower than last year.

Lando Norris secured pole position in Sprint Qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix. The McLaren driver was fastest in all three segments, adhering to regulations requiring the Medium compound for the first two sessions and the Soft for the third. His lap time of 1:21.012 was 2.766 seconds faster than last year’s pole and close to Hamilton’s 1:20.827 pole lap from 2021. This marks Norris’ third Sprint pole since the format’s introduction in 2021, while McLaren now has five. Max Verstappen leads this category with nine poles from 18 sessions.

SATURDAY

For the Sprint race, 19 of the 20 drivers started on Medium tires, the sole exception being Guanyu Zhou, who lined up on Softs before switching to the C2 compound after 10 laps. Starting from the pit lane, Franco Colapinto and Sergio Perez began their races under challenging circumstances.

After the 19-lap Sprint was completed, it was a McLaren 1-2 finish. Lando Norris voluntarily let his teammate Oscar Piastri pass within sight of the checkered flag after supporting the Australian throughout the race by keeping him within DRS distance, allowing Piastri to defend against George Russell in the Mercedes, who finished third.

With no parc fermé conditions between the Sprint and Qualifying sessions, teams were free to modify their setups and car configurations to optimize performance. This appeared to shake up the hierarchy, with Red Bull reclaiming its dominance. After finishing eighth in the Sprint—his worst-ever result in the short race format—Max Verstappen rebounded by securing pole position for the Grand Prix, narrowly edging out Russell by just 55 thousandths of a second: 1:20.520 for the Dutchman and 1:20.575 for the Briton.

However, the Red Bull driver later received a one-place grid penalty after the Stewards determined he had driven unnecessarily slowly on a cooldown lap during Q3. This penalty means Verstappen will still start on the front row, but Russell will lead from pole.

The McLaren duo settled for the second row, with Norris ahead of Piastri. Both drivers outqualified Ferrari's contenders in the Constructors’ title battle, with Charles Leclerc starting fifth and Carlos Sainz seventh. Lewis Hamilton split the Ferraris, securing sixth.

This marked Verstappen’s first pole position since the Austrian Grand Prix, ensuring he finishes the season as the leader in pole positions with nine. Second-placed Norris, on seven, can no longer overtake him. Verstappen, a four-time world champion, will receive the 2024 Pirelli Pole Position Award next Sunday at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. This was Max’s 41st career pole, and Red Bull Racing’s 105th.

SUNDAY

It was a hectic and somewhat chaotic night race at Losail. Lando Norris had a great start, challenging Max Verstappen from the beginning, until he was hit with a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for failing to slow under yellow flags, almost costing him the race. After serving his penalty, Norris rejoined at the back of the field but managed to fight his way into the points, eventually finishing tenth.

In a separate incident, Lewis Hamilton received a double penalty: first, a five-second penalty for a false start, followed by a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

The Safety Car made three appearances during the race. In the last two instances, the reduced pit-stop time prompted Williams and Racing Bulls to gamble on the Soft tires. However, this strategy backfired as the track's characteristics caused the C3 compound to suffer significant performance drops.

Max Verstappen claimed his ninth win of the season in what turned out to be a dramatic Qatar Grand Prix, particularly in the second half. The Dutchman seized the lead at the first corner, overtaking George Russell (Mercedes), and maintained his position all the way to the checkered flag. Joining him on the podium were Charles Leclerc in second for Ferrari and Oscar Piastri in third for McLaren.

This marked Verstappen’s 63rd career win and his second victory in three editions of this Grand Prix. For Red Bull, it was their 122nd win. Meanwhile, Piastri earned his tenth podium finish from 45 race starts.

Zhou Guanyu was voted Driver of the Day by the F1.com fans, and deservingly so after finishing 8th and getting his and Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber’s first points of the season!

NEXT STOP: ABU DHABI 🇦🇪

Excerpts of this article provided by Pirelli S.p.A.