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. Russell 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. This was the last race where the fastest lap point was awarded after being reintroduced for the 2019 season.
Despite Verstappen winning the Grand Prix, Red Bull were mathematically eliminated from championship contention, leaving McLaren and Ferrari as the remaining title contenders heading into the final round in Abu Dhabi, with McLaren leading on 640 points, 21 ahead of Ferrari as 44 points to score. McLaren needed 22 points in the final race to win their first Constructors' title since (in case that Ferrari would fail to set the fastest lap).
Background 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. 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. 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.
Championship standings before the race 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.
Championship permutations McLaren had an opportunity to secure its ninth World Constructors' Championship title at this event, the first since . 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.
Entrants
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with two exceptions: 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.
The Grand Prix marked Esteban Ocon's last race start for Alpine, as he was required by the team to exit one race early so he could drive for Haas in the post-season test in anticipation for their campaign together. Reserve driver and 2025 signing Jack Doohan was called up to replace him for the .
Tyre choices
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.
Track changes The DRS zone leading in to turn 1 was shortened by .
Practice The only free practice session was held on 29 November 2024, at 16:30 local time (UTC+3), and was topped by Charles Leclerc of Ferrari ahead of Lando Norris of McLaren and his teammate Oscar Piastri.
Sprint qualifying Sprint qualifying was held on 29 November 2024, at 20:30 local time (UTC+3), and determined the starting grid order for the sprint. Sprint qualifying classification DriverConstructorSprintgridSQ1SQ2SQ314 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1:21.3561:21.2311:21.0121263 George RussellMercedes1:22.0211:21.4881:21.0752381 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1:22.2181:21.5481:21.1713455 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari1:21.8381:21.8091:21.2814516 Charles LeclercFerrari1:22.1561:21.8181:21.308561 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:22.0331:21.7841:21.3156744 Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:22.1511:21.7341:21.4747810 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault1:22.5861:22.3521:21.9788927 Nico HülkenbergHaas-Ferrari1:22.5691:22.3181:22.08891030 Liam LawsonRB-Honda RBPT1:22.7051:22.3931:22.577101114 Fernando Alonso1:22.4991:22.433N/A111223 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes1:22.7051:22.526N/A121377 Valtteri BottasKick Sauber-Ferrari1:22.5061:22.538N/A131418 Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco-Mercedes1:22.5221:22.599N/A141520Haas-Ferrari1:22.5601:22.738N/A151611 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:22.718N/AN/A1722 Yuki TsunodaRB-Honda RBPT1:22.722N/AN/A161831 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault1:22.906N/AN/A171924 Zhou GuanyuKick Sauber-Ferrari1:22.948N/AN/A182043 Franco ColapintoWilliams-Mercedes1:23.423N/AN/A107% time: 1:27.050Source: Notes – 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.
Sprint The sprint was held on 30 November 2024, at 17:00 local time (UTC+3), and was run for 19 laps.
Sprint report 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.
Sprint classification DriverConstructorTime/RetiredPoints181 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1927:03.0103824 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes19 +0.13617363 George RussellMercedes19 +0.41026455 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari19 +1.32645516 Charles LeclercFerrari19 +5.07354644 Lewis HamiltonMercedes19 +5.65073727 Nico HülkenbergHaas-Ferrari19 +8.5089281 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT19 +10.36861910 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault19 +14.51381020Haas-Ferrari19 +15.485151114 Fernando Alonso19 +19.204111277 Valtteri BottasKick Sauber-Ferrari19 +23.351131318 Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco-Mercedes19 +24.421141431 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault19 +30.379171523 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes19 +33.062 121630 Liam Lawson RB-Honda RBPT19 +34.356 101722 Yuki TsunodaRB-Honda RBPT19 +35.102 161843 Franco ColapintoWilliams-Mercedes19 +35.6391924 Zhou GuanyuKick Sauber-Ferrari19 +1:11.436182011 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT19 +1:14.371Fastest lap: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 1:23.923 (lap 18)Source:
Qualifying Qualifying was held on 30 November 2024, at 21:00 local time (UTC+3), and determined the starting grid order for the main race. Qualifying classification DriverConstructorQ1Q2Q311 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:21.5791:20.6871:20.5202263 George RussellMercedes1:21.2411:21.0691:20.575134 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1:21.5781:20.9831:20.7723481 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1:21.8211:21.1211:20.8294516 Charles LeclercFerrari1:21.2781:21.0001:20.8525644 Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:21.6371:21.0951:21.0116755 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari1:21.4471:21.1991:21.0417814 Fernando Alonso1:21.6081:21.2081:21.2518911 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:21.6751:21.4251:21.42591020Haas-Ferrari1:21.8911:21.3871:21.500101110 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault1:21.8431:21.437N/A111224 Zhou GuanyuKick Sauber-Ferrari1:22.1031:21.501N/A121377 Valtteri BottasKick Sauber-Ferrari1:21.9271:21.731N/A131422 Yuki TsunodaRB-Honda RBPT1:22.3641:21.771N/A141518 Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco-Mercedes1:22.0111:21.911N/A151623 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes1:22.390N/AN/A161730 Liam LawsonRB-Honda RBPT1:22.411N/AN/A171827 Nico HülkenbergHaas-Ferrari1:22.442N/AN/A181943 Franco ColapintoWilliams-Mercedes1:22.594N/AN/A192031 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault1:22.714N/AN/A20107% time: 1:26.927Source: Notes – Max Verstappen set the fastest time in qualifying, but received a one-place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly in Q3.
Race The race was held on 1 December 2024, at 19:00 local time (UTC+3), and was run 57 laps. Race report 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 (and Sauber's only points finish of the season). Lando Norris was tenth – he was running second for much of the race before receiving a ten second 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.
Despite Verstappen's victory, Red Bull dropped 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.
Race classification DriverConstructorTime/RetiredPoints1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 57 1:31:05.323 2 252 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 57 +6.031 5 183 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 57 +6.819 4 154 63 George Russell Mercedes 57 +14.104 1 125 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 57 +16.782 11 10655 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 57 +17.4767 8714 Fernando Alonso 57 +19.867868 24 Zhou Guanyu 57 +25.360 124920 Haas-Ferrari 57 +32.17710 2104 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes57 +35.762321177 Valtteri Bottas 57 +50.243131244 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes57 +56.12261322 Yuki Tsunoda RB-Honda RBPT 57 +1:01.100141430 Liam Lawson RB-Honda RBPT57 +1:02.656171523 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes56 +1 lap16 27 Nico Hülkenberg Haas-Ferrari 39 Spun off18 11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 38 Clutch9 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 8 15 31 Alpine-Renault 0 Collision20 43 Franco Colapinto Williams-Mercedes 0 Collision 19Fastest lap: Lando Norris (McLaren-Mercedes) – 1:22.384 (lap 56)Source: Notes – 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. – Includes one point for fastest lap.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points1 Max Verstappen4292 Lando Norris3493 Charles Leclerc3414 Oscar Piastri2915 Carlos Sainz Jr.272Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Constructor Points1 McLaren-Mercedes*6402 Ferrari*6193 Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT5814 Mercedes446592Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.