Qatar Formula One Grand Prix 2024: Max Verstappen wins, Oscar Piastri third in Qatar

Victory in Qatar didn’t stop Max Verstappen from taking a swipe at one of his rivals post-race, as Oscar Piastri claimed third in a dramatic race that was flipped by a controversial penalty.

Australia’s Oscar Piastri captured his eighth podium of the Formula One season when he finished third at a dramatic Qatar Grand Prix that was turned upside down by a controversial penalty to his McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen was untroubled in winning Monday morning’s race after being stripped of pole position the day, driving like a man possessed after being infuriated by the actions of his Mercedes rival George Russell.

Demoted to second place on the grid after he was found to have impeded Russell in qualifying, Verstappen overtook the Englishman before the first turn and led the rest of the way to the checkered flag then launched a blistering attack on him at the post-race news conference.

“I have never seen someone who tried to screw the other like that. I have lost all my respect for him,” Verstappen said.

“In front of the cameras, he is very neat, but outside of it, he is a different person. I have nothing to do with that.”

Max Verstappen launched a scathing criticism of George Russell. Picture: AFP

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crossed the line second after Norris was handed a 10-second penalty – dropping Piastri’s teammate from second to 10th position – and the Australian lost a position in the pits when he came for fresh tyres just before the safety car was deployed to clear debris from the track.

“It was a tricky race,” said Piastri. “It was nice to end up on the podium, but not quite the result we were looking for.”

McLaren were on track to clinch the constructors’ championship for the first time since 1998 after Piastri won the sprint race the day before and Norris finished second.

McLaren will now head into next week’s final round in Abu Dhabi leading Ferrari in the race by 21 points with a maximum 44 available. No other team remains in contention for the championship.

“It’s going to be an exciting end to the year I think,“ Piastri said.

“Hopefully we can be strong but it’s going to take everything we’ve got to seal the deal.”

Oscar Piastri finished third in Qatar. Picture: AFP

The McLaren pair looked to be in complete control when they were running second and third late in the race before the delayed intervention of the safety car suddenly changed everything.

For reasons they were not clearly explained, officials allowed the race to continue at full pace even though there was a broken wing mirror from Alex Albon’s Williams car sitting in the middle of the home straight.

It was only when Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz punctured their tyres after Valtteri Bottas ran over mirror and scattered debris over the circuit that stewards finally unfurled the yellow flags, which caught Norris unaware and cost Piastri a place because he pitted to avoid running over the carbon-fibre and glass on the road.

Norris was penalised for failing to slow down during a double yellow flag. Under the rules he had to return to the pits and serve his 10-second penalty, completely ruining his chances of a higher finish and bigger points haul.

“Honestly I don’t know what I did wrong,” Norris said.

“Apparently I didn’t slow under the yellow, I am not an idiot if I saw a yellow I would have slowed down.

“The rule is you have to slow down under the yellow, so it is a fair penalty. An opportunity missed.“

McLaren leads the constructors’ championship by 21 points heading into the last round in Abu Dhabi. Picture: Getty Images

Leclerc said he couldn’t believe the change of fortunes that kept Ferrari in the hunt for the constructors’ championship, which comes with a $273 million prize for the winning team.

“I’m really happy, I mean honestly I would have signed a paper that told me that we will finish second after a weekend like this,” he said.

“Especially on a track like this because our car characteristics is not fitting very well with this track and we knew it was going to be a difficult weekend compared to McLaren but in the end we managed to take some points from them so yeah the fight will be all the way to the last race in Abu Dhabi next week.“

“We are all close, so I think it’s going to be very tight but it’s exciting. 21 points is still a lot and everything is possible, we will give it our all.“

BRIT FUMES AS MCLAREN DOUBLE-ACT HANDS PIASTRI SPRINT WIN

Oscar Piastri won the Qatar Grand Prix sprint for the second year in a row after Lando Norris defied McLaren team orders by repaying the Australian for letting him a win in Brazil last month.

Norris was cruising to victory in the shortened 19-lap sprint race after leading all the way from pole position when he suddenly slowed down just before the finish line to let Piastri slip by and take the checkered flag.

While he was under no obligations to swap positions, Norris returned the same favour Piastri did for him at Sao Paulo four weeks ago when he gave up a certain win to help his English teammate when he was still in the hunt for the drivers’ championship at the time.

“I planned to do it since Brazil. It was probably a little bit sketchy – the team told me not to do it, but I did,” Norris said.

“I don’t mind. It’s only a sprint. I’m here to win grands prix and world championships.”

With Max Verstappen having since secured the drivers’ title, McLaren’s focus now is on trying to win the constructors’ title for the first time since 1998.

Oscar Piastri overtakes his McLaren teammate Lando Norris to win the Qatar Formula One sprint

With Norris finishing second behind Piastri, McLaren secured maximum points from the final sprint of 2024 to extend their championship lead over Ferrari to 30 points with just two more regular races to go, in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

Ferrari could only manage fourth (Charles Leclerc) and fifth (Carlos Sainz) with George Russell finishing third for Mercedes.

“We scored a one-two. That’s what we were aiming for. We’re happy as a team,” Norris said.

“We probably could have pushed a little bit more than I was doing but we wanted to keep the others behind and I was trying to make sure George could not get ahead.”

Piastri, 23, said he was grateful to Norris for gifting him the win after he had been under pressure to hold off Russell after passing him at the getaway.

“There’s been a lot of noise about how we go racing as a team and whether it’s right, mostly whether it’s wrong. but I think we’ve always been very comfortable with how we’ve done things,” Piastri said.

“It’s always been very clear that the team comes first and in some scenarios, that means myself helping Lando. In some scenarios, that means Lando helping me. I think it’s a big strength that we have, that we’re willing and so cooperative with each other.

“If you’ve got both drivers so willing to work together and help each other out, then it’s the best example for the rest of the team, because it’s not just about us two, it’s about the hundreds and thousands of people trying to help us win.”

Not for the first time, Russell was unhappy at his result, complaining that McLaren had conspired against him.

“It was so frustrating every lap Lando Norris backing up and giving Oscar Piastri the DRS,” he said.

“I understand why they did that but when you’re out here and fighting and you want to put on a race for the fans, it was just pretty infuriating.”

Max Verstappen will start the Qatar Grand Prix from pole position

Russell’s mood did not improve when Verstappen then pipped him for pole position, but he cried foul again – and his whining paid off when stewards handed the Dutchman a one-place grid penalty, dropping him back to second while promoting Russell to pole.

Russell accused Verstappen of unfairly impeding when both drivers were preparing for their final flying laps.

Verstappen was just ahead of Russell and driving on the racing line when he slowed down to cool his tyres before his last lap, forcing the Englishman to take evasive action which he later said cost him his chance of bettering Verstappen’s fastest time.

“I ended up going through the gravel all over the floor, so it felt like the floor was scraping over that kerb,” Russell said.

Verstappen, who clinched his fourth world championship in Las Vegas last weekend, was summoned to the stewards, who later found him in breach of the regulations, but did not impose the usual three-place grid penalty as neither driver was on a push-lap.

“The stewards regard this case as a complicated one in that clearly (Verstappen) did not comply with the race director’s event notes and clearly was driving, in our determination, unnecessarily slowly considering the circumstances,” the FIA said in a statement.

“It was obvious (Verstappen) was attempting to cool his tyres. He also could see (Russell) approaching as he looked in his mirror multiple times while on the small straight between Turns 11 and 12.”

The two Mclarens will start on the second row after Norris qualified third and Piastri fourth.

McLaren can seal the constructors’ championship if they gain another 15 points over Ferrari, who qualified fifth and seventh.

Originally published as Qatar Formula One Grand Prix 2024: Max Verstappen wins, Oscar Piastri third in Qatar