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Surprise finishes for the F1 2024 Qatar Grand Prix Sprint and Qualifying event

Norris returned a favor, even though the team told him not to do it.

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Formula 1 race cars during the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix.
Courtesy of Formula 1

The F1 2024 Qatar Grand Prix Sprint race on November 30, 2024, and the  Qualifying event for the December 1 Grand Prix were both competitive with unexpected finishes. McLaren driver Lando Norris moved aside to let teammate Oscar Piastri finish first in the Sprint race, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen surprised everyone, including himself, when he won the pole position in the Grand Prix starting grid.

Qatar Sprint race results

Only six of the 24 Grand Prix races in 2024 were scheduled to include Sprint races. F1 includes Sprint races to add excitement to the weekend and give the drivers and teams a chance to pick up extra Championship points. The first eight finishers win sprint race points. The winner gets eight points, and each successive finisher gets one less. The driver who comes in eighth then gets one point.

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In Saturday’s Sprint race, McLaren’s Lando Norris was leading when, just before crossing the finish line, he slowed down, moved over, and allowed teammate Oscar Piastri to win.

Earlier in the season in Brazil, Piastri had done the same thing for Norris, letting the other McLaren driver win the Sprint to get the extra point when Norris was in contention with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to win the Drivers’ Championship. Since Verstappen tied up the Championship at the Las Vegas Grand Prix last weekend, Norris no longer needed the extra point and returned the favor.

The following table lists the finishing positions and points earned by the first eight drivers in the Qatar Sprint race.

Finish position Driver Team Championship Points
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 8
2 Lando Norris McLaren 7
3 George Russell Mercedes 6
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 5
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 4
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 3
7 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 2
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1

Qatar Grand Prix Qualifying positions

Max Verstappen and fellow Red Bull driver Sergio Perez had issues with their cars earlier in the week and during the Sprint race, but adjustments between the Sprint race certainly turned the situation around. Verstappen handily won the three-stage Qualifying event, which put him in the pole position in the starting grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix. Perez will start in ninth position.

The following table has the starting grid positions for Sunday’s 2024 Qatar Grand Prix.

Grand Prix starting grid position Driver Team
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull
2 George Russell Mercedes
3 Lando Norris McLaren
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
7 Carlos Sainz Ferrari
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin
9 Sergio Perez Red Bull
10 Kevin Magnussen Haas
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine
12 Zhou Guanyu Sauber
13 Valtteri Bottas Sauber
14 Yuki Tsunoda RB Honda
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin
16 Alex Albon Williams
17 Liam Lawson RB Honda
18 Nico Hulkenberg Haas
19 Franco Colapinto Williams
20 Esteban Ocon Alpine
Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown
Former Contributing Editor
Bruce Brown Contributing Editor   As a Contributing Editor to the Auto teams at Digital Trends and TheManual.com, Bruce…
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