This weekend is the next-to-last race in the 2024 F1 Grand Prix season. Qatar is in the desert in the Middle East, and the race events all happen at night when the temperatures aren’t as hot as during the day.
The Qatar Grand Prix is a Sprint race, one of only six in the 24-race season. That means there’s an additional, shorter race on Saturday before the Grand Prix Qualifying event and Sunday’s Grand Prix. Drivers (and their teams) can score up to eight Championship points that count for Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships in the Sprint race.
What to watch for in the Qatar Grand Prix
Max Verstappen won the 2024 F1 Drivers’ World Championship at last week’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, but exciting competitive races remain.
Drivers’ Championship
Max won the crown for the season, his fourth consecutive Championship, but the competition for second place is still tight, and it may foretell Max’s biggest threats for the 2025 season. Verstappen will undoubtedly continue to rack up points, but the fight for second place is between McLaren’s Lando Norris, currently with 340 points, and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who has 319 points.
Constructors’ Championship
The fight for the Constructor’s title is still tight. McLaren has 608 points, Ferrari has 584, and Red Bull has 555. Red Bull’s only hope to win the team crown is for both drivers, Verstappen and Sergio Perez, to finish in the top three places for both races and for McLaren and Ferrari to falter. That scenario is unlikely because Perez has had a dismal season (more on that below) plus McLaren’s Norris and Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have been strong all season.
Ferrari has a more realistic chance of beating McLaren than Red Bull, but only if both Ferrari drivers outscore both McLaren drivers in the Qatar race and next week at Abu Dhabi. The only definitive answer possible this week would be if McLaren outscored Ferrari by enough that Ferrari couldn’t win even with a total sweep at Abu Dhabi.
Constructors’s mid-range
Mercedes is locked on fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship for this season. Four teams are competing for positioning in the mid-range, however. Aston Martin, Haas, Alpine, and RB Honda are in close competition, and it will continue to be interesting to see who will prevail.
Drivers in jeopardy
As mentioned, Red Bull’s second driver, Sergio Perez, has had a frustrating and disappointing season. Red Bull is one of the top teams, but this year, it has only been able to count on Max Verstappen for an appreciable amount of points. McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes have benefitted from strong performances from both team drivers. Perez had a contract renewal early in the season, but his fate may depend on his performance in the last two races.
Sprint Qualifying results
The Sprint Qualifying event results determine the Sprint race’s starting positions. Here are the results:
| Starting Grid Position | Driver | Team |
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes |
| 3 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas |
| 10 | Liam Lawson | RB Honda |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin |
| 12 | Alex Albon | Williams |
| 13 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber |
| 14 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin |
| 15 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas |
| 16 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull |
| 17 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda |
| 18 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine |
| 19 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber |
| 20 | Franco Colapinto | Williams |
