Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Auto
  3. News

F1 Qatar Grand Prix practice and Sprint Qualifying results

The 2024 Constructors' Championship is still in tight contention

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

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.

Recommended Videos

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
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…
Topics
Maserati refreshes its entire lineup for the 2027 model year
A more powerful engine, a new front end, and several features now available as standard
Maserati's 2027 lineup of vehicles

A new face, a luxury touch on everything you interact with, and a not insignificant power boost to one of the most interesting V6 engines on the planet. These are the highlights of Maserati’s 2027 lineup. Though it’s technically a bit of a mid-cycle refresh, no new vehicles are being released, there are still some notable differences between the upcoming Maseratis and their 2026 equivalents. It’s Maserati’s biggest string of updates since last year’s MCPura launch, with several supercar-inspired tweaks making their way to the likes of the GranTurismo and GranCabrio.

The Maserati GranTurismo and GranCabrio both benefit from an extra 40 horsepower, with the 3-liter V6 Nettuno engine under the hood now pumping out 582 horsepower at its peak. Overall responsiveness of the engine and transmission has been improved too, due to an updated calibration, and the sound-boosting Sportivo exhaust now comes as standard with all ICE Maseratis. Both vehicles, along with the Folgore, also come with a more aggressive front end. The reworked air intakes arguably stand out most on the new fascia, though the large front splitter and “shark nose” styling are both very apparent.

Read more
Mercedes drops new AMG-GLS 63 models to continue iconic philosophy
Mercedes continues the 'one man, one engine' philosophy with new Mercedes AMG-GLS 63 models
Car, Coupe, Sports Car

The cross between a sporty vehicle and the usability of an SUV is the new standard in the car industry. There are some SUVs that excel at that, but the new Mercedes AMG-GLS 63 takes that idea and puts it front and center for the new release. Along with the space and versatility of an SUV, this release brings an updated version of the AMG M177 EVO engine. It brings a bevy of engineering advancements to the vehicle, boasting what they call "future proof." Keeping the hallmark of the luxury DNA intact while also stepping up the performance angle of their SUV portfolio.

Through all of that, they don't forget to include what makes the AMG manufacturing the pinnacle of luxury innovation. Their philosophy for building engines one at a time with one Master Engine Builder.

Read more
Antonelli proves to be human after all as Hamilton takes the win in Barcelona
Hamilton leads an all British F1 podium on Sunday
Auto Racing, Car, Formula One

If you woke up early enough today, you may have been able to catch the Formula 1 Grand Prix that took place in Barcelona today. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is another special entrance into the Formula 1 race schedule for 2026 because, while being in a wonderfully picturesque location, it has been a part of the circuit for three decades. Now, while this is the first year it carries the name of The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, it has been home to a slew of special moments and has landed two big moments yet again this year. First things first, Lewis Hamilton took home his first win on the track. It was his first win in two years, and it did a lot to help Ferrari cut into Mercedes' lead in the standings by ending their win streak. Today also finally brought youngster Kimi Antonelli down to Earth as he failed to finish, along with six other drivers. Antonelli's teammate, George Russell, was able to put Mercedes on the podium, which brings me to the second important thing taking place in today's race. With McLaren's Lando Norris taking third place, the trio of Hamilton, Russell, and Norris gives us the first all-British podium since 1968.

Struggles for Aston Martin continue

Read more