Skip to main content

F1 Qatar Grand Prix practice and Sprint Qualifying results

The 2024 Constructors' Championship is still in tight contention

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
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A Digital Trends Contributing Editor and Contributor for TheManual.com, Bruce Brown writes e-mobility reviews and covers…
F1 Miami Grand Prix 2025 preview: bright livery and hot competition
McLaren looks to hold onto the top positions in the 2025 Miami Grand Prix
The first Gordon Ramsay F1 Garage in 2025 with be at the Miami Grand Prix

Formula 1 is in Miami for the sixth race of the 2025 F1 Grand Prix schedule. The Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix is one of the six Sprint races of the year, with the shorter Sprint race on Saturday, June 3 at noon E.T.  and the Grand Prix scheduled to start at 4:00 PM Sunday.
The Miami Grand Prix circuit

The 3.36-mile Miami International Autodrome is set up each year at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Running for 57 laps, the Grand Prix is 191.6 miles long. It's a street circuit, laid out around the stadium for the first time in 2022. There are three Drag Reduction System (DRS) zones to enhance passing opportunities, featuring three straights, 19 corners, and significant elevation changes.

Read more
Feel the speed: F1 X brings legendary F1 race cars to Las Vegas Grand Prix Plaza
In F1 X, fans use interactive tools to design and construct an F1 race car.
Aston Martin AMR23 at F1 X in Grand Prix Plaza in Las Vegas.

When the Las Vegas Grand Prix Plaza officially opens its doors on May 2, the massive F1 X interactive exhibit will feature three of the most famed race cars in F1's 75-year history. None of the cars has been displayed previously in North America.

Spanning 20,000 square feet, F1 X provides guests with numerous opportunities to immerse themselves in F1. Among the activations available at F1 X, fans will learn about the workings of F1 today, including experiencing F1 simulator seats and spending time on an interactive pit wall, listening to virtual race engineers converse and strategize on team radios.
An iconic race car sampler on view at F1 X

Read more
F1 in the Americas 2025: six Grand Prix Championship races from May to November
The Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix is the first of six F1 races in the Americas in 2025
Aerial shot of the 2023 F1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix.

F1 moves to Florida for the Miami Grand Prix, May 2-4. The Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix 2025 is the first of six races in the Americas in the 2025 F1 schedule.
Why F1 races in the Americas matter

Formula 1 has a global scope, but the most significant growth in the motorsport's popularity has recently been in the Americas, particularly in the United States.

Read more