Team World Championship postponed

LIVE from 5 p.m.: Who will win the big Qatar GP?

Max Verstappen won a chaotic race in Qatar.

(Bild: Associated Press, APA/AFP/Giuseppe CACACE, Screenshot Servus TV)

Max Verstappen has won a chaotic race in Qatar! Several safety car phases, accidents, debris on the track, punctures and penalties characterized the Grand Prix. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc finished second, with McLaren driver Oscar Piastri completing the podium. The decision in the team world championship was postponed to the season finale in Abu Dhabi (December 8).

Newly crowned Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen celebrated his ninth win of the season at the Qatar Grand Prix. In the penultimate race of the year, the Red Bull driver took a commanding victory on Sunday ahead of Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari and McLaren driver Oscar Piastri. The latter's team-mate Lando Norris was relegated to tenth place due to a harsh penalty. The constructors' championship will therefore be decided at the season finale next weekend in Abu Dhabi.

Ferrari made up nine points as Carlos Sainz also scored well in sixth place. McLaren's lead shrank to 21 points, with an ideal 44 still up for grabs in the season finale. Pole-setter George Russell had to settle for fourth place, with Pierre Gasly behind him in fifth place in the Alpine. Sauber scored the first points of the season, with Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu finishing eighth in an eventful race with many retirements.

Here is the result:

"Must take this motivation into next year"
 "I'm absolutely happy. It's been a while since we've been so competitive in the dry. I have to thank the whole team for getting this turnaround," said a satisfied Verstappen, who recently secured his fourth world championship title in Las Vegas, after his 63rd GP victory. "The win was incredibly important before the winter break. We have to take this motivation into next year, that will be very difficult," added Red Bull's motorsport consultant Helmut Marko on ServusTV.

However, McLaren still holds all the cards in its own hands in the team standings on the way to its first triumph since 1998. "This is not the result we had hoped for. It will be an exciting last race," said Piastri, winner of the last sprint of the year on Saturday. "We were able to take a few points off them. We are all close together. 21 points is still a lot," emphasized Leclerc.

Here is the standings in the team world championship:

Good start for Verstappen
Several hours after qualifying on Saturday, Verstappen had been demoted one place from pole position after being unnecessarily slow on a warm-up lap, in the opinion of the race stewards. However, in front of his mother Sophie Kumpen, the Dutchman got off to a good start on the dirtier side and squeezed past Russell. Norris also overtook his British compatriot. At the back of the field, Franco Colapinto (Williams) and Esteban Ocon (Alpine) crashed, resulting in a safety car.

(Bild: Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

At the restart, Verstappen defended his lead without any problems. Behind him, the leading field lined up with no prospect of overtaking maneuvers. On the 24th of 57 laps, Russell opened the first series of pit stops with an extended stop. As a result, the Mercedes hopeful was stuck in traffic and lost a lot of time.

Rear-view mirror caused chaos
Williams driver Alexander Albon lost his rear-view mirror on the start-finish straight, a little later Valtteri Bottas in the Sauber drove over the mirror and scattered carbon parts on the asphalt. Immediately afterwards, Hamilton and Sainz both burst their left front tire, which is also the most heavily used on the Lusail International Circuit. The new race director Rui Marques sent out the safety car again to remove the carbon splinters - albeit with a slight delay. Shortly before the restart, Perez said he lost propulsion and spun out of the race.

Carlos Sainz had a puncture.

(Bild: Screenshot ServusTV)

Penalty for Norris
18 laps before the end, the race continued with Verstappen defusing an attack by Norris at the restart. One lap later, Nico Hülkenberg (Haas) parked his car in the gravel and the safety car led the field for the third time. Shortly afterwards, Norris received bad news: as the championship runner-up did not slow down under yellow flags, he was handed a ten-second stop-and-go penalty. As a result, Norris was rewound to 15th place - after a race to catch up, he scored a point and the extra point for the fastest lap. Verstappen had a comfortable lead at the front ahead of Leclerc and Piastri. Lewis Hamilton also received a drive-through penalty for speeding with his Mercedes in the pit lane during the safety car.