Welcome to the Qatar Grand Prix – 2024
Verstappen claims in a McLaren his fourth championship and much earlier
Max Verstappen claims that he would have claimed his fourth championship much earlier if he had been driving for McLaren. The Dutchman sealed his fourth championship with two rounds to go last weekend in Las Vegas, despite Red Bull having been usurped as the grid’s fastest team, with McLaren and Ferrari moving ahead in the standings.
Verstappen’s eight race wins this year are still five more than any other driver, although only one of those came in the last twelve races. Speaking last weekend, he said he was “very proud” of retaining the championship as “for 70 per cent of the season we didn’t have the fastest car, but actually we still extended our lead”.
As they shared a warm exchange, Verstappen playfully said, “Like you said, before I could only win it in the fastest car. This year has been a little bit different!”, in an apparent reference to comments made by Brown in an interview earlier this year.
Speaking to De Telegraaf, the four-time champion said “Things like that only motivate me. If people are critical and think that I can only win in the best car, then I prove the opposite. If I don’t get credit for this now, then I don’t know what else I can do. Would I have become champion in the McLaren? Yes! And much earlier too.”
In his cheeky exchange with Brown, Verstappen appeared to be reminding the McLaren CEO of remarks the American made in an interview on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast back in May when the Dutchman was still dominating the early phase of the season.
In that interview, Brown was asked if he would rather have a star car designer or a star driver, Brown said: “Well, ultimately you need both. I don’t think without a star driver you’re going to win, so you need both. First, it does start with the car. People ask me all the time ‘is it car or driver?’ and it’s like ‘well, it’s both’. But the way I characterise it is I think there are six, seven drivers on the grid that would be world champions in the Red Bull.”
The McLaren boss said that Verstappen was one of the best ever, but suggested that while Sergio Perez was on his day an excellent driver they needed a driver who could match Verstappen consistently.
Verstappen’s claim win early championship “a stretch”
Charles Leclerc says Max Verstappen’s claim he would have won the 2024 world championship “even earlier” had he been racing a McLaren or Ferrari is “a stretch”. Verstappen made the remarks in the early hours of Sunday morning after winning his fourth title and in the context of Red Bull’s struggles over the summer and autumn with the RB20.
McLaren has provided the most consistent opposition to Red Bull since it massively upgraded its MCL38 car back in May for the Miami race and has dominated several events a similar manner to how Red Bull opened the year.
When asked if he also would have won his fourth straight title in 2024 had he been racing for McLaren, Verstappen replied: “Yes, even earlier, so [I would have been] further ahead. [With the Ferrari], pretty much the same I think. The Mercedes, no. I think that would have been trickier.”
Leclerc said that Verstappen “is a very special driver” and “I think what makes him special is also the confidence that he has”, regarding his post-title-clinching comments.
He added, “However, I think it’s very difficult to say something like that not knowing actually what the car is like. He’s an incredible driver, no doubt. Whether he would have made it or not [in the 2024 Ferrari], I don’t know how the Red Bull is, how the McLaren is, and he doesn’t know how the Ferrari is. So, it’s maybe a bit of a stretch to say something like that.”
Tan sacked as former steward accuses Ben Sulayem of interference
Motorsport.com says it has learned of more upheaval at the FIA following the departure of F2 race director Janette Tan, meaning newly appointed race director Rui Marques faces taking charge of F2 and F1 Academy for the final two races.
Just one week after former F2/F3 race director Marques took over in F1 from Niels Wittich, who himself was sacked by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem after the Brazilian GP, there has been further upheaval. Janette Tan, who had been appointed as Marques’ successor and had been expected to have her first race in charge of F2 in Qatar, has now been unexpectedly dismissed just days before the Losail event.
She was Marques deputy and was expected to be promoted into the role next season, but the website says Tan is understood to be the latest FIA casualty of FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, although the reasons for her departure have not been made public.
Tan’s exit means that Marques now faces a tougher than normal schedule for the Losail weekend as he has been drafted in for F2 as well – which comes on an F1 sprint weekend that already has a more intense schedule than usual.
Marques is on his third of four weeks It is also not unusual for the F1 race director to play either an active or advisory role in support races on grand prix weekends. Tan is not the only senior figure who has departed in recent days, with it emerging that long-serving FIA race steward Tim Mayer has also gone.
Mayer, who is the son of McLaren founder Teddy Mayer, has served at the FIA for the last fifteen years as well as being an FIA delegate in the United States.as a race director having also overseen the Macau Grand Prix two weeks ago.
Mayer’s exit is understood to be due to tensions with Ben Sulayem over the circumstances surrounding the track invasion at the United States Grand Prix. The exits of Tan and Mayer come against the backdrop of a major rotation of staff at the FIA, ever before Wittich’s exit earlier this month.
In a separate interview with BBC News, Mayer says the FIA is “running out of people to do those jobs” and he was “incredulous” at the departure of Tan.
He says that Tan was “the epitome of the type of person we want working for the FIA, the best of the next generation of race directors. I don’t know the circumstances, but one would think they would work very hard to keep someone of her character.”
In the last year, director of communications Luke Skipper, secretary general of mobility Jacob Bangsgaard, sporting director Steve Nielsen and single-seater technical director Tim Goss, FIA Women in Motorsport Commission Deborah Mayer and the FIA’s first CEO Natalie Robyn have either resigned, been fired or left the governing body.
Mayer also addressed his own sacking and other recent controversies to do with the FIA. Tan was unavailable for comment. The FIA has not responded to requests for comment.
Mayer accused Ben Suleyman of using his role via his staff to ‘directly involved himself in making his views known.’ He also said he was sacked by text by one of those members of staff, after he “took offence” at the contents of an appeal document filed by the Circuit of the Americas (Cota), host of the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
Talking Points Lusail
Round twenty-three marks the penultimate weekend of the season in Lusail, the third Grand Prix at this 3.367-mile circuit. Like neighbouring Sakhir, Bahrain is a fast-flowing circuit with a mixture of straights and a twister outfield section. Made up of a mixture of high and medium-speed corners which last time provided for some overtaking, but this was under the previous regulations, which will likely increase in the midfield given how tight it has been this season.
You can find a more detailed analysis of the fight in the constructors, which is likely to be between McLaren and Ferrari later in this post.
There has been one story back in the headlines it has never in my view gone away the performance of Sergio Perez. While teammate Max Verstappen took his fourth championship in Vegas, it was another difficult weekend for the Mexican after he was knocked out in Q1 before recovering to tenth.
This has led to comments by Helmut Marko about Perez’s future, saying there will be a proposal about the team’s driver line-up situation given to Red Bull shareholders after Abu Dhabi, and then the shareholders can make a decision on whether Perez retains his seat or is replaced. While Yuki Tsunoda continues to pile the pressure with another Q3 and top-ten finish.
The big news this week, was that F1 has as reached an agreement in principle with General Motors for them to enter the championship in 2026 as an eleventh team. Greg Maffei, President and CEO of Liberty Media, said: “With Formula 1’s continued growth plans in the US, we have always believed that welcoming an impressive US brand like GM/Cadillac to the grid and GM as a future power unit supplier could bring additional value and interest to the sport.”
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While the focus remains on the pointy end of the constructors, the battle for six is just as close after it was turned into a three-horse race after Alpine took a double podium in Sao Paulo. That was a result that was not in keeping with how the early part of the season had gone for Oliver Oakes’ team but did come amid recent gains after some impressive car development.
Last weekend in Vegas Pierre Gasly was third on the grid, but retirement and good weekends for RB and Haas moved it back into sixth, as Tsunoda’s score means RB are just three points behind Alpine and four adrift of Haas. Every point is crucial, and this fight looks set to go down all the way to the final laps of the year.
Away from F1, their championships to be decided in F1 Academy and F2 with two races to go, Abbi Pulling could seal the championship in the first race of the weekend if she outscores Doriane Pin by eighteen points. If Pulling finishes in the top two in the opening race in Qatar she will be champion, or if Pin fails to win then the Briton will take the title regardless of her own result.
Incoming 2025 Sauber driver Gaberial Bortoleto has a more complicated task and with four and a half points ahead of Isack Hadjar. Hadjar hasn’t scored since his victory at Spa, the final race before the summer break, also in the mix but outsiders Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli and Paul Aron.
Bortoleto has seen two potential rivals drop out of the running mid-season, though, with third-placed Zane Maloney not completing the year as he has now switched to Formula E, while Franco Colapinto, currently seventh in the standings, has been racing for Williams.
Constructors championship fight
While Max Verstappen wrapped up his fourth driver’s title last weekend in Las Vegas, the focus will now shift towards the constructors. While Red Bull are mathematically still in the hunt, the fight is likely between McLaren and Ferrari who are separated by twenty-four points with a maximum of sixty on the table across the next ten days.
Mercedes are guaranteed to finish fourth in the standings but their surprise one-two in Las Vegas helped McLaren, as it prevented Ferrari from scoring more points. If Mercedes are strong again in Qatar, that will have big implications for the title race. This weekend there is a maximum of fifty-nine points on the table being a sprint weekend.
If McLaren finish forty-five points ahead of Ferrari or Red Bull they will win the constructors for the first time in a quarter of a century. However, they cannot be outscored by twenty-one points by Ferrari and eight by Red Bull. The last time McLaren mathematically won the championship was in 2007, however, they were disqualified over the Spygate Scandal and the title was handed to Ferrari after they and Alpine (then Renault) were cleared of wrongdoing.
Ferrari also won in 2008, they have also been in their longest championship wait. Since 2009 both drivers and constructors have been dominated by Brawn which became Mercedes in 2010 and Red Bull.
Ferrari and Red Bull can still both tie the championship, then it would be decided on count back and Red Bull are then guaranteed the championship having won eight Grands Prix. However, going into this weekend McLaren and Ferrari are tied on five wins each which could be the case also in Abu Dhabi.
That would mean the championship would be decided on second-place finishes and so on, until one team has more.
Ferrari t team principal Frederic Vasseur told Sky Sports, “I would rather be twenty points behind than two hundred. The championship is still open. We don’t know what will happen in Qatar and Abu Dhabi,” For sure, on paper, Qatar isn’t the best track for us, but we’ve had tough weekends, we managed to do a good job.
“We will keep focused and do our best to put pressure on McLaren for the last race. This is important because anything can happen in the last Grand Prix. We will push until the last corner of the last lap of the last race.”
While McLaren enjoys the high-speed corners, Ferrari, on paper, does not. There are only a few slow-speed traction zones, which Ferrari are strong at, and they do not have the optimal aerodynamic downforce of McLaren. Sainz is already expecting Ferrari to be looking at a damage limitation weekend in Qatar.
The Spaniard added “We just need to go into that trying to maximise whatever we have. I think over the last few weekends we’ve done a good job. In Qatar, the maximum might be a P5 or a P6 because in that car, with this car in a track like Qatar, I expect to struggle and I expect McLaren and Mercedes to be very strong.
“Probably also even Red Bull, given that they were strong also in qualifying in Austin. I think it’s going to be a very challenging weekend for us. That’s why Vegas was important for us to get the maximum number of points available, and we kind of did that for the pace that we had.”
But Mercedes, while they are guaranteed fourth, their performance in Vegas on Saturday and in Lusail last year could cause headaches. George Russell who won on Saturday in Sin City, believes the smooth surface could prove it was not a one-off.
Russell said “When the car is in the right window, it’s on rails. I think it’s no secret we have been struggling a bit with the ride, so on the bumpy tracks you have to lift the car, go softer with the car and are totally out of our downforce window.”
“When we can get the car low and stiff, we are flying. We need to broaden that window. That’s why you are seeing these big fluctuations. We haven’t forgotten how to get the car set up, it’s just we are forced to put it in a window we don’t want it to be.”
A double podium for McLaren or Ferrari on Sunday would be huge, but if it is Mercedes who have two drivers on the podium, that will only help McLaren. Lewis Hamilton meanwhile will be curious position where he could impact his former team McLaren, or his new team Ferrari, depending on his performances.
The seven-time world champion says Mercedes will be “in a good spot” to challenge for the win if the handling of the car is similar to Vegas.
F1 Academy title race on
Abbi Pulling says she is “super excited” to have the opportunity to seal the F1 Academy title this weekend at the Qatar Grand Prix. The Englishwoman leads Doriane Pin by ninety-five points going into the final four races in Lusail and Abu Dhabi over the next ten days but could be crowned champion if she is eighty-four points clear on Saturday night, or fifty points clear on Sunday.
The Alpine-backed driver told Sky Sports, “I’m super excited. I feel ready. Going into the last two races, I’m in a comfortable position. I would rather be in my position than anyone else’s! Just looking to try and seal the deal.”
Pulling has led the championship since the opening race in Jeddah back in March and has been on the podium at every race. At the last race in Singapore, she won both races putting her in the position to take the title this weekend.
She added “There have been parts this year, even in Singapore, I was a bit nervous. Singapore was one that I wanted to do well at because it’s an incredible track and not many people can say they have won around that track.”
“Having a great weekend there puts me in a great position to not be nervous in the final two rounds. I can focus on enjoying myself, which is when I drive at my best and keep doing what I keep doing. Hopefully, fingers crossed, we can finish on the top step.”
Ocon calls for answers on pace
Esteban Ocon has called on Alpine to find answers about his lack of pace compared to team-mate Pierre Gasly since the United States Grand Prix. Ocon had appeared up until Austin to be outperformed by Gasly, but since then Gasly has only out qualified him once in five sessions,
Gasly on average of over three tenths slower over the six grid-deciding sessions since Austin. The Frenchman finished down in seventeenth place in the last race in Las Vegas, where Gasly qualified third and was running in the top ten before an engine problem forced him into retirement. He said after Las Vegas, “I think, you know, one car, Pierre, was quick since Austin. Unfortunately, we are not fast since Austin and that could cost us as well in the championship.”
“So we need to figure out what exactly is going on and hopefully improve the situation for the next two. But yeah, at the moment it seems difficult for us. I was counting a little bit more on a high degradation race, more of the tyre management race like last year to be able to fight back.”
“I was counting a little bit more on a high degradation race, more of the tyre management race like last year to be able to fight back. And that’s what we were doing well, but unfortunately when you drive through for nothing and you put yourself into that penalty then it’s not good.’
But in response to the questions about whether Alpine were treating him fairly, team principal Ollie Oakes said, “We will see. We are working with the team to try and improve the situation. But yeah, since Austin, it seems to not work at all outside. And we need to make sure that this is not the case anymore.”
Ocon will leave Alpine at the end of the season to join Ollie Bearman at Haas.
Monza agrees new five-year deal to 2031
F1 and Monza have agreed a five-year deal for the Italian Grand Prix to remain at the circuit until 2031. The city and royal part north of the regional capital Milan has hosted the race annually in the world championship era since 1950 with one expectation, this year marked the hundredth anniversary of the race and circuit.
Italy currently holds two F1 races each year, with Imola rejoining Monza on the schedule since 2020, with the Emilia-Romagna race’s current contract set to expire in 2025. It had been thought likely that the cancellation of the 2023 edition of the Imola race due to flooding in the region that year would mean it got an extra race in 2026, but this is yet to be confirmed
Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton are the joint most successful F1 drivers at Monza, with five Italian GP wins each. Next season will see Hamilton take part in his second race in Italy for Ferrari, with the circuit reporting high ticket sales already ten months before September’s race.
Monza deal had been extended by a year in 2020 after the race was held behind closed doors, due to Covid. F1 CEO I am delighted that the Italian Grand Prix will remain on the calendar until 2031,” said F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali. “Monza is at the very heart of Formula 1 history and the atmosphere each year is unique as the Tifosi gather in huge numbers to cheer on Ferrari and the drivers.
“The recent upgrades to the circuit’s infrastructure and the planned investment show a strong commitment to the long-term future of Formula 1 in Italy, and I want to thank the President of the Automobile Club d’Italia, the Italian Government. The Lombardy Region for their continued passion and commitment to our sport. I also want to pay tribute to our incredible fans across the country who support Formula 1 so passionately.”
President of the Italian Automobile Club, Angelo Sticchi Damiani added “It’s a great honour for us, the Automobile Club of Italy (ACI), to have succeeded in guaranteeing the hosting of six more Italian Grand Prix F1 seasons at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza after 2025. We must thank the valuable and decisive contribution of the current President and CEO of Formula 1 Group, Stefano Domenicali, who made this contract extension possible.
“Much as we should, certainly, thank the Italian Government, the Lombardy Region, and all the local institutions that have allowed the Italian Grand Prix to attract, during the last editions, an ever-increasing number of enthusiastic fans.
The Weekend Ahead
Well, we have done it the penultimate weekend of the season and final sprint, I think we all know as we have explored throughout this edition there is so much still on the table in the constructors. This is going to be another tricky weekend it’s different to other weekends as we have a twilight sprint race and then a full night qualifying and Grand Prix making practice really unpredictable and that again will mix things up.
As we know Max Verstappen is a four-time champion but I always feel that if a champion beats a driver yet is champions and there are races remaining, how they handle them and if they are good like Nico Rosberg in 2015 can be the springboard for the following season. As we often saw Lando Norris ‘beats himself up,’ in these situations, he cannot carry that on track if he is to come back and fight next year.
Remember Oscar Piastri won the sprint last season, and this could be again a good circuit for them though it will be colder than 2023 but not as cold as Vegas. This circuit delivers great racing where we have seen in the two races here don’t discount Ferrari or Mercedes either as they fight for third in the constructors. Both have won races in the closing rounds as they look to end the year on a high, but I think its hard to read given Vegas isn’t a Middle Eastern night race.
Lewis Hamilton has two more chances to fight for wins, his poor qualifying despite his recovery last weekend may ask questions about what could have been. I feel those qualifying’s are letting him down but maybe now the drivers is decide ‘the gloves are off,’ we normally see great hard racing but the constructors is still to be decided.
Lusail has proved itself to be a good race circuit so expect an interesting evening with plenty of drama and excitement, it is hard on tyres but we are told the tyre-cutting issue has been resolved meaning hopefully there will be no repeat of last year. It wasn’t the best advert as the 2021 race saw lots of overtaking and in theory the regulations should give more drama and action on track this weekend.