2024 Qatar GP Qualifying: Russell inherits pole from Verstappen

Max Verstappen secured his first Grand Prix pole position in five months for Sunday’s Qatar race, narrowly edging out George Russell. However, he faced a post-session investigation following an incident involving the Mercedes driver, resulting in a one-grid place penalty.

This result came just hours after Verstappen finished eighth in the 19-lap Sprint at the Lusail International Circuit. Red Bull made a dramatic turnaround with set-up adjustments between sessions, transforming their car into a pole contender in the hands of the new four-time world champion.

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Verstappen capitalised on the improvements to claim his first pole since June’s Austrian Grand Prix and just his second in the last 16 races. The Dutchman, who clinched his fourth consecutive Drivers’ Championship in Las Vegas the previous week, initially topped Q2 but was second to Russell after the first laps in Q3. On his final attempt, Verstappen delivered a stellar 1:20.520 lap, beating Russell’s Mercedes by just 0.055 seconds.

However, Verstappen was summoned to the stewards for allegedly driving “unnecessarily slowly” on his warm-up lap before the pole-winning run. Replays showed a moment in the final sector where Russell, on a faster lap, had to slow dramatically to avoid contact with Verstappen’s Red Bull. Russell criticised the manoeuvre as “super dangerous” over the Mercedes team radio.

The penalty for an offence like that would usually have been a three-place grid drop, but the stewards factored in that Russell had clear visibility of Verstappen and that neither driver was on a push lap. They gave a less severe punishment of a single-place grid drop.

While Verstappen and Red Bull surged forward, McLaren’s Sprint race one-two finishers slipped to the second row, with Lando Norris qualifying third and Oscar Piastri fourth. Norris’s Q3 effort was hampered by a mistake at Turn Five, where he went wide and touched the gravel.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured fifth, while Lewis Hamilton placed sixth in the second Mercedes, again unable to match the pace of teammate Russell.

Qatar GP Qualifying Results

2024 Qatar Grand Prix Qualifying, 30 November 2024

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	1	Max Verstappen¹	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:21.579	1:20.687	1:20.520	22
2	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:21.241	1:21.069	1:20.575	28
3	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	1:21.578	1:20.983	1:20.772	22
4	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	1:21.821	1:21.121	1:20.829	22
5	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:21.278	1:21.000	1:20.852	26
6	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:21.637	1:21.095	1:21.011	27
7	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1:21.447	1:21.199	1:21.041	26
8	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:21.608	1:21.208	1:21.251	19
9	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:21.675	1:21.425	1:21.425	22
10	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	1:21.891	1:21.387	1:21.500	26
11	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	1:21.843	1:21.437		18
12	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:22.103	1:21.501		19
13	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:21.927	1:21.731		19
14	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT	1:22.364	1:21.771		16
15	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:22.011	1:21.911		14
16	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	1:22.390			9
17	30	Liam Lawson	RB Honda RBPT	1:22.411			10
18	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	1:22.442			10
19	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams Mercedes	1:22.594			9
20	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	1:22.714			10

¹Max Verstappen would be penalised one position for driving unnecessarily slowly during qualifying.

2024 Qatar Grand Prix Starting Grid

The Grand Prix starting grid, with or without penalties, after the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix Qualifying session.

Pos	No	Driver	Car
1	63	George Russell	Mercedes
2	1	Max Verstappen¹	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT
3	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes
4	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes
5	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
6	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
7	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari
8	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes
9	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT
10	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari
11	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault
12	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari
13	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari
14	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT
15	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes
16	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes
17	30	Liam Lawson	RB Honda RBPT
18	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari
19	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams Mercedes
20	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault

¹Max Verstappen was penalised one position for driving unnecessarily slowly during qualifying.

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Ben is a staff writer specialising in F1 from the 1990s to the modern era. Ben has been following Formula 1 since 1986 and is an avid researcher who loves understanding the technology that makes it one of the most exciting motorsport on the planet. He listens to podcasts about F1 on a daily basis, and enjoys reading books from the inspirational Adrian Newey to former F1 drivers.