© Getty ImagesRace Report: Max Keeps Cool in Qatar for Dominant WinMax rebounds from a pole penalty to dominate the Qatar GP, claiming his 9th win of the season amid chaos, Safety Cars, and penalties.
Maxbouncedbackfromanovernightpenaltyfor“drivingunnecessarilyslowly,”whichcosthimpoleposition,tosecureacoolandcomposedninthwinoftheseasoninanincident-packedQatarGrandPrix.TheracefeaturedthreeSafetyCarperiodsandnumerouspenaltiesthatreshuffledtheorderbehindtheDutchman,withCharlesLeclercfinishingsecondaheadofOscarPiastri.
I am very proud to win here in Qatar, and proud of the Team for our performances this weekend. When the lights went out, new polesitter George Russell made a good start from pole, but Max’s second phase was better and on the inside, he outdragged the Mercedes into Turn 1. Max got his nose in front but as the front pair drifted towards the outside of the corner third-on-the-grid Lando Norris tried to sneak through further inside. The McLaren driver was briefly ahead as they went towards Turn 2 but Max stuck to the racing line and as they exited Turn 3, he held the lead. Further back, Checo also made a good start, rising to seventh as Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton slipped back.
Max Slips In The Lead© Getty Images
However, at the rear of the field, Nico Hülkenberg lost control in Turn 1 and slid into the Alpine of Esteban Ocon and the Williams of Franco Colaptino. The latter two bounced into the gravel trap and the race was swiftly neutralised.
Max controlled the lap 4 restart perfectly to hold the lead ahead of Norris and Russell and Piastri who made his way back past Leclerc after losing the position at the start. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was in sixth place, while Checo still held seventh.
Max then settled into an uneventful first stint and as the laps counted down the champion maintained a 1.8s gap back to Norris, with Russell a further 1.5s behind.
Checo's Pit Stop© Getty Images
Russell was the first of the front runners to make a pit stop, on lap 24, but the Mercedes had a sticky right rear wheel and after spending seven seconds in his pit box, Russell rejoined down in 11th place.
Max Leads The Way© Getty Images
Before any other pit stops occurred there was drama. On lap 32 Alex Albon’s Williams shed a mirror on the pit straight and while there were yellow flags in place, Max noted that Norris had closed in.
Two laps later, though, Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas ran over the mirror, scattering debris across the track. Both Sainz and Hamilton picked up punctures and were forced to limp around the track to pit and the Safety car was deployed.
That allowed Max to pit for Hard tyres and he emerged in the lead behind the SC. The champion’s front running rivals also made their pit stops, with Norris slotting back into second. Leclerc, however, had managed to jump in front of Piastri. Checo also profited from the timing and he now found himself in fifth ahead of Alpine’s Gasly, Russell and Sainz.
Another One Bites The Dust© Getty Images
The Safety Car left the track at the end of lap 39 and this time Max left it late to make his move. Norris stuck with him and aided by a slipstream on the straight the McLaren driver attacked around the outside. Max defended hard and he was able to hold the lead as they went through the opening corners. Behind them Leclerc fought off the hard-charging Piastri but Gasly was passed by Russell.
There was disaster for Checo though. Just ahead of the SC leaving the track the Mexican seemed to lose power and then suddenly spun in the final corner. He limped his RB20 into the run-off area and frustratingly retired from the race.
I had a massive over delivery as I was picking up the throttle out of turn 12. With cold tyres I couldn’t control it, it basically meant I lost the car and then lost drive from that point onwards. At the back of the field, Hülkenberg spun off and the SC was released yet again. And this time Max made no mistake with the restart, holding his lead comfortably as Norris was forced to resist pressure from Leclerc.
Norris’ challenge then evaporated. He was hit with a 10 second stop/go penalty for failing to slow for the yellow flags ahead of the first SC period and after pitting on lap 45 he dropped to last place. He would recover to 10th place at the flag.
At the front, Max was now comfortable and with no further incidents he was able to cruise home six seconds ahead of Leclerc and Piastri, who were separated by less than a tenth of a second.
Max Wins Qatar 2024© Getty Images
Fourth place went to Russell, while Gasly took a well worked fifth place. Sainz crossed the line in sixth ahead of Alonso, Guanyu Zhou took Sauber’s first points of the season with eighth place and Kevin Magnussen finished in ninth place ahead of Norris.
“It was a lot of fun out there,” said Max of his race. “This track has a lot of grip. And this year, the tyres were really holding on. So that was honestly a lot of fun to be really pushing the tyre. There were a few Safety Car moments that you had to take care, but very happy. It's been a while in the dry to be this competitive and very proud of everyone within the team to turn it around within a day.”
I think the Team did a wonderful job in turning around and delivering a car that Max could really put his stamp on.