Verstappen takes his ninth win of the year, Leclerc sets a new personal best for most podiums in a season and Zhou equals his career-best result. Here are the facts and statistics from the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix.
VERSTAPPEN WINS THE 2024 QATAR GRAND PRIX
Max Verstappen claimed his 63rd victory at the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix. This was Verstappen’s ninth win of the 2024 season, making this the 20th time that a driver has recorded as many as nine wins in a single season.
Verstappen became the first driver to record multiple Grand Prix wins at Lusail Circuit and also became the first driver to secure back-to-back wins at the track. Red Bull are the first team to record multiple wins in Qatar.
The 2024 Qatar Grand Prix was the 14th race in which Verstappen led every lap. He overtakes Jim Clark as the driver who has led from start to end in the fourth-most races. Only Lewis Hamilton, Ayrton Senna and Sebastian Vettel are now ahead of Verstappen on the list. This was the first time Verstappen has led from start to end since the Bahrain Grand Prix.
This was the third consecutive Qatar Grand Prix in which a single driver led every lap. Lusail Circuit becomes the second track – after Zandvoort – at which one driver has led from start to end in all of the first three World Championship events at a circuit.
Verstappen made the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix the 400th round of the World Championship in which the driver of car number 1 finished on the podium.
Verstappen’s win made him the third driver – after Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel – to reach 3,000 points scored in their Formula 1 career.
ON THE PODIUM
Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri joined Max Verstappen on the podium at the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix.
Leclerc recorded the 42nd podium appearance of his career, equalling Damon Hill and Mark Webber for 21st on the all-time list of most F1 podium finishes.
Leclerc finished on the podium for the 12th time in 2024. It’s a new personal best for the most top three finishes Leclerc has recorded in a single season.
This was Leclerc’s – and Ferrari’s – first top four finish at Lusail Circuit.
Piastri finished on the podium for the tenth time in his career, becoming the 81st driver to record as many as ten podium results in Formula 1.
Piastri finished in the top three in a Grand Prix for the first time since the Singapore Grand Prix.
Piastri became the second driver – after Verstappen – to record multiple podium finishes at the Qatar Grand Prix.
IN THE POINTS
Five different teams finished in the top five positions at the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix. This was the first time that has happened since the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix.
Having started from pole position, George Russell finished fourth. It’s the third consecutive Qatar Grand Prix in which Russell finished in a worse position than where he started. He is the only driver to do so in every Qatar Grand Prix to date.
This was Russell’s seventh consecutive top six finish.
Finishing fifth, Pierre Gasly gained six places in the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix. He gained the most places of any driver in the race. Both of Gasly’s top five finishes this season have come in Grands Prix in which he has started outside of the top ten.
This was the first time Gasly finished the Qatar Grand Prix in a better position than where he started as well as the first time he has scored a point in a Grand Prix at the Lusail track.
Finishing sixth, Carlos Sainz recorded his best Qatar Grand Prix result to date.
Coming home in seventh place, Fernando Alonso scored a point for the first time since the Singapore Grand Prix. This was the first time Alonso finished outside of the top six in Qatar.
Zhou Guanyu scored his and the Sauber team’s first points of the season with an eighth place finish in the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix. This was Zhou’s first points-scoring appearance since last year’s Qatar Grand Prix, where he finished ninth.
Zhou equalled the best result of his Formula 1 career to date, having last finished eighth in the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix.
Zhou was voted Driver of the Day for the first time in his career. He is the 27th different driver to win the vote.
With ninth place, Kevin Magnussen scored Haas’ first Grand Prix points at Lusail Circuit.
Finishing tenth in the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix after serving a ten-second stop/go penalty, Lando Norris recorded his worst result to date at Lusail Circuit.
This was the first time Norris failed to finish in the top six since retiring from the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix as well as the first time since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix that he has finished outside of the top six in a race that he has crossed the finish line.
Norris set the fastest lap at the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix, becoming the first driver other than Max Verstappen to secure the fastest lap in the Qatar Grand Prix. Norris set a new Lap Record at the Qatar Grand Prix, 0.812 seconds faster than Verstappen’s previous record.
With Russell fourth and Norris tenth, this was the 950th Grand Prix in which a British driver scored a point. This was the nation’s 139th consecutive points-scoring Grand Prix.
After the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen are now the only drivers to complete all 171 Grand Prix laps held to date at Lusail Circuit. Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez lost their 100% completion rates as a result of their retirements.
THE OTHER FINISHERS
Lewis Hamilton crossed the line 12th in the Qatar Grand Prix. In races that he has finished, this was the first time Hamilton finished outside of the top ten since the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Yuki Tsunoda finished 13th in the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix, finishing a Grand Prix in a better position than where he started for the first time since the Belgian Grand Prix.
With Tsunoda 13th and Liam Lawson 14th, the Red Bull junior team remain yet to score in any Qatar Grand Prix to date.
Alex Albon finished 15th in the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix. With Franco Colapinto retiring, this was the third consecutive Qatar Grand Prix in which one Williams drivers failed to score while the other failed to finish.
PEREZ AND VERSTAPPEN ACHIEVE RARE FEATS
Sergio Perez recorded his fourth retirement of the season at the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix. This was the 17th consecutive Grand Prix in which he failed to finish in the top five. He has scored only one point in the last four Grands Prix.
Perez’s retirement ensured that he will finish no higher than eighth in the Drivers’ Championship. This is the first time that the team-mate of the World Champion has finished as low as eighth in the championship since Jos Verstappen finished tenth overall in 1994 whilst Benetton team-mate Michael Schumacher was crowned champion.
Red Bull will finish third in the Constructors’ Championship, having fallen out of contention after the Qatar Grand Prix. It is the team’s worst result in the championship since 2019, when they also finished third.
Verstappen is the first driver to win the title in a year that his team did not finish in the top two in the Constructors’ Championship since Nelson Piquet in 1983. It’s only the third time in F1 history this has happened, the other time being Keke Rosberg winning the title in 1982 when his team – Williams – finished fourth in the Constructors’ Championship.
Verstappen becomes only the second driver – after Nelson Piquet – to win the title twice in seasons that his team did not win the Constructors’ Championship.
THE OTHER RETIREES
Esteban Ocon’s race came to an end at the opening corner. He recorded his first retirement since the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix, where he also retired on the first lap.
Reportedly, the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix was Ocon’s final appearance with Alpine. His absence from the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will end a streak of 106 consecutive starts for the Frenchman, making it the first race since the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at which he will not be on the grid.
Franco Colapinto was out on the opening lap, recording his second retirement in the last three races.
Nico Hulkenberg ended his evening in the gravel, recording his second DNF of the season – his first since the Monaco Grand Prix. This is only the second time in the last six races that Hulkenberg has failed to score a point – though he did score two points in Saturday’s Sprint.
Lance Stroll failed to reach the chequered flag for the fourth time this season. The Hungarian Grand Prix remains the last time that Stroll scored a point.
This was Aston Martin’s first retirement at the Qatar Grand Prix.
