Max Verstappen dominated an incident-packed 2024 Qatar Grand Prix to take his ninth GP win of the season.
Verstappen cleared George Russell at the opening corner for the lead and survived three safety cars to take victory from Charles Leclerc, following a stop-go penalty for Lando Norris, who recovered to tenth at the checkered flag.
Oscar Piastri finished third ahead of George Russell, Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Guanyu Zhou and Kevin Magnussen.
In the drivers’ standings, Verstappen is already champion but Norris’ gap over third-placed Leclerc is now eight points going into the season finale on 8 December in Abu Dhabi.
McLaren meanwhile hold a 21-point lead over Ferrari going into the final race in the battle for the constructors’ title.
At lights out, Russell made a fast start but was passed on the inside by Verstappen and Leclerc, whilst Nico Hulkenberg punted Esteban Ocon into Franco Colapinto at the rear end through turn one.
Ocon and Colapinto were eliminated on the spot as the safety car was deployed whilst Hulkenberg recovered to the pit lane, as did Lance Stroll after he spun Alex Albon in a separate incident.
Racing resumed on lap five and Piastri quickly cleared Leclerc who passed him at the start for fourth, whilst Lewis Hamilton recovered to eighth after a false start dropped him to ninth initially.
Up front, Verstappen led Norris at a consistent gap of around two seconds whilst Russell was the first frontrunner to pit on lap 24, but a slow puncture saw him fall to 11th.
A loose wing mirror on the main straight caused double yellow flags to be deployed on lap 30 but no safety car was deployed until lap 35 after Hamilton and Sainz suffered punctures.
Racing recommenced on lap 40 with Norris squeezed on the outside by Verstappen as he tried to pass for the lead.
Perez and Hulkenberg however spun out in separate incidents on the restart which saw the safety car deployed until the end of lap 42, with Verstappen protecting his lead.
Norris’ hopes of victory evaporated on lap 44 when he was given a ten-second stop-go penalty, having been adjudged to had failed to lift under double yellow flags on the main straight on lap 30.
Verstappen consequently cruised to his 63rd Grand Prix victory from Leclerc and Piastri, with Russell, Gasly, Sainz and Alonso rounding out the top seven.
Zhou collected Sauber’s first points and top-eight finish of the season ahead of Magnussen, whilst Norris recovered to snatch the final point.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 57 | 1h 31m 05.323 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 57 | + 6.031 |
| 3 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 57 | + 6.819 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | 57 | + 14.104 |
| 5 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 57 | + 16.782 |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 57 | + 17.476 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 57 | + 19.867 |
| 8 | Guanyu Zhou | Sauber | 57 | + 25.360 |
| 9 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 57 | + 32.177 |
| 10 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 57 | + 35.762 |
| 11 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | 57 | + 50.243 |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 57 | + 56.122 |
| 13 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 57 | + 61.100 |
| 14 | Liam Lawson | RB | 57 | + 62.656 |
| 15 | Alex Albon | Williams | 56 | + 1 Lap |
| RET | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 39 | Spin |
| RET | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 39 | Spin |
| RET | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 10 | Damage |
| RET | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 0 | Collision |
| RET | Franco Colapinto | Williams | 0 | Collision |
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