Clearly. Dry. Air +21C, highway +26C
Years in a row, the fate of the Constructors’ Championship was decided ahead of schedule, but in 2024, two Grands Prix before the end of the season, nothing was clear. Until the end of the season there were three opportunities to earn points: the sprint and race in Qatar and the stage in Abu Dhabi had to put everything in its place.
In Friday practice, Leclerc showed the best time and Norris dominated in qualifying – leading in all sessions and winning pole. Russell shared the front row of the starting field in the sprint with him, Piastri and Sainz started from second place, Leclerc and Verstappen started from third place. Perez and Colapinto started the race from the pit lane after breaking the parc ferme rules – their settings had been changed.
Pirelli brought the strongest compounds to the podium: C1, C2 and C3, labeled Hard, Medium and Soft. In the sprint, Zhou started on Soft, the rest chose Medium.
At the start, Norris retained the lead. Piastri passed Russell. Verstappen lost three positions, Magnussen gained four, Lewis three.
Top ten in round 2: Norris – Piastri – Russell – Sainz – Hamilton – Leclerc – Hulkenberg – Gasly – Verstappen – Alonso.
On the 4th lap, Russell Piastri attacked and almost took the lead, but Oscar did not let his opponent in and kept his position.
On lap 6, Verstappen overtook Gasly for eighth place.
On the 13th lap Leclerc attacked Hamilton, the cars drove side by side for a number of corners and eventually Charles took the lead.
Top ten in round 14: Norris – Piastri – Russell – Sainz – Leclerc – Hamilton – Hulkenberg – Verstappen – Gasly – Magnussen.
Russell tried to put pressure on Piastri several more times, but to no avail – without a serious speed advantage it is extremely difficult to overtake at Losail.
At the finish, Norris let Piastri pass, giving him the win.
The winning double allowed McLaren to increase its lead over Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship. Russell finished third, followed by both Ferrari drivers.
Qualifying for the main race of the weekend is just around the corner, with many more points to be earned.
Sprint results
| Pilot | Team | Time | Speed |
| 1. O. Piastri | McLaren | 27:03.010 | 227,774 |
| 2. L.Norris | McLaren | +0.136 | 227,755 |
| 3. D. Russell | Mercedes | +0.410 | 227,717 |
| 4. K. Sainz | Ferrari | +1,326 | 227,588 |
| 5. S. Leclerc | Ferrari | +5,073 | 227,064 |
| 6. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | +5,650 | 226,984 |
| 7. N. Hulkenberg | Hare | +8,508 | 226,586 |
| 8. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | +10,368 | 226,328 |
| 9. P. Gasly | Alps | +14.513 | 225,755 |
| 10. K. Magnussen | Hare | +15.485 | 225,621 |
| 11. F. Alonso | Aston Martin | +19.204 | 225,110 |
| 12. V. Bottas | Sauber | +23.351 | 224,543 |
| 13. L. Walk | Aston Martin | +24.421 | 224,398 |
| 14. E.Okon | Alps | +30,379 | 223,589 |
| 15. A. Elbon | Williams | +33.062 | 223,227 |
| 16. L. Lawson | RB | +34.356 | 223,052 |
| 17. Yu.Tsunoda | RB | +35.102 | 222,952 |
| 18. F. Colapinto | Williams | +35.639 | 222,880 |
| 19. G.Zhou | Sauber | +71.436 | 218,171 |
| 20. C. Perez | Red Bull | +74.371 | 217,794 |
Best round: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 1:23.923 (18 laps, 232.455 km/h)
Championship Position: Individual Competition
Championship position: Constructors’ Championship
| Team | Engine | Glasses | |
| = | 1. McLaren F1 Team | Mercedes | 623 |
| = | 2. Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari | 593 |
| = | 3. Oracle Red Bull Racing | Honda RBPT | 556 |
| = | 4. Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team | Mercedes | 434 |
| = | 5. Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team | Mercedes | 86 |
| = | 6. MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | Ferrari | 52 |
| = | 7. BWT Alpine F1 Team | Renault | 49 |
| = | 8. Visa Cash App RB F1 Team | Honda RBPT | 46 |
| = | 9. Williams Racing | Mercedes | 17 |
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
