F1 next heads to Lusail for the Qatar Grand Prix and the final sprint weekend of the 2024 season.
Max Verstappen secured the drivers’ world championship at the last race in Las Vegas, his fourth in a row, with Lando Norris unable to catch him at the two remaining rounds.
The main battle is now for the constructors’ championship. Leaders McLaren are just 24 points ahead of Ferrari, with Red Bull a further 29 points back.
Verstappen won last year’s race at the Lusail International Circuit, though Oscar Piastri did win the sprint race. This weekend will also be Lewis Hamilton’s penultimate race weekend for Mercedes.
Follow live updates from the Qatar Grand Prix:
F1 QATAR GRAND PRIX - LATEST UPDATES
- Qatar hosts round 23 of the 2024 season and the final sprint weekend of the year
- Practice started at 1:30pm (GMT); sprint qualifying is at 5:30pm
- McLaren have a 24-point lead to Ferrari in the race for the constructors’ championship
- Lando Norris reacts to Max Verstappen F1 title dig: ‘He should start doing comedy’
When is the Qatar Grand Prix?
15:14 , Kieran JacksonAll times GMT
Friday 29 November
- Sprint qualifying: 5:30pm
Saturday 30 November
- Sprint race: 2pm
- Qualifying: 6pm
Sunday 1 December
- Race: 4pm
What is the state of play in the Constructors’ Championship?
15:51 , Kieran Jackson1. McLaren - 608 points
2. Ferrari - 584 points
3. Red Bull Racing - 555 points
4. Mercedes - 425 points
5. Aston Martin - 86 points
6. Alpine - 49 points
7. Haas - 46 points
8. RB - 46 points
9. Williams - 17 points
10. Sauber - 0 points
Ferrari ‘really interested’ in signing current F1 driver for 2025 season
15:05 , Kieran JacksonZhou Guanyu says Ferrari are “really interested” in signing him up as a reserve driver for the 2025 season.
Ferrari have already confirmed their driver line-up for next year, with Lewis Hamilton replacing Carlos Sainz as Charles Leclerc’s teammate.
Chinese driver Zhou has been dropped by Sauber for 2025 after three years with the team. Both Zhou and Valtteri Bottas are departing, with Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto replacing them.
Full story below:
Ferrari ‘really interested’ in signing current F1 driver for 2025 season
F1 Qatar GP LIVE: FP1 RESULTS IN FULL
14:46 , Kieran JacksonHere's the full classification from practice 🔽#F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/SeV71SNJHp
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 29, 2024
F1 Qatar GP LIVE: Charles Leclerc quickest in FP1!
14:33 , Kieran JacksonLeclerc sets a 1:21:953 on soft tyres and is quickest by four-tenths to Lando Norris in second!
3-10: Piastri, Sainz, Tsunoda, Bottas, Stroll, Russell, Albon, Hamilton
Verstappen only P11!
Seems like it’s advantage Ferrari heading into sprint qualifying!
F1 Qatar GP LIVE: Charles Leclerc still in P1!
14:29 , Kieran JacksonIt’s no longer a Ferrari one-two, though, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in second and third - splitting the Ferraris.
5-10: Stroll, Russell, Albon, Hamilton, Verstappen, Alonso
Final few laps coming in now...
F1 Qatar GP LIVE: Qualifying simulations coming right up!
14:22 , Kieran JacksonAlex Albon the first driver out there on the soft tyres for Williams, and sets a time quick enough for P3!
10:00 to go!
F1 Qatar GP LIVE: Ferrari one-two now!
14:12 , Kieran JacksonSainz with a 1:23:068, three-tenths quicker than Leclerc in second.... and both on hard tyres!
Everyone else below them is on mediums! That’s impressive....
20:00 to go!
F1 Qatar GP LIVE: Charles Leclerc top of the timesheets!
14:00 , Kieran JacksonLeclerc goes to the top in his Ferrari, with Verstappen now P2 and Gasly stil playing it large with the big boys in P3!
4-10: Norris, Sainz Russell, Tsunoda, Albon, Hulkenberg, Hamilton
Most cars still on mediums, for now, with the soft tyre running likely to come towards the end of the session!
30 minutes to go in FP1!
F1 Qatar GP LIVE: Fernando Alonso almost hits Carlos Sainz!
13:47 , Kieran Jackson“I nearly crashed, everyone slowed down!”
Almost a big incident at turns 4-5!
Needless to say, it’s busy out on track right now with every driver trying to utilise every single minute of practice!
F1 Qatar GP LIVE: Max Verstappen up to P1!
13:46 , Kieran JacksonAnd by three-tenths to George Russell’s new time for second - Verstappen into the 1:23s now.
Pierre Gasly up to fourth.
45:00 to go in FP1.
F1 Qatar GP LIVE: George Russell quickest early on
13:42 , Kieran JacksonThe medium compound is the tyre of choice in the first 10-15 minutes of practice, with George Russell picking up where he left off in Las Vegas with the fastest time so far of a 1:24:901, 0.076 secs quicker than Lando Norris in second.
Charles Leclerc in third early on, but that’s on the hard tyre!
4-10: Bottas, Verstappen, Albon, Gasly, Ocon, Hamilton, Sainz
F1 Qatar GP LIVE: FP1 underway!
13:30 , Kieran JacksonWe have cars on track in Qatar, on the penultimate weekend of the 2024 season!
F1 Qatar GP LIVE: We’re just five minutes from practice in Lusail!
13:25 , Kieran JacksonIt’s just the third time F1 has visited the Lusail International Circuit but the drivers will have to get right up to speed with just one, one-hour practice session ahead of sprint qualifying later on!
Who will set the early benchmark?!
The drivers arrive at the Lusail International Circuit ahead of a busy day!
13:20 , Kieran Jackson
Interesting comments from Valtteri Bottas on Red Bull:
13:13 , Kieran Jackson"I'm confident I would do a good job!"
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) November 28, 2024
Should Red Bull consider Valtteri Bottas after losing his Kick Sauber seat for 2025? 💬 pic.twitter.com/BFFej2yF0t
Mick Schumacher makes shock career switch away from F1
13:05 , Kieran JacksonMick Schumacher has decided to leave his role as a Mercedes F1 reserve driver at the end of the 2024 season.
The 25-year-old German, son of seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher, was dropped by Haas at the end of the 2022 season after a two-year run but in the two years since has been an understudy for George Russell and Lewis Hamilton at the Silver Arrows.
However, having not appeared once on an F1 weekend and having not secured a race seat for 2025, Schumacher has decided to leave the team and explore new opportunities after what he described as a “tough” two years watching in the garage.
Full story below:
Driver Standings ahead of the Qatar GP weekend:
12:56 , Kieran Jackson1. Max Verstappen - 403 points (champion)
2. Lando Norris - 340 points
3. Charles Leclerc - 319 points
4. Oscar Piastri - 268 points
5. Carlos Sainz - 259 points
6. George Russell - 217 points
7. Lewis Hamilton - 208 points
8. Sergio Perez - 152 points
9. Fernando Alonso - 62 points
10. Nico Hulkenberg - 35 points
11. Yuki Tsunoda - 30 points
12. Pierre Gasly - 26 points
13. Lance Stroll - 24 points
14. Esteban Ocon - 23 points
15. Kevin Magnussen - 14 points
16. Alex Albon - 12 points
17. Daniel Ricciardo - 12 points
18. Ollie Bearman - 7 points
19. Franco Colapinto - 5 points
20. Liam Lawson - 4 points
21. Zhou Guanyu - 0 points
22. Logan Sargeant - 0 points
23. Valtteri Bottas - 0 points
What are the start times this weekend in Qatar?
12:20 , Kieran JacksonAll times GMT
Friday 29 November
- Free practice 1: 1:30pm
- Sprint qualifying: 5:30pm
Saturday 30 November
- Sprint race: 2pm
- Qualifying: 6pm
Sunday 1 December
- Race: 4pm
F1 Qatar GP LIVE: Practice and sprint qualifying on Friday!
12:19 , Kieran JacksonF1 now heads to Lusail for the Qatar Grand Prix and the final sprint weekend of the 2024 season.
Max Verstappen secured the drivers’ world championship at the last race in Las Vegas, his fourth in a row, with Lando Norris unable to catch him at the two remaining rounds.
The main battle is now for the constructors’ championship. Leaders McLaren are just 24 points ahead of Ferrari, with Red Bull a further 29 points back.
Verstappen won last year’s race at the Lusail International Circuit, though Oscar Piastri did win the sprint race. This weekend will also be Lewis Hamilton’s penultimate race weekend for Mercedes.
FP1 starts at 1:30pm (GMT) with sprint qualifying at 5:30pm!
