Qatar GP: Max P11 in practice

Published on 29 November 2024 by Stefan Meens

Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen was eleventh fastest in the first and only practice session of the Qatar Grand Prix. At the very front, the main protagonists for the constructors world title set the pace with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc quickest, ahead of the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz completed the top four.

With the Qatar Grand Prix weekend featuring a sprint, FP1 is the only practice opportunity for the teams and drivers, resulting in a flurry of activity at the start of the session. Max heads out sporting a striking white and gold marble effect liveried helmet to celebrate his fourth world title. After his first run, the Dutchman notifies the team that there is too much air coming into his helmet and he wants to switch helmets for the following run.

As the session progresses, the lap times continue to tumble, with Leclerc impressing with competitive times on the hard Pirelli compound.

After twenty minutes, the session has entered a ten-minute lull with very few cars circulating. The activity picks up with half an hour to go with Leclerc topping the leaderboard ahead of Max, Gasly, Norris and Sainz. The latter soon usurps his Ferrari teammate to go fastest, indicating the scarlet cars are in good shape.

In the final fifteen minutes of the session, the teams switch to the red side-walled soft Pirellis to test the one-lap pace ahead of the sprint quali. Max’s effort temporarily takes him to fourth, before dropping to eleventh by the end of the session.

Contest Qatar GP: win a by Max Verstappen signed Red Bull Racing cap!

Results first free practice Qatar: