Verstappen wins Qatar Grand Prix after McLaren fail to secure team title
Al Jazeera
Max Verstappen claims his ninth win of the 2024 season as McLaren are made to wait for the constructors’ title.
Max Verstappen has avenged his overnight demotion from pole position by clinching his ninth win of the season and 63rd of his career with a dominant triumph for Red Bull in a crash-hit and controversial Qatar Grand Prix.
In a race shaped by a litany of stewards’ decisions and penalties, including a late 10-second “stop-go” for Lando Norris of McLaren, the newly crowned four-time world champion was flawless on Sunday as he came home six seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
That result meant McLaren, even with Oscar Piastri finishing third, were unable to clinch their first constructors’ title since 1998 and have to try again in the final race in Abu Dhabi next weekend.
George Russell finished fourth for Mercedes while Norris, after a ferocious finale following his penalty, could finish only in 10th position for McLaren.
Verstappen’s success in Qatar was not enough to keep alive Red Bull’s challenge for the team title, which left McLaren top with 640, 21 points clear of Ferrari with one race to go.
