2024 F1 Round 23 Qatar Grand Prix FP1: Leclerc fastest in 1:21.953, Norris second, Tsunoda fifth and Verstappen only 11th

The Qatar Grand Prix, Round 23 of the 2024 Formula 1 season, got under way at the Lusail International Circuit on the evening of 29 November, Beijing time. With just one practice session on the Sprint weekend, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the fastest lap of 1:21.953. Contrary to the widespread pre-event expectation that McLaren would be favourites, Ferrari showed strong competitiveness in the sole practice session. McLaren’s Lando Norris was second, 0.425s behind, with Oscar Piastri third.

Surrounded by desert, Lusail had little grip at the start because of dust on the surface, but lap times improved dramatically as rubber went down. Radio complaints about traffic came thick and fast. Unlike all their rivals, the two Ferrari SF-24s spent almost the entire session concentrating on their hard-tyre set-up. They scrubbed their medium tyres with just one lap before putting them away, only switching to softs for flying-lap runs in the final ten minutes. Carlos Sainz lost time in the third sector and finished fourth (+0.582s), while Leclerc secured top spot by 0.425s over Norris and 0.472s over Piastri.

RB’s Yuki Tsunoda caught the eye in fifth, 1.092s off the pace, ahead of Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll, George Russell, Alexander Albon and Lewis Hamilton, giving him a promising start ahead of Sprint Qualifying. Team mate Liam Lawson was 14th (+1.609s), around half a second slower than Tsunoda. Max Verstappen, crowned world champion in Las Vegas the previous week, was only 11th (+1.260s). The other Red Bull, Sergio Pérez, was 2.086s off the pace in 18th, third from last. Pierre Gasly was the only driver not to set a timed lap on softs; his medium-tyre effort left him 15th.

Sprint Qualifying will take place in the early hours of 30 November, Beijing time, followed by the 19-lap Sprint on Saturday evening. Grand Prix qualifying comes next, with the race in the early hours of 2 December, Beijing time. This is the penultimate round of the 2024 season, with McLaren and Ferrari’s constructors’ title fight reaching fever pitch.