00:00Final car in place means we get the green flag at the back.
00:03Here come the lights in La Salle.
00:06And the Qatar Grand Prix is underway.
00:09George Russell launches off the line.
00:11He'll have to chop across Max Verstappen, who's got good momentum.
00:14He's got the inside line.
00:15He's got the lead of the Grand Prix.
00:17Lando Norris fighting on the inside as well.
00:19Lando's going past the pair of them.
00:21How did he do that?
00:22He didn't do that because Verstappen managed to get his elbows out.
00:26Our pole sitter falls to third.
00:28It's Verstappen and Norris at the head of the field.
00:30With Max Verstappen going wheel to wheel with his rival for the title early this year.
00:35But it's P2 on the grid.
00:36That penalty avenged immediately.
00:38As Verstappen gains a place, Russell loses two positions.
00:41Norris gains a place as well.
00:43And off into the background of one of the houses, surely of Kevin Magnussen.
00:46Ocon and Colopinto stranded at turn one.
00:49And they are out at the first turn.
00:53Ocon's going to dive around the outside at the first corner.
00:56And Hulk's just got absolutely no grip.
00:59So he's already locked up the right front.
01:00He's got Alex Albin just ahead and he's nervous about hitting the Williams.
01:04Then he's having to turn and that causes the spin.
01:06Let's have a look.
01:07So he's on the brakes.
01:08There's Albin.
01:09Oh, he's just got, he's got no grip on that hard tire.
01:13Round goes Albin further on lap one.
01:16Massively hit by Stroll.
01:18Yeah, copy that.
01:19I knew he was going to do it.
01:20I can tell.
01:22There's a 10 second time penalty for Lance Stroll for causing a collision.
01:26I think that's a racing incident in my eyes.
01:28The incident involving Lewis Hamilton for a potential false start is under investigation.
01:33Yeah, sorry about that guys.
01:34So he's rolling as the lights go out.
01:36That's going to be a slam dunk.
01:37I'm fairly sure.
01:39The green flag flies at La Salle International once again.
01:43And Piastri is very close to Leclerc.
01:45That seems to be the closest one.
01:47George Russell's also got a run on Lando Norris.
01:49Let's see whether the moves are going to change.
01:51They are debating fourth place and they stay as they were into turn one.
01:55Piastri's past Leclerc.
01:56Leclerc understeered at the final corner.
01:58Just couldn't get through, but he does back on the inside.
02:00And off the road in the background, we go with Liam Lawson.
02:03And so Liam Lawson is heading off the road to tumble down the order.
02:08It's a 10 second time penalty for Liam Lawson for causing a collision at the first turn.
02:15And this is the overtake for Kevin Magnussen.
02:18Yuki says go the long way round.
02:19And Kevin Magnussen is going to.
02:22Oh, fruity stuff from K-Mag.
02:25He's forced wide, keeps his foot in over the gravel.
02:27And then with a bit of gravel, jumps back up the inside.
02:31It's a lovely pass.
02:33From what we can see, Verstappen's tyres are similar to ours.
02:36Russell behind slightly worse than ours.
02:39Lovely move around the outside and Yuki Tsunoda offering that inside move.
02:45Pierre Gasly going for the grippy racing line and taking the place.
02:50And once again, Yuki Tsunoda trying to shut the door.
02:53And if it's straight line speed problems that Fernando Alonso has.
02:57He's got plenty of grip to go around the outside again.
03:00And first Magnussen.
03:01Then Gasly and now Fernando Alonso go the long way round to take the place away from Yuki.
03:07Russell gets a new set of Pirelli tyres.
03:10And it's not quick.
03:11It wasn't quick on the front right.
03:13It wasn't quick on the front rear.
03:14And I think he's going to come out now behind these guys where without that slow stop,
03:20he would have slotted out in front of them.
03:24So was that...
03:25Was it Albon?
03:26Was that the Haas?
03:27It was either the Williams or the Haas.
03:29They've both been whacked in the Grand Prix, so it could have been either.
03:32Check if he lifted for the yellow.
03:34There was a yellow in the middle of the straight.
03:36Yeah, there was.
03:37We'll have a look.
03:38Make sure he lifted.
03:39Let's listen in then as he's going to blast past this.
03:41Check the board.
03:42Lando did not lift the box.
03:45I hope you report that then.
03:48And then that mirror has been hit.
03:50Has it done any damage?
03:52I wouldn't expect too much damage.
03:54That said, that looks like a lot of debris from below Hamilton's puncture.
03:57Puncher, puncher for Lewis Hamilton off the road.
04:00Well, it coincides with all those shards of carbon fiber being deposited all over the start-finish straight
04:05as Bottas creamed through that mirror.
04:07Another one!
04:08Another one this time for Carlos Sainz!
04:11The mirror on the racing line and Carlos Sainz has a puncher.
04:15Two cars on one lap.
04:18So Max Verstappen has headed the race since lap number one.
04:22Took the lead at the start.
04:23Lando Norris nearly jumped from third to first.
04:27Verstappen had the inside line for turn number two.
04:30Hamilton's speeding 100%.
04:32He just brake tested me again.
04:35I locked both my fronts.
04:36There is a drive-through penalty for Lewis Hamilton for speeding in the pit lane.
04:41Perez has dropped down.
04:43That's not a transponder issue.
04:44Perez is no longer in the points.
04:46We are racing again in La Salle.
04:48Perfect restart for Lando Norris.
04:50Yeah, terrible restart for Max Verstappen.
04:52Based on his previous ones, he's under pressure.
04:55Side by side we go for the Grand Prix victory.
04:58Verstappen versus Norris in the turn one and they'll both be going deep.
05:02Verstappen hangs on to it.
05:04They went wheel to wheel again and Verstappen hangs on to first place.
05:07Piastri gave it everything to get past Charles Leclerc.
05:10He couldn't get there.
05:11Verstappen maintains the lead.
05:13There's still moves going on.
05:14They're still swapping it over.
05:16Can Leclerc hang on to it?
05:17He can.
05:18Piastri is still in P4.
05:19You've got Russell in fifth.
05:21Under pressure from Carlos Sainz.
05:23Verstappen elbows out once again.
05:25Gasly gets past Sainz.
05:27He's up to sixth position.
05:29This is Sergio Perez.
05:31Let's listen in.
05:35His hard tyres not warming up.
05:37You could hear the rev spike as he went for it.
05:39I think that was driver error.
05:41That's HĂĽlkenberg dropping the car, spinning into the gravel.
05:45It was a great sprint race for him ever since we went to the Grand Prix format.
05:48It's not been his weekend.
05:51It's a 10 second stop go penalty for Lando Norris for failing to slow under yellow flags.
05:58That is effectively a 35 second penalty for Lando Norris.
06:02It's out of the points given how many laps there's going to be left in this Grand Prix.
06:08Kevin Magnussen.
06:09Oh, he's not going to go around the outside.
06:12He was barged out of the way before.
06:14And that was a look at how Alex Albin and him went racing.
06:18These two gloves off stuff.
06:20And this is even better news for Jo, who's sitting up the road in eighth place.
06:25Here we go again between Albin and Magnussen.
06:28That is a roar around the outside.
06:31What a great move from a man heading out of Formula One in a week's time.
06:36Oh, nice one, Kev.
06:41Oh, nice one.
06:41Every point counts for McLaren still.
06:43So even though they're going to be outraged with what's happened,
06:46they're going to really need that extra point.
06:48They'll be happy with Gasly's job as well, keeping Sainz at bay still for fifth and sixth place.
06:53Lando Norris massively, massively fighting and getting past Valtteri Bottas.
06:59Crucially, that gets him one point for tenth and one bonus point for fastest lap if things stay the way
07:05they are.
07:07The Dutch driver will see the chequered flag first.
07:10And Max Verstappen cruises over the line to win his ninth Grand Prix of the year.
07:15Max Verstappen wins the Qatar Grand Prix.
07:19Charles Leclerc comes home in second place.
07:21Oscar Piastri completes the podium.
07:23And we will see you next week for a title fight between McLaren and Ferrari.
07:29And welcome back to the top ten, Joe Guanyu and Sauber.
07:34They've finally scored in 2024.
07:38There were spins, there were overtakes, there were penalties, and there was victory for the world champion once again.
07:46Max Verstappen taking a big glug, celebrating, and it has been an illuminating kind of night.
Comments