Winners and losers from the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix qualifying

Winner: Max Verstappen

Perhaps all it took for Max Verstappen to rediscover his qualifying form was finally securing the 2024 World Drivers’ Championship.

The Red Bull driver brought an early end to the title fight last weekend in Las Vegas, and he looked to simply be cruising along during Saturday morning’s sprint race — but qualifying revealed shades of the familiar dominant Verstappen.

And if you needed a reminder of how long it’s been: Verstappen’s most recent pole position in 2024 came at the Austrian Grand Prix. Thirteen races later, and the Dutch champ has finally returned to the head of a field that had been controlled by George Russell, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, or Carlos Sainz Jr. since June.

Loser: Liam Lawson

Not only was the newest VCARB driver knocked out of the first round of qualifying, but Liam Lawson also got frustrated over the radio… about the wrong guy.

“[Fernando] Alonso purposefully slowed up through 9 and 10 when he aborted his lap,” Lawson told his engineer Pierre Hamelin over the radio. “It just sucks, man.”

Hamelin quickly responded to note that Lawson’s beef wasn’t actually with Alonso; rather, it was with Lance Stroll, the other Aston Martin driver on the track. Of course, it’s a frustrating result for Lawson, but he also took another step toward creating a rivalry with another Formula 1 veteran.

Winner: Kevin Magnussen

Compared to teammate Nico Hulkenberg, Kevin Magnussen truly showed where the Haas belongs on the starting grid. He powered all the way through to Q3 before setting a time good enough for 10th on the starting grid.

In his post-qualifying press availability, Magnussen admitted to assembled media including PlanetF1.com that he made an error in Turn 10, which ultimately compromised his fast lap. Still, he’ll have the jump on the rest of the competition starting from the fifth row of the grid — and he feels that P6 is possible.

Loser: Alpine

Between Esteban Ocon’s total inability to make it out of Q1 and Pierre Gasly’s inability to make it out of Q2, Alpine have had a rough weekend. Both drivers attributed that lack of success to a lack of preparation and a failure of the tires to get up to temperature.

In sprint qualifying and the sprint race, the Alpines didn’t look too terrible, which makes their results in Grand Prix qualifying such a disappointment.

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Winner: George Russell

Despite being the less experienced of the two Mercedes drivers, Briton George Russell has proven that he’s ready to step into the first-driver role next season by mastering his machine in cooler temperatures.

Take a quick glance through the year: At Silverstone, Las Vegas, and Spa, Mercedes were the dominant car — and track conditions were cool at each venue. Qatar, too, is having an unseasonably warm late November, and once again, a Mercedes is performing admirably.

Not all the Mercedes, mind — George Russell has been extremely reliable, and his front-row starting position at Qatar will see him have a great shot at his second win in a row.

Loser: Nico Hulkenberg

Haas has reemerged as a formidable midfield competitor in 2024 after several years mired at the rear of the field — and Nico Hulkenberg has been a regular feature in the second and third rounds of qualifying. Not so in Qatar.

Hulkenberg struggled to set a quick lap, and he was knocked out in Q1 for only the fifth time this season. That result is particularly painful considering the fact that teammate Kevin Magnussen launched all the way up to Q3 for a 10th-place starting position on Sunday.

It all comes down to an issue regarding energy management; Hulkenberg’s car suffered a technical issue, and that completely killed his one-lap speed. He’ll have a battle into the points coming for him tomorrow.

Winner: Sauber

What’s that? Two Saubers in Q2? It’s more likely than you’d think — at least here in Qatar.

Nothing has come easy for Sauber teammates Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu this year, with the drivers of the green machines fighting hard for little payout. Sauber remains the only team to fail to score a point, and that’s largely because the car lacks speed.

But in qualifying, Bottas and Zhou found something. Both drivers made it into Q2, meaning that they’ll start the race from the lower-mid pack — a great result.

Whether or not that pace lasts for more than one lap remains to be seen in tomorrow’s Grand Prix.

Loser: Williams

Once a certified backmarker, Williams has begun the long process of crawling its way further up the finishing order in the World Constructors’ Championship in 2024, particularly after American driver Logan Sargeant was swapped out for Argentina’s Franco Colapinto.

Unfortunately, both Colapinto and Albon struggled in Qatar. In Q1, they both drove off the track which resulted in their lap times being deleted, and neither could find the speed required to advance further through the hour-long session. They’ll round out the rear of the grid coming into Qatar.