Key events
The Red Bull team principal Christian Horner tells Sky Sports that George Russell was speeding himself during the sprint, and likens it to a “football player taking a dive in the penalty box”.
“Not quite sure why we ended up with a one place penalty but if Max needed any extra motivation it has given him it for this. He is wound up for this one.”
Our first email of the day! Louise writes:
What is your opinion on Verstappen’s punishment? Both Verstappen and Russell were in a ‘slow’ lap. Normally, you would try to get some clean air in front of you just before starting a fast lap. You can see there is another driver in front of Verstappen and Russell is speeding. It feels like this was a mistake by the race engineers, not telling them what happened, not a drivers mistake? Verstappen said he was preparing his fast lap and suddenly saw Russell on his tail.
The other driver was Fernando Alonso and you are right, he was going the exact same speed as well. Verstappen kept the same distance through both turns, he did not just decide to brake right as he was turning a corner. Certainly bizzare and I think that is why they minimised the penalty for Verstappen. Usually this situation would be a three-place grid penalty.
McLaren could clinch their first Constructors’ Championship since 1998 today if they:
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Outscore Ferrari by 15 points or more if they do not win the race or outscore Ferrari by 14 points if they do win the race.
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Not be outscored by Red Bull by 23 points or more.
A look back on how Verstappen became the 2024 champion.
Max Verstappen speaking to Sky Sports on qualifying and his penalty:
Qualifying was very positive. The car seems to be working a bit better. I hope in the race we can be competitive and fight up front.
We will try to fight for the win. I am one place back but let’s see how it goes.
Ben Sulayem: ‘None of your business how FIA is run’
The FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has told Formula One drivers to mind their own business after they asked where money from race fines was going and why senior figures had left the governing body.
In an interview before today’s race, Ben Sulayem suggested the drivers should stick to what they know best.
“Do we have to tell them? When something in the teams changes, do they tell us?” Ben Sulayem said when asked about the surprise departure of the race director Niels Wittich before last weekend’s title-deciding Las Vegas Grand Prix. “We have the rules, we follow our rules. We don’t follow someone else’s rule. Simple as this.”
Wittich has said he did not resign and the FIA have given no public explanation as to why he suddenly left beyond saying it was to pursue new opportunities. Media reports have said he was sacked.
The Mercedes driver George Russell, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), said on Thursday drivers wanted clarity and understanding “of what’s going on and who’s getting fired next”.
Ben Sulayem, a former rally driver who was elected as FIA head in 2021, responded: “Do we tell them how to drive? Do we tell them what to have as their strategy? It’s none of their business. Sorry … I am a driver. I respect the drivers. Let them go and concentrate on what they do best, which is race.”
The GPDA issued a remarkable statement last month, in response to an FIA clampdown on swearing, in which they asked Ben Sulayem to treat them like adults and mind his own language towards them.
They also requested financial transparency and said all stakeholders, including drivers and teams, should jointly determine how and where the money from fines was spent – with some suggesting it could help fund professional stewards.
“They talk and then they say, where are you putting the money? Why we don’t do this? I don’t say ‘Oh, sorry, what about you?’” said Ben Sulayem. “The drivers are getting over 100m. Do I ask where they spend it? No. It’s up to them. It’s their right … we do whatever we do with the money. It’s our business. It’s also with them and their money. It’s their business.”
Ben Sulayem said the drivers had his mobile number and he had nothing to hide. He said he “lived free of charge” in the brains of critics in the media and did not need them or care what people said. He also rejected any suggestion that the FIA was in crisis and suffering a staff exodus under his leadership.
Despite his “none of your business” stance, the Emirati said later that €10.3m had been invested in grassroots single-seater racing last year.
“You really think I would waste the money? This is not commercial. This is the money of the members, and I have been elected to safeguard that,” he said. He added that 64 employees had joined the FIA in 2023 and 92 in 2024. “I have been elected to fix the FIA. and I am fixing it. I am very happy with our new team. Very happy. I inherited an FIA with an operating cost of €23m. And where is it now? This will be the first year that we are plus.” Reuters
Preamble
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen may already be our 2024 Formula One champion but the fight for second in the drivers’ standings and top honors in the constructors’ standings is still very much alive in the second to last race of the season.
Mercedes’ George Russell will start from pole position in Qatar after Verstappen was given a one-place grid penalty for impediment during qualifying. In the final laps of qualifying, Verstappen slowed in the third sector, forcing Russell onto gravel.
Verstappen’s alleged offence was “driving unnecessarily slowly” and after Russell gave his version of events, a decision was communicated more than three hours after the end of the session.
It wouldn’t be F1 without drama, right?
Verstappen’s points tally is 404 points. McLaren’s Lando Norris is second with 347 points and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is third with 323 points.
For constructors, McLaren leads with 623 points. Ferrari is second with 593 points and Red Bull is third with 556 points.
As always, if you have any thoughts, questions, predictions, complaints or jokes you would like to share, then send me an email.
