Max Verstappen Takes 1st Pole Since June for Qatar Grand Prix, Then Dropped 1 Place After Review

Max Verstappen won his first Formula 1 pole position since June during Saturday’s (Nov. 30) qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix.

However, after FIA officials reviewed the qualifying session, they issued a one-place penalty for impeding George Russell. Verstappen now starts from second on the grid after what had been a stunning qualifying effort.

Verstappen, who had not qualified on pole since the Austrian Grand Prix 12 races prior, struggled with his car throughout the day on Friday, calling it “undrivable” but did not find any of that frustration during qualifying, beating Mercedes’ Russell to the top spot by .055 seconds. Lando Norris will start third.

“We changed a bit on the car, but I didn’t imagine it would make such a swing in performance,” Verstappen told Sky Sports’ Jolyon Palmer. “That’s promising. I hope, of course, it lasts tomorrow into the race. I don’t know that yet, I just know it felt a little stable there in one lap and that was what we needed. It’s been a while.”

Our front row for the penultimate Grand Prix of 2024 🤝#F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/hAcr0N7wwX

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 30, 2024

Q3

Russell suggested that Verstappen had impeded his flying lap after the two nearly collided while Russell was at speed, but no action was taken on the part of race control.

“You tell me, you’re the expert,” Russell said when asked about the block by Jolyon Palmer. “I mean, I ended up going through the gravel, all through the floor and it felt like the floor was scrapping all the way through the gravel. Maybe that was a bit of a hairy one two corners before the hot lap.”

Pos.	Driver No.	Driver	Team	Time from Leader
1.	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:00:000m
2.	63	George Russell	Mercedes	+0.055s
3.	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	+0.252s
4.	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	+0.309s
5.	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.332s
6.	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+0.491s
7.	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+0.521s
8.	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	+0.731s
9.	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Honda RBPT	+0.905s
10.	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	+0.980s

Q2

There were no incidents in the second round, though Hamilton and Sainz nearly collided while exiting the pits.

A close call for Hamilton and Sainz in the pits 👀#F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/KW3IMJJ8Ep

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 30, 2024

Alonso barely escaped elimination by setting his only timed lap just before the clock expired, advancing to eighth overall and locking himself into Q3.

Pos.	Driver No.	Driver	Team	Time from Advancing
11.	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	+0.012s
12.	24	Zhou Guanyu	KICK Sauber Ferrari	+0.076s
13.	77	Valtteri Bottas	KICK Sauber Ferrari	+0.306s
14.	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT	+0.346s
15.	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	+0.486s

Q1

The first round passed with no major incidents on track. The KICK Sauber duo of Zhou and Bottas advancing to Q2 was the major story of the session, while Tsunoda also drew praise for putting together a last-minute fast lap to escape elimination.

Pos.	Driver No.	Driver	Team	Time from Advancing
16.	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	+0.026s
17.	30	Liam Lawson	RB Honda RBPT	+0.047s
18.	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	+0.078s
19.	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams Mercedes	+0.230s
20.	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	+0.350s

The Qatar Grand Prix will go live Sunday, Nov. 30 at 11 a.m. ET with coverage on ESPN.