The Qatar Grand Prix was chaotic, to say the least, thanks to safety cars, collisions, retirements, punctures and penalties.
Max Verstappen was victorious, but all of the focus was on the constructors’ championship battle that is now headed to Abu Dhabi. Twenty-one points sit between McLaren and Ferrari, and a maximum of 44 points are up for grabs in Formula One’s season finale. And then there’s the battle for P6, five points separating Alpine and Haas.
But the news cycle extended beyond the standings. Many people discussed the penalties and safety car timing, which the FIA later explained. Then, a driver change took place, with Jack Doohan replacing Esteban Ocon in Abu Dhabi. And there’s the case of Sergio Pérez and his F1 future. Plus, RB has yet to confirm its complete 2025 driver lineup.
On a more sentimental note, Abu Dhabi will be filled with goodbyes. Lewis Hamilton will have his last race with Mercedes, Carlos Sainz will close his Ferrari chapter, and Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu will compete in their last F1 race for the foreseeable future. Plenty of change is on the horizon.
Before we head into the final race weekend of the 2024 season, we answered a few of your questions for our latest post-race mailbag.
Editor’s note: Questions were lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Simple question: McLaren or Ferrari — Who is winning the constructors’ championship this Sunday? — Rafi H.
I think I still have to say McLaren. The Qatar GP should really have made it a formality this weekend had it not been for Norris’ penalty. The 21-point buffer means it only needs to finish P4 and P5 with Norris and Piastri to clinch it, and I still think the team is outright faster than Ferrari right now. But Qatar’s twist proved anything could happen! — Luke Smith
I’ve loved seeing how Ferrari turned its season around and became a dark horse in the championship since summer break. But I feel it’ll still be McLaren that wins it all because of that points gap.
“I think it’s still going to be tough, 21 points requires a perfect weekend from Ferrari and a bad weekend from McLaren, but we’ve seen worse things in racing, so we’re going to give it our best shot,” Sainz said in Qatar. “I think if we nail a good weekend, we’ll still make it happen.” — Madeline Coleman
Who is winning the midfield battle for sixth, Haas or Alpine? — Craig R.
I think Alpine will hold on, but only just. Pierre Gasly’s recent displays have been mighty, with P5 in Qatar lifting the team back ahead of Haas. A six-point swing is a lot to ask under ‘normal’ conditions, even if Haas has only one ‘zero’ in the last eight races. I say Alpine gets P6 by a point or two. — Luke Smith
The five points between Alpine and Haas may sound small, particularly considering the 21-point gap between McLaren and Ferrari, but that would be a major swing to pull off. Oscar Piastri noted how the top four teams are fairly close now, which leaves only two or maybe three spots up for grabs if the race is clean and uneventful.
And as we saw in Qatar, truly anything can happen. Zhou secured Sauber’s first points of the year, finishing eighth, worth four points. That being said, I do think Alpine will hang on for P6 despite Haas’ consistency. — Madeline Coleman
Amidst all this strife, I’m loving the quiet confidence of Gasly lately. A combo of garage magic, steering clear of all the grade-school finger-pointing, solid and aggressive, but not too aggressive driving? What do you think is going on there? It would be nice to see this continue into 2025! — Anonymous U.
I have thoroughly enjoyed watching how Gasly has grown over the last several seasons, particularly once he left the Red Bull family and joined Alpine last year. Alpine is improving its car performance, but another element of his growth is time. He started in F1 in 2017 and completed his first full season the following year. He made it to Red Bull, got demoted and set out on his own, which is a lot of change.
Gasly is now in his eighth season and really has come into his own. I think you’re right – quiet confidence is the best way to describe what we’re seeing from Gasly. I do feel that it has been there for some time, though. — Madeline Coleman
With Cadillac set to join the grid in 2026, when can it start hiring its drivers for the season? And if it were up to you, who would you select as Cadillac’s inaugural drivers? — Ben L.
Cadillac is free to sign drivers whenever it pleases. It’s unusual for drivers to sign deals more than a year in advance — a rare example came when Fernando Alonso signed to join McLaren for 2007 before the end of 2005 — and I imagine Cadillac would also want to wait and see what driver market movements occur through the first half of next year before committing.
If I were in charge? Great question. I’d want an experienced F1 driver to help the team get up to speed in its first year, so of the current free agents, I’m turning to Magnussen (he’s only 32!) Then I’d do what I could to tempt Alex Palou across from IndyCar.
Failing that, I’d turn to Colton Herta, who ticks the American box better than anyone else out there right now in my opinion. — Luke Smith
I’m going to weigh in on the second half of the question as well! If I were in charge, I would like a mix of experienced and younger drivers. Magnussen is a strong choice; however, I’d like to see what Bottas would do with a new project given his wealth of experience at Mercedes.
Then, I’d want Jak Crawford as the young driver. He’s the highest-ranking American in the F1 pipeline right now and is fifth in the Formula Two standings right now, ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman. — Madeline Coleman
The drivers are upset at the FIA and the president, stewards and race directors are getting fired. There are inconsistent penalties, and the whole Andretti/GM bid, among other problems. There seems to be chaos going on, and now that has led to a debacle with the safety car not being deployed for the mirror on track in Qatar. I can’t see this ending peacefully. Will anything radical change with the F1/FIA relationship? — James
It’s definitely been a fraught time of late at the FIA. No matter how it may be presented, it’s unusual for the race director to ‘step down’ with three races left in the season and then for one of the most senior stewards to depart, particularly off the back of the string of other exits in the past 12 months. The drivers aren’t happy with the lack of transparency, and the ridiculous swearing clampdown resulted in a meaningless spat that could so easily have been avoided.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem isn’t bothered. Responding to the drivers’ concerns, he told Autosport last week in Qatar that it was “none of their business” how he runs the FIA.
The recurring issues certainly haven’t been a great look for the FIA. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said on Sunday in Qatar that it could have its own reality TV show based on the recent upheaval. “In times when there’s so much polarization, so much conflict, rationality needs to win,” Wolff said. “And for me, it doesn’t look that way at the moment.”
It feels like a tense time, and perhaps there does need to be a dose of common sense or logic coming in more often, something that became painfully over the whole swearing ‘controversy.’ The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) letter to the FIA was a powerful stand for the drivers to take, showing that they are united in their thinking.
The winter may give some time for things to settle and for new race director Rui Marques to reset and prepare for a full F1 season. The drivers do seem upbeat about his appointment, particularly the more two-way approach to communication that, reading between the lines, was absent for them with Niels Wittich. The FIA also moved to explain the decisions taken by race control during Sunday’s race, including the decision to wait before deploying the safety car, which was something not seen since toward the end of 2021 when Michael Masi would do a post-race media session. (The first race that did not happen was Abu Dhabi …)
The most important thing in all of this is that actions are always taken with the sport’s best interests in mind. It’s what F1 wants, what the drivers and teams want, and what the FIA wants. The core to all of that is transparency and clarity. Right now, that does appear to be lacking. — Luke Smith
Top photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images
