Things F1 fans might've missed from the Qatar GP: History makers, broken rookies and more

Max Verstappen in Qatar — Photo: © IMAGO

Qatar Grand Prix

Things you might've missed from the Qatar GP: History makers, broken rookies and more

The race in Lusail was chaotic

Chris Deeley

Monday 2 December 2024 10:57

Well, that was a Formula 1 race and a half in Qatar, wasn't it?

Max Verstappen won his ninth race of the season to put an exclamation mark on his fourth straight drivers' championship, but...that probably isn't what people will remember from this weekend.

Lando Norris dropped from second to the back of the pack thanks to a stop-and-go penalty with a dozen laps to go, eventually fighting his way back to 10th to claim both the point for that position and the point for the fastest lap of the race, only awarded to those finishing in the top 10.

FranCoca Colapinto: Worse than New Coke?

It's probably unreasonable to compare Williams' replacement driver to the man whose seat he took when Sunday's crash wasn't his fault, but---WAIT, NO IT ISN'T.

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It's true that Logan Sargeant gave the Williams mechanics a lot of work to do when he wasn't circling the track without a hope of points, but...man. The Argentine managed to wreck his Williams three times in the last two weekends. You know how you avoid situations like this weekend? Drive faster.

Novak Djokovic, ace for hire

There's been a lot of buzz around Novak Djokovic this week, which is probably quite nice for him. After all, we all like when we're past our peaks and still getting attention, right?

Even one of his great rivals, Andy Murray, has joined 'the Joker's' desperate attempt to extend his career.

Except, well, how hard is he working on that? Djokovic didn't just pop up in a number of F1 garages this weekend, but he made a point of being around the camera crews. Yeah, really.

Novak Djokovic's last 24 hours:

Friday, 5pm local:
?? Doha - Qatar Grand Prix practice session

Saturday, 5pm local:
?? Buenos Aires - Copa Libertadores final pic.twitter.com/3PG9o00N07
— Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) November 30, 2024

Yep, that the Joker getting a photo op in before he apparently ditched out for a brilliant Copa Lib final.

Seriously, Djokovic wanted photos

One of the greatest tennis players of all time seemed more interested in getting some good photo opportunities than tournament wins, at this point, with the hard-court legend happy to indulge his fans.

Idemo Nole ? Ace to welcome you into the team today, @DjokerNole ? pic.twitter.com/V82tdTVAWy
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) November 29, 2024

Red Bull: History makers

This feels cruel. We don't mean it in an unpleasant way. But having a drivers' champion and not ending up in the top two of the constructors' is..not great.

2024 is going to be, as a number of Twitter accounts will have told you, the first time in at least 30 years that a drivers' champion has had a team-mate finish as low as eighth. And no, Jos Verstappen didn't even start every race in 1994.

What we're saying is...this season had been unusual. And how you feel about that is up to you.

Max Verstappen Formula 1 Lando Norris Williams Logan Sargeant Qatar GP