Formula 1 News: 2024 Qatar GP Post-Race Quotes

All ten Formula 1 teams plus tire supplier Pirelli provided quotes after the 2024 Qatar GP at the Lusail International Circuit in a race won by Max Verstappen.

Red Bull

Max Verstappen, 1st

“I enjoyed the race quite a lot overall, especially at the beginning with Lando and I pushing each other quite hard. We were leading by Turn 1 after starting P2, and were able to maximize and get the tires in the right window. The car felt much better and I enjoyed it a lot out there today. It was nice to win in the dry as well, it has been quite a few races since we’ve achieved that. It was definitely not a boring race and there was a lot to manage with the restarts and safety cars throughout, but we learned from that and were able to stay in front. I am very proud to win here in Qatar, and proud of the Team for our performances this weekend, it is a great track and one of my favorites on the calendar. We have to make sure we nail our setup in Abu Dhabi and to hopefully finish the season with another great race.”

Sergio Perez, DNF

“Things were looking good at the time for me, I was sitting in P5 and we were in the mix for the podium. Then as I was warming up the tire, getting ready for the restart, I had a massive over delivery as I was picking up the throttle out of turn 12. With cold tires I couldn’t control it, it basically meant I lost the car and then lost drive from that point onwards. It is quite disappointing to end up like this. There were some positive signs for me this weekend with performance and I think we have learned a lot from the car this weekend and found good direction. I think the season hasn’t been great for me, there has been a lot of up and downs and we have a few things to review there. We are all in this together as a Team and we are trying to get our season back on track, hopefully Abu Dhabi can do that and we can have a strong weekend.”

Christian Horner, Team Principal

“That was another masterclass from Max. He was focused and in control throughout the race, his management of the tires in that first stint was exceptional. I think the Team did a wonderful job in turning around and delivering a car that Max could really put his stamp on. It was a shame to lose out on Pole but if anything it gave Max more determination and motivation to lead into turn 1, it was an unbelievable performance by Max and the Team. Full credit to the engineering staff for making some big decisions and unlocking the potential of the car here it meant Max had Lando covered throughout the race. It was a little bit crazy here with the punctures but the Team reacted and dealt with everything that came their way, the crew and everybody did a super job.”

Ferrari

Charles Leclerc, 2nd

“We expected this to be a difficult weekend for us so I’m happy with how the race went today, having made up some points on McLaren. We had some luck on my side and a bit less on Carlos’ with the puncture. We may have been able to finish second and third had it not been for that, which is a shame teamwise, but overall, it was positive to be this competitive here. Driving for such an iconic team as Ferrari, it would be amazing for us to finish the season by bringing the constructors’ title back to Maranello. It won’t be easy to score the points we need to win the title in a single weekend, but everything is still possible and we will do absolutely everything to achieve it.”

Carlos Sainz, 6th

“I’m obviously not happy with the outcome of today’s race. We were in a strong position but unfortunately, I got a puncture and had to complete an entire lap with a flat tire. After the pit stop, the Safety Car came out so the whole situation cost us even more time and ultimately some crucial positions. Dragging the car for an entire lap led to some damage and the car felt a bit off, making things difficult for the last stint. That said, I’m pleased I managed to bring the car home and together with Charles’ podium we managed to score important points. We will fight until the last lap of the Abu Dhabi race for the championship, and hopefully finish the season in the best way possible.”

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

“The most important thing today is that we scored more points than McLaren. We are now 21 points behind, with one race to go which means everything is possible. We have also increased our lead over Red Bull, which means in Abu Dhabi we can focus more on the team in front of us. The race today was a bit chaotic, but overall, it was a good one for us: we executed it well, the pace was there and I’m very pleased with the job we did today. It was in our plan that the drivers would not push too hard for the first laps in order to push more later on and we were confident we had the pace on the Hard to push until the end. We have some regrets, such as Carlos’ puncture which came at the very worst place, as he had to drive a full lap before pitting and it cost us one or two positions. Now we go to Abu Dhabi, which on paper, should be a better circuit for us and with Max and Mercedes on the pace, you never know what could happen in the championship battle. We will push flat out to the final checkered flag.”

McLaren

Lando Norris, 10th

“The team gave me a great car today, it was the quickest out there, so I’m disappointed we haven’t been able to secure maximum points in Qatar. I know the rules around Yellow Flags, but I missed it. I have to take that on the chin. I can only apologize to the team.

“We have one more weekend to go now and we’ll head to Abu Dhabi with the same mindset as any other weekend, and that’s wanting to win.”

Oscar Piastri, 3rd

“I am happy with that. I enjoyed the race and it’s a mega track, so it’s nice to come away with another podium. There were some good battles on track, but it was challenging as the cars at the front seemed to have very similar pace to each other. It was tough to get into DRS, and then far enough into DRS to overtake but it was still fun, nonetheless. We were just unlucky with the timing of the Safety Car, but that’s racing. It’s going to take everything we’ve got to seal the deal next week. It’s going to be an exciting one.”

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

“The positives from today’s race are that we had a very strong car, and we were in contention for the victory. Oscar drove a solid race but was unlucky with the timing of the Safety Car, which dropped him behind Leclerc, but that’s the way it goes sometimes in racing. Lando was very fast, and the way he clawed his way back into the points after the penalty was impressive. It isn’t the result we wanted overall, but it is what we have.

“Regarding the main incident of the race, the sector appeared to go yellow just as Lando entered it – but the requirements are clear, you need to lift and it’s the responsibility of the drivers to recognize they are in a yellow sector and back off. However, for the future, we would recommend that the FIA considers that proportionality and specificity should be guaranteed in any penalties that are applied.

“Moving on from that, we now go to Abu Dhabi. We remain focused and determined to finish the job as a team.”

Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton, 12th

“It was a pretty straight forward session for us in qualifying, the car was feeling decent and we were able to fix the bouncing. The tires and the grip of the track was feeling great, this track is amazing. My last lap in qualifying unfortunately wasn’t great, I had the car snapping away from me which meant I lost time and couldn’t improve higher than P6. I was giving it everything and was generally feeling good but didn’t improve when I crossed the line.

“Tomorrow I’m hoping for a good race, this track is great to drive so it should be an exciting race. I’m hoping the car will be in a better place tomorrow and we’ll be able to make some improvements. Unfortunately, today in the sprint all of the top Teams were really quick and it was hard to overtake but ’ll be giving it my all in the race tomorrow.”

George Russell, 4th

“Today has been a great day, it’s good to be in this groove at the moment with four front row starts. My first Q3 lap was really strong and I was pleased with it but unfortunately I wasn’t able to improve on my final lap. This was mainly due to the scrappy out lap I had with the near miss with Max that meant I ended up in the gravel so that didn’t help prep wise ahead of my final push lap. I’m still really pleased with P2, I’m taking all the positives and I’m feeling great in the car.

“It’s going to be exciting tomorrow as the top four teams are very close. Starting on the right side of the track does seem to have a slight disadvantage, which we saw earlier on in the Sprint Race for the majority starting on this side of the track, which meant I couldn’t fight with Lando. I’m hoping tomorrow we’ll be able to fight with Max and stay ahead of those behind us, our race pace this morning looked good and the tires seem resilient so I’m hoping we don’t end up in another DRS train and we can have some fun. There’s a lot of possibilities to do something different, I’m looking forward to it.”

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“Overall, we are happy with the results we have seen today as a Team. The car seems to function well in these conditions as we can run the car low and stiff on a smooth track which ultimately suits the characteristics of our car and George seems to like the way it drives. We’ve seen this over the last couple of qualifying sessions and races. George was performing well in Q3 but was just lacking half a tenth to secure pole against Max.

“For Lewis this generation of cars aren’t always suiting his driving style, he likes to be aggressive on corner entries and unfortunately this car at the moment can’t quite take it, especially on qualifying laps when it’s right on the edge. Lewis in the race, however, usually manages to turn it around like last week where he was overtaking car after car and coming through the pack. We’ll see what tomorrow brings and hopefully we can deliver another good result with both cars for the Team.”

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

“The Sprint Race was a bit frustrating, George lost a place into turn 1, he couldn’t quite tuck in and lost a bit of ground to Piastri by not having a tow. It felt like we were close to getting a pass on a couple of occasions but once Lando was helping him out with DRS it was impossible to get through. Lewis had a good start, getting up to P5 but took a bit too much out of the tires and dropped a place from there. It’s a shame that the DRS zone was shortened for this year as it’s always difficult to pass on the sprint races with everyone on the same age tires, this has just made it even harder.

“Qualifying was reasonable but frustrating for George to end up less than 60ms off pole for the second day in a row. The car was working well. It felt like George had a good shot at pole with a strong first lap but our second run wasn’t clean and he failed to improve. Lewis was lacking a bit of rear stability in places which was preventing him going any quicker but P6 will still put us in the fight at the front. From the Sprint this morning it looks like the long run performance is very similar between all the cars so it should make for an interesting race.”

Alpine

Esteban Ocon, DNF

“Unfortunately it was a disappointing weekend and a short race for me today in Qatar. I had a good start to the race and had passed Franco [Colapinto]; I was on the left side of Nico [Hülkenberg] but I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. It got very narrow and unfortunately, I was already on the outside when the collision occurred and our race was then over. It was a race incident and not something that we wanted today.”

Pierre Gasly, 5th

“It was an incredible race today to finish in fifth place and I’m very happy for all the team. I felt like we managed the race well right from the beginning. It was a tough start but we had the pace to stay with Kevin [Magnussen] and once he pitted it was flat out for us lap after lap. In the end, with the Safety Car, we pitted for Hards and then had to keep Carlos [Sainz] behind all the way until the checkered flag. It was certainly an enjoyable race, the car felt good, we were competitive and I was quite confident to hang on to that fifth place. We go into the final round in the fight for the Constructors’ Championship and we have to be ready for it.”

Oliver Oakes, Team Principal

“It was a well-managed and well executed race by the entire team today to score ten points in fifth place with Pierre. For Esteban he was caught in a Turn 1 incident, which was not his fault. The race was incredibly fast paced with a lot of action up and down the field. Pierre did well to stay in the pack in the hunt for points early on and then benefitted with the timing of the Safety Car, like many others, for his mandatory stop. He did an even better job to keep Carlos [Sainz] at bay for fifth place all while managing the tires and doing some fuel saving. Importantly, we go to the season ending race in sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship with a small advantage and the target has to be to remain in that position.”

Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso, 7th

“A very good Sunday for us finishing in seventh and with six points scored. The car felt a little stronger than yesterday and we capitalized on some of the action ahead of us with some retirements and penalties, but we were in the right place at the right time tonight. It’s a good time to get some points on the board for the team and hopefully we can carry this form into Abu Dhabi and finish the season on a high there.”

Lance Stroll, DNF

“The car wasn’t feeling right from the start of the race. I locked the front left at Turn 2 which was strange because it’s not really a corner you brake that much for. Then at Turn 5 I made contact with Alex [Albon] which was completely unintentional. I wasn’t trying to race him; I was just trying to hold my line on the inside of the corner, but I picked up huge levels of understeer. I think maybe my tires weren’t working properly because I couldn’t do anything about it. It’s a shame to retire from the race but we’ll go again in Abu Dhabi next weekend.”

Mike Krack, Team Principal

“An action-packed Qatar Grand Prix where we scored six important points with a strong seventh place for Fernando. It was a race where our patience paid off with good strategy. It is such a shame that Lance was forced to retire early because he surely would have scored points as well. Lance’s car got caught up in the busy first lap battles and there was contact with Alex Albon, which looked to be a racing incident from our perspective. Lance reported feeling something strange with the car, which was impacting performance, and we retired the car soon after that. It’s onwards now to Abu Dhabi, the final race of the season, where we will look to score more points and end the year on a high note.”

Kick Sauber

Valtteri Bottas, 11th

“Today was frustrating, as everything seemed to go against me after a good start. The incident with Lawson cost me track position and gave me floor damage and, from there, I was on the back foot. Zhou was ahead of me and, therefore, had the first pick on strategy. The team pitted me early to learn about the performance of the hard tire, and the timing of the Safety Car couldn’t have been worse: I finished 11th in the end — so close to the points, which makes it all the more disappointing. That said, I’m happy for Zhou and the team. It’s been a challenging year and his P8 is a well-deserved result for everyone who has worked so hard this season. Now it’s off to Abu Dhabi, where I hope we can finish on a high note. The team has shown we can be competitive, so let’s see what we can achieve in the final race.”

Zhou Guanyu, 8th

“What a race! I’m incredibly happy for the entire team. Today was all about delivering a strong performance, and we did just that. We had great pace, stayed clean, and executed our strategy perfectly, making overtakes when it mattered most. It’s a massive boost for everyone involved. Finally scoring some points feels like a huge reward for all the hard work and resilience we’ve shown this season. Given where we started and the challenges we’ve faced, this result means so much more. Shout out to the team for delivering a great race.”

Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative

“Today has been a significant day in Doha for our team. Zhou’s P8 is a result that means a lot to us and reflects the immense effort of our people in Hinwil, those here trackside, and our shareholders. It was a challenging race where every detail mattered. Zhou drove superbly, managing his tires well and staying in control, while our strategy change to extend his stint and pit under the Safety Car on lap 35 proved decisive. His strong pace on hard tires secured this important result for him and the team. Valtteri also contributed strongly to our result, finishing just outside the points in P11. His early stop allowed us to gather crucial data on the hard tires, benefiting Zhou’s strategy. Unfortunately, he was pushed off by Lawson at the restart, which caused damage to his floor and cost us, effectively, the chance of a double points finish. We’re grateful to all our partners and Ferrari for their support. There’s still a lot of work ahead for us, but if we continue with this intensity, we can look forward to a bright future.”

Haas

Nico Hulkenberg, DNF

“Turn one was messy; it was all happening very quickly and it didn’t go well, but I didn’t have any damage so was able to continue. I had a long stint in traffic and then was unlucky with the safety car as others got a free stop. At the restart I lost it in a big way, in a high-speed corner, so it wasn’t our day. The first half of the weekend went well while the second half didn’t. I think the performance in the car isn’t bad, but it’s close, and others around us have good performance; so now we need to reset and go again.”

Kevin Magnussen, 9th

“I’m super gutted with the safety car coming out, it completely ruined the day for me. It was going well and we had a good beginning to the race, but I just wish that safety car hadn’t come out because it really screwed us. There’s still one race to go and we’ll go into it giving everything.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“Today, with Nico coming from P18 it was always going to be difficult, and unfortunately, we didn’t get anything. Kevin, from his side, drove well again but we just didn’t get the philosophy right. He was unlucky with the safety car, but we could’ve covered ourselves a bit better than we did today. The good thing is the deficit is only five points and in Abu Dhabi we really need to focus on getting both of our drivers into points-scoring positions. P8, and P9 – that’s six points – so it’s still all to play for, we need to learn from our mistakes, regroup and focus on doing our best in Abu Dhabi to try and get P6 back.”

Visa Cash App RB

Liam Lawson, 14th

“We weren’t quick enough to be fighting with the teams we need to be today. I had a spin on the first safety car restart when I tried to overtake Bottas. I didn’t have enough temperature in the tires and lost the car and tried hard not to make contact. After this, we caught the pack up and our pace wasn’t bad, but we were out of position. We also experienced balance issues towards the end of the race. It was a tough race, we also struggled here last year. We’ve made big steps this season but there’s more to be taken. Ultimately, we lost a lot of points to our competitors, which we will fight hard for in Abu Dhabi.”

Yuki Tsunoda, 13th

“Today we had a tough race. We had a good start and I knew it was the best opportunity for us to gain some positions, but after that, we simply started to have a lack of pace and we lost positions. We will work together as a team to review the data and get some learning for the future to understand what didn’t work this weekend. Abu Dhabi is next week. Now we all need to reset and we’ll be going there giving our best for the last race weekend of the season.”

Tim Goss, Chief Technical Officer

“A disappointing day for us today. Both drivers performed well at the start and to put us in a strong position to deliver a points finish. But just as in the Sprint, it soon became apparent that we were well short of our usual race pace at this circuit and struggled to defend our place in the points. Our engineers and strategy team did their best to recover the situation, even trying the Option tire compound for the final part of the race. We have plenty of data to work through and the technical team won’t rest until we understand why we struggled today. We will put every effort into delivering a much better race car for the drivers to compete with in Abu Dhabi.”

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal

“It’s been a very difficult weekend in terms of our performance level, right from practice on Friday. It is clear that we never had the pace we needed around this track. With the whole field being so close, if you are just a few tenths off your optimal level, you drop down the order significantly.

“However, no time on track is wasted and we will learn from this event, lessons that will be useful, not only for Abu Dhabi in a few days time, but at this point of the season, even in terms of next year.

“As for our championship aspirations, it’s clear that while we made a step forward in recent races, it coincided with our two rivals for sixth place doing the same, with our former driver Pierre Gasly showing us no mercy today!

“Now our thoughts switch to Abu Dhabi, where everyone in the team at the track and the factory will be working hard to end this first year as Visa Cash App RB in the best way possible.”

Williams

Alex Albon, 15th

“It was a tricky day. We were a little bit in no man’s land most of the race being towards the back and we were struggling with pace. The Safety Car made it interesting, and we took that opportunity to put on Softs. It was an optimistic gamble, but one worth taking because of the pace we had. We knew that on every Safety Car restart the first lap was the only one I could overtake and so we made up some positions and we were in the points for a bit, but we were relying on another Safety Car which didn’t come so then the tires started degrading quite badly. For ten laps we had some good pace but ultimately we were not quick enough.”

Franco Colapinto, DNF

“I’m disappointed to be taken out in Turn 1 after trying to leave a big enough gap on my inside. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and there was nothing I could do to avoid it. It’s quite frustrating as the race had plenty of opportunities to make things happen that could’ve put us in the fight. At the end of the day, it’s part of racing unfortunately. We’ll need to assess the damage from today. It’s important to have a clean weekend in Abu Dhabi and aim to finish the season on a high.”

Sven Smeets, Sporting Director

“A difficult evening for the team today. At the race start we immediately lost Franco as he was hit by Ocon who in turn was hit by Hulkenberg. There was nothing Franco could do other than to retire in lap 1. After a few laps it was clear that with Alex we had to change our strategy and decided to run as long as possible. When the Safety Car came out because some cars were having punctures, we decided to put Alex on the Soft tire and not onto the Hard. We knew it was a gamble but at one point we were running up in 9th place. Unfortunately, our decision didn’t pay off today and Alex had to make another stop just before the end. A tough day for the team again but we are going to Abu Dhabi to fight for points in the last race of the season.”