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2024-11-17
Max Verstappen was delighted with his and Red Bull's efforts after claiming his ninth win of the Formula One season at a chaotic Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday. (More Motorsport News)
Verstappen followed up securing his fourth world title in Las Vegas with an impressive display, having been stripped of pole position shortly before the race.
The Dutchman started the weekend with a disappointing eighth-place finish in the sprint race that was won by the McLaren of Oscar Piastri.
But he made amends in some style, becoming only the third driver in F1 history to surpass the 3,000 points barrier after Lewis Hamilton (4,875) and Sebastian Vettel (3,098).
After passing pole-sitter George Russell on the opening lap, Verstappen remained at the front of the pack for the duration of the 57-lap encounter.
It is the 14th time he has led every lap in a single race and the first time since Bahrain earlier this year, surpassing Jim Clark's record of 13 in the competition.
“It was a very good race. In qualifying, the car was a lot better and then [on Sunday] that first stint was very, very fast," Verstappen said.
"Lando [Norris] and I were making 1.8 seconds of each other the whole time and pushing each other, it was honestly a lot of fun out there.
“This track has a lot of grip and this year the tyres were really holding on, so, it was a lot of fun to really be pushing the tyres, and we went really long in that first stint.
"After that there were a lot of safety car moments when you had to take the car.
"I'm very happy it's been a long while in the drive and to be this competitive, and I'm very proud of everyone in the team turning it around, so they definitely deserve this victory."
Pure art #F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/nIoUoNQssx
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 1, 2024Verstappen's victory saw Red Bull surpass 7,000 laps led in their F1 history thanks to his display, becoming the fifth team to reach that milestone in the competition.
But his triumph was far from straightforward, with the safety car making an appearance on three occasions during the race for a number of incidents, leaving Verstappen to restart the race each time.
He ultimately held onto the lead as Russell was pushed wide late on, and explained after the race exactly what went wrong to leave him battling to protect top spot.
"On the hard tyres there was very little grip. You've just come out of the box so they're already cold, and then immediately, of course, we had the safety car," he added.
"Behind the safety car you can't warm them up, and then I tried something different at the last corner where I had no rear grip, so I just struggled for traction out of the corner.
"It got a bit spicy into Turn 1, but I think that's great to see. After thatslot machine real money, we drove it to the end with good pace so very happy to win here."