FIA-sco for McLaren as Lando Norris deserved the penalty in Lusail - 2024 Qatar GP Review

Max Verstappen won yet another race in a car that wasn't the fastest. But which car was the fastest in the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix? On Friday, it was the McLaren. On Saturday, it was the Mercedes, but on Sunday, was it the McLaren again? Or the Red Bull Racing car have a slight edge?

We believe it was McLaren's race to win...and they didn't. Yet another race where they didn't maximise their result. M4xsterclass in Qatar was the reason this time. Verstappen ensured he didn't lose the race lead to George Russell at the start and to Lando Norris at the restarts.

Along with Verstappen's 9th win of 2024, it was also his 1-place grid penalty in Qualifying that made the headlines. On Sunday, Norris' "10 second stop-go" penalty was another fiasco that dogged the FIA - did they exaggerate the safety situation by throwing a double yellow flag? Why were they late in deploying the Safety Car to remove Alexander Albon's broken wing mirror?

In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, @f1statsguru and Kunal Shah present to you the review of the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix. The unfortunate punctures for Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton, Hamilton's unforced errors in the race, Russell's lack of spatial awareness, Pierre Gasly's 5th place for Alpine, Fernando Alonso scoring in his 400th race in Formula 1 and of course, Zhou Guanyu scoring his and Sauber's first points of the season.

A lot happened in Qatar, on and off track. We dissect the chaos and the racing.

Tune in!

(Season 2024, Episode 61)

Follow our hosts:  @f1statsguru  & Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Mercedes

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