2024 Qatar GP Qualifying Update & Tips – JP
2024 Qatar GP Qualifying Preview
George Russell was thwarted by the McLarens in the Sprint race and had to settle for third. James Punt is hoping to get back on track this evening. Check out his 2024 Qatar GP Qualifying preview and tips below.
2024 Qatar GP Qualifying Update
Part one of the weekend is over, ending with a 1-2 for McLaren. Norris led from pole position, but he had to drive within himself to allow Piastri to stay within DRS range in order to stay ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes. The Mercedes was faster down the straight, but the McLaren faster in the corners.
Norris was very sporting to let Piastri past on the final run up the straight. That was returning the favour from Brazil but be in no doubt that Norris was easily the fastest driver on the track, helped of course by the fact that he had clean air. He could have just driven off into the distance had he chosen to.
We now go back to the qualifying format, but should we expect a different result? We have to think that we could. Of the five sprint race weekends so far in 2024, the sprint pole winner has gone on to get the race pole just twice, but it tends to be the same drivers, in a different order.
Perfect Lap
Qualifying is all about the perfect lap, or at least the best the driver can muster at a certain point in time. It was remarkably close between Norris and Russell in yesterday’s qualifying session, just 0.063 between the two, and on what is a long lap, that is very close. The nearest Ferrari was 0.269 back. That will be hard to make up, but certainly, Russell is in the hunt.
The teams are now free to change the set up on their cars and that does mean the pecking order can change. Red Bull, for example, will try and get rid of the oversteer in the car. I would expect Verstappen to be more competitive later.
McLaren may want to take a bit of downforce from their set up. They were slow down the straight and vulnerable over a race distance. All the teams will have gathered plenty of data and will look to fine tune their cars for this qualifying and, more importantly, tomorrow’s race.
We backed Norris for yesterday’s pole, and for this upcoming session, both at 3.00. He is now a best priced 1.80 so it was the right move. Hopefully he can do it, but Russell is a real threat and at 7.00, he is a good each way bet.
Skybet had been 7.00 with 1/5th the odds 1-3, but that did not last long. Hills are still 7.00, if you can get a bet with them, otherwise you have to settle for 6.00 and 1/3rd the odds 1-2.
2024 Qatar GP Qualifying Tip: 1 point e/w George Russell to be the fastest qualifier @ 7.00 with Hills (1/3 odds 1-2)
There are two match bets which look worth backing.
Lewis Hamilton has got the bottom lip out and has packed his bags ready for the holidays. He does not care a jot about this session or the two remaining races. Feeling sorry for yourself will not make you faster. He is being shown up by Russell and he does not like it, so he has downed tools.
Max Verstappen just about managed to beat Hamilton in the sprint shootout, and I expect that Red Bull will have his car better suited to his demands for the rest of the weekend. Verstappen has been matched with Hamilton at Ladbrokes, which is a bit weird given their season to date record is 20-2 to Verstappen.
2024 Qatar GP Qualifying Tip: 1 point Max Verstappen to outqualify Lewis Hamilton @ 1.67 with Ladbrokes
Over at Ferrari, Carlos Sainz is finishing his time with Ferrari in fine style. Unlike Hamilton, he has a job to do, and he is doing it well. He outqualified Leclerc yesterday and outraced him today. In the last four GP qualifications he is 3-1 with his teammate and he is proving a point regarding being dropped by the team. He is highly motivated. Sainz looks a decent price to make it 4-1.
