For the final time in 2024, it was time for Sprint Qualifying on a Friday Night in Lusail!
SQ1
In Sprint Qualifying 1; Sergio Perez, Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, Zhou Guanyu, and Franco Colapinto were the five slowest drivers! Sergio Perez had yet another shocker for Red Bull, and that’s all I want to say about it honestly whilst Yuki Tsunoda also had a disappointing day to miss out on SQ2 entirely! Esteban Ocon was pretty poor down in P18, ahead of the Kick Sauber of Zhou Guanyu whilst Franco Colapinto was comfortably slowest as the Argentine continues to struggle for form! It was Lando Norris who topped SQ1, some 5-tenths clear of former teammate Carlos Sainz!
SQ2
In Sprint Qualifying 2; Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll, and Kevin Magnussen all failed to make it into the Top 10 shootout! Fernando Alonso did a decent job to get close to SQ3, as did Alex Albon in the Williams whilst Valtteri Bottas did a really good job to put his Kick Sauber up into 13th! Lance Stroll will start 14th after being about a tenth and a half behind his Aston Martin teammate whilst Kevin Magnussen ended up slowest after a disappointing final run! It was once again Lando Norris on top for McLaren, with George Russell following in a couple of tenths back!
SQ3
In Sprint Qualifying 3, a 1:21.012 was enough for Lando Norris to take the final Sprint Pole of the year! Lando looked supremely quick throughout this whole session, and he deserved Pole Position so well done to him! George Russell did another terrific job to get his Mercedes on the Front Row, ahead of the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri whilst Carlos Sainz will start 4th for Ferrari after being teammate Charles Leclerc! Max Verstappen could only manage 6th, one place above Lewis Hamilton who once again had a disappointing Qualifying Session! Pierre Gasly once again smashed it to get P8, ahead of the always-quick Nico Hulkenberg whilst Liam Lawson deserves some praise for getting his Visa Cash App RB into SQ3!
Starting Grid for the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix Sprint and My Sprint Qualifying Grades
Lando Norris: 10
George Russell: 10
Oscar Piastri: 9
Carlos Sainz: 8
Charles Leclerc: 7
Max Verstappen: 6
Lewis Hamilton: 5
Pierre Gasly: 10
Nico Hulkenberg: 9
Liam Lawson: 8
Fernando Alonso: 6
Alex Albon: 6
Valtteri Bottas: 7
Lance Stroll: 4
Kevin Magnussen: 4
Sergio Perez: 1
Yuki Tsunoda: 2
Esteban Ocon: 1
Zhou Guanyu: 2
Franco Colapinto: 1
Credit: Motorsport Week
My Predictions for the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix Sprint
Lando Norris
Oscar Piastri
George Russell
Carlos Sainz
Charles Leclerc
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