Episode #557: 2024 F1 Qatar Grand Prix Review

Oh boy, this was another doozy.More FIA shenanigans completely overshadowed F1's Qatar Grand Prix weekend for 2024. President Mohammed Ben Sulayem entered the weekend with yet more firings. This time it was deputy Race Director Janette Tan and Tim Mayer, a 15-year veteran steward. On top of that, he declared that it was "None of the driver's business" how he runs the FIA. That was bad enough, but the action on track was equally messy. On Saturday, Max Verstappen was stripped of pole position after being deemed to have driven necessarily slowly, despite slowing down for other cars and George Russell accusing Max of a block. And then in the race, Alex Albon's fallen wing mirror caused carnage with two punctures to Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton, and Lando Norris hit with a 10-second Stop and Go Penalty for ignoring double-waved yellows. Oh man, another Race Director's in hot water already. Oh, and did we mention Max Verstappen won? And Esteban Ocon's been cut from Alpine a race early? Goodness me. All that in 70 minutes of Motorsport101!