First-half goals from record signing Matt Jarvis, bought from Wolverhampton Wanderers for 10.75 million pounds, and Ricardo Vaz Te sealed West Ham's victory over their London rivals.
Jarvis's first goal for West Ham, a neatly-taken header past the despairing dive of former Inter Milan and Champions League-winning goalkeeper Julio Cesar, stunned the home side who are still winless and with just two points from six games.
"The sending-off helped us but overall we deserved it," Hammers captain Kevin Nolan told Sky Sports.
"You see with the quality we had on the bench tonight we're looking to do more than just stay in the Premier League," added the midfielder.
QPR manager Mark Hughes was upset at his side's performance despite the improved second-half showing.
"We were very poor and nowhere near the positive results you need to stay in the Premier League. It wasn't what we required tonight," said Hughes.
"The sending-off completely killed our momentum. It was a bit harsh on Samba. He seems to get penalised fairly readily but it's something he needs to work on."
