Oscar Piastri took pole position for the Qatar GP sprint, but title rivals Lando Norris and Max Verstappen finished third and sixth respectively.
Piastri put in a strong performance at the Lusail International Circuit, taking pole position just three-hundredths of a second ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, but championship leader Norris made a mistake on his second flying lap in SQ3, leaving him two tenths behind.
Verstappen made a mistake on his first flying lap in SQ3 and was overtaken by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull teammate Hiroki Tsunoda, who overtook Verstappen for the first time this season.
Norris heads into Saturday’s penultimate race of the season with a 24-point lead over McLaren teammate Piastri and Red Bull’s Verstappen, but the title will be confirmed on Sunday if he maintains at least a 26-point lead in the standings.
Lewis Hamilton’s debut season with Ferrari continued with disappointing results, with the seven-time world champion quietly exiting in SQ1 and starting 18th on the grid.
Hamilton, who qualified last in Las Vegas a week ago, once again lacked pace and showed little desire to speak in the post-session interview, speaking only nine words in total in response to a series of questions.
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Lewis Hamilton remains quiet after losing SQ1 at Qatar GP
Piastri: On a good day, it’s good for a change of pace!
Piastri’s performance, which saw him take the sole lead in the weekend’s free practice session early Friday, ended a slump in qualifying that had seen him overtaken by Norris on the first lap for six consecutive times.
The Australian had a 34-point lead over Norris after August’s Dutch Grand Prix and was by far the favorite to win, but a six-race run without a podium finish resulted in what he described as nothing more than an “outside shot” to catch his teammate on Thursday.
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The moment McLaren’s Oscar Piastri pushes Mercedes’ George Russell to pole position in the Qatar GP sprint race
After rekindling hopes on Friday, Piastri said: “Today was a good day. It was good for a change of pace. Things were going well from the start, so thank you to the team. This weekend has looked good so far.”
“There are some things to sort out, but I’m happy to say I’m on pole position. It’s only a sprint pole, but I’ll take whatever I can get.”
“During the weekend sprints, it’s hard to tell if you’re fully fit or not, but I felt good throughout the day and was able to make some good adjustments before qualifying. The pace was there all day.”
After heated radio exchange, Norris laments mistake
Norris was in great form and the title would have been almost untouched had both McLaren teams not been disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix due to excessive wear on their boards.
The Briton was still in full control of his own destiny and had a close race with Piastri throughout Friday, but sloppiness took its toll in the final part of qualifying.
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Max Verstappen claimed Lando Norris cut him off at Turn 16 at the Qatar Grand Prix, but Norris later said Verstappen did the same thing at Turn 1 during sprint qualifying.
Norris was behind Piastri on the first run as a result of an error at the final corner, but as he prepared for his second run with the clock ticking down, he mysteriously allowed Alex Albon to pass Piastri, leaving him to battle the dirty air coming from the Williams.
Norris initially seemed to criticize his team for not leaving enough time, but he questioned why engineer Will Joseph had missed Albon and accepted responsibility.
“I had the pace, but I made a mistake in the last corner. I just didn’t put it together,” Norris said.
Regarding the outlook for Sprint, he added: “It would be foolish not to try to win, but it’s impossible to overtake, so I think I’ll probably finish third. Passing George Russell on the line is probably the best I can hope for.”
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Norris secures third place in Qatar GP sprint and says he expects to finish the race in the same position
Verstappen ‘trying to survive’ after frustrating Friday
Verstappen arrived in Qatar with a lot of momentum after his victory in Las Vegas, but he was unable to get his set-up going on Friday.
His complaints during practice carried over into sprint qualifying, where he lost his cool by complaining over the radio that his car was “bouncing like crazy.”
Despite those struggles, he finished SQ2 within a tenth of both McLarens and looked to still have pole position, or at least a second row grid position.
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All about Verstappen’s passionate radio message on the first day of the Qatar GP
Instead, he ran off the track during SQ3’s first flying lap and had to stop. As a result, he was forced to take a more cautious approach on his second attack.
Verstappen, who slipped in behind Tsunoda, became the first teammate to fail to qualify since Sergio Perez outperformed him at the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Verstappen said: “It wasn’t good from the first lap. There was a lot of bounce, very aggressive understeer and at high speeds it would transition into oversteer.”
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McLaren CEO Zac Brown likens Verstappen’s aggression during Qatar Grand Prix to a character in a horror movie
“It wasn’t something you wanted to go fast. We were locked in. We tried changing some things on the steering wheel and it didn’t really work, so it became very tricky. We changed some things and it didn’t work. So you have to figure it out.”
Regarding his chances in Saturday’s sprint, he added: “With this balance, it won’t be very fun. It will be important to make some changes for qualifying in order to survive.”
Sky Sports F1 Qatar GP Schedule
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A look back at some of the most dramatic moments that happened at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Saturday, November 29th
1pm: Qatar GP Sprint build-up*
2pm: Qatar GP Sprint*
3:30pm: Ted’s Sprint Notebook*
4:15pm: F2 Sprint
5:15pm: Qatar GP qualifying build-up
6pm: Qatar GP Qualifying
8pm: Ted’s Qualification Notebook
Sunday, November 30th
11:55am: F2 Special
2:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Qatar GP Build-up
4pm: Qatar Grand Prix
6pm: Checkered flag: Qatar GP reaction
7pm: Ted’s Notes
*Also held at Sky Sports Main Event
F1’s season-ending triple header continues with the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint weekend, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
