Oscar Piastri held off McLaren teammate Lando Norris in the only practice session for the Qatar Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen remained sixth.
Just five days after being disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix, McLaren started the sprint weekend in Qatar with a one-two lead ahead of Friday’s sprint qualifying, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 from 5.30pm, with just 0.058 seconds separating Piastri and Norris.
Norris leads the drivers’ championship with a 24-point lead over Piastri and Verstappen with two races remaining, and will win the title on Sunday if he maintains a lead of at least 26 points in the standings.
So, barring a bad result in Saturday’s 2pm sprint, a win in Sunday’s Grand Prix would guarantee him the title of British F1 World Champion, the 11th champion.
Verstappen was unhappy with the car’s handling throughout the hour of practice, at one point saying his RB21 was “jumping” when changing gears, but he hopes to turn things around for the remainder of the weekend in Qatar, where he won last year.
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Craig Slater explains how Lando Norris was able to win his first F1 world title at the Qatar Grand Prix
“I think Red Bull have some work to do,” said Sky Sports F1’s Bernie Collins.
“Verstappen often complains about changes in the car in P1, but Red Bull are generally very good at reacting to that and getting the car back into a better position.”
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Max Verstappen says he will be ‘all in’ in the race for the Drivers’ Championship title, reflects on McLaren’s two disqualifications at Las Vegas
Norris and Piastri showed little pace on hard tyres, and McLaren only had the upper hand on soft tyres. However, since Piastri was even faster on his second push lap, he appears to be the favorite to win if he is faster on the first lap.
Norris was initially 0.369 seconds faster than his teammate, but a careful lap from the Australian took him to the front, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in third place.
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Lando Norris says two McLaren DSQs in Las Vegas won’t change anything as he aims to win title in Qatar
Williams’ Carlos Sainz was fourth, while Racing Bulls’ Isaac Hajjar, who is expected to be confirmed as Verstappen’s new Red Bull teammate in 2026, was fifth.
Further back, Ferrari faced another tough weekend with Charles Leclerc in 8th and Lewis Hamilton in 12th, while Mercedes were also off the pace with Kimi Antonelli in 10th and George Russell in 14th.
Sky Sports F1 Qatar GP Schedule
Friday, November 28th
4:05pm: F2 Qualifying*
4:50pm: Qatar GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 5:30pm)*
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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
