Piastri pips Norris to Qatar sprint race pole as McLaren sweep front row

McLaren rookie driver Oscar Piastri has taken pole position for the Qatar sprint race, beating team mate Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.

Piastri snatched pole from his team mate with his last lap of SQ3 after an error in the final corner by Norris prevented him from beating his team mate. Verstappen could only manage third on the grid after losing his first push lap of SQ3 for exceeding track limits.

SQ1

Two significant adjustments were made to the Losail International Circuit before the sprint race qualifying session began. The track limits were moved inwards at turns 12 and 13 by means of a repainted line, after Pirelli raised concerns with the FIA over how tyres were being affected by the high kerbs around the track. As a result, a 10-minute acclimatisation session was held shortly before the start of the qualifying session to allow drivers to get used to the track changes.

The two Ferraris of Carlos Sainz Jnr and Charles Leclerc were the first out onto the track when the first phase of qualifying got underway. Leclerc was the quicker of the two Ferraris, posting a 1’26.955, but that was easily beaten by Sergio Perez’s Red Bull and Lando Norris in the McLaren.

George Russell put Mercedes at the top but not for long as Max Verstappen posted a 1’25.510 to take the top spot. Undeterred, Russell then reclaimed the fastest time with his next lap of a 1’25.413, almost a tenth quicker than the championship leader.

In the closing minutes of the session, Lance Stroll was once again at risk of elimination from the first phase, with Kevin Magnussen, Liam Lawson, Zhou Guanyu and Logan Sargeant also in danger of missing out. Lawson improved to put himself into safety, which dropped team mate Yuki Tsunoda into the drop zone. Tsunoda’s final effort put him into Q2 by just five-thousandths of a second, but was deleted for a track limits infringement, and the AlphaTauri driver was furious when told of his fate.

Both Williams drivers put in laps good enough to go safe, but both Sargeant and Albon had their final laps removed for track limits. After it all shook out, Stroll, Albon, Tsunoda, Magnussen and Sargeant all failed to make the cut, the latter not registering a lap time.

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SQ1 result

P.	#	Driver	Team	Model	Time	Gap	Laps
1	63	George Russell	Mercedes	W14	1’25.413		7
2	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB19	1’25.510	0.097	3
3	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL60	1’25.672	0.259	6
4	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	A523	1’25.829	0.416	7
5	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	SF-23	1’25.872	0.459	8
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR23	1’25.936	0.523	5
7	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL60	1’25.979	0.566	7
8	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	A523	1’26.072	0.659	7
9	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB19	1’26.123	0.710	6
10	40	Liam Lawson	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	AT04	1’26.202	0.789	6
11	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	SF-23	1’26.266	0.853	8
12	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	W14	1’26.424	1.011	7
13	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	C43	1’26.449	1.036	5
14	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	VF-23	1’26.450	1.037	7
15	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	C43	1’26.669	1.256	5
16	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR23	1’26.849	1.436	8
17	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	FW45	1’26.862	1.449	6
18	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	AT04	1’26.926	1.513	6
19	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	VF-23	1’27.438	2.025	5
20	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams-Mercedes	FW45	2’05.741	40.328	7

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SQ2

The second session of sprint qualifying saw the sun beginning to drop ever lower towards the horizon, offering a particular challenge for drivers with so many Western-facing corner entries around the track.

Lewis Hamilton was one of the first drivers out on track, but both he and Ferrari rival Leclerc lost their first timed laps for exceeding the confines of the circuit at turns 13 and five, respectively. Norris, however, did a much better job of staying within the lines and posted a 1’24.947 to set the early benchmark, two tenths ahead of Verstappen in the Red Bull.

Many of the teams who did not anticipate fighting for pole position appeared content to remain in the garage and head out for just a single run near the end of the session, including Alpine, Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo.

Sainz lost his second push lap for track limits, leaving him with just one final attempt to be able to secure passage through into SQ3. Hamilton improved at the chequered flag but the Mercedes driver was left to nervously wait when his time was struck off for track limits, leaving him vulnerable in tenth. Eventually, Sainz completed his final flying lap and knocked out the Mercedes driver, Hamilton becoming the biggest scalp to fall from the second session.

Joining Hamilton out at the second stage were Pierre Gasly, Bottas in 13th as well as Lawson and Zhou, who both lost their final laps for track limits infringements.

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SQ2 result

P.	#	Driver	Team	Model	Time	Gap	Laps
1	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL60	1’24.947		9
2	63	George Russell	Mercedes	W14	1’25.027	0.080	14
3	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB19	1’25.143	0.196	12
4	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB19	1’25.199	0.252	6
5	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR23	1’25.344	0.397	10
6	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	SF-23	1’25.367	0.420	15
7	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	SF-23	1’25.433	0.486	15
8	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL60	1’25.496	0.549	13
9	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	VF-23	1’25.499	0.552	13
10	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	A523	1’25.510	0.563	12
11	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	A523	1’25.686	0.739	12
12	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	W14	1’25.962	1.015	14
13	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	C43	1’26.236	1.289	8
14	40	Liam Lawson	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	AT04	1’26.584	1.637	12
15	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	C43	1’54.546	29.599	10

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SQ3

Verstappen was looking on ominous form yet again and as the final phase of sprint qualifying began he immediately bolted out of the pit lane to take full advantage of the clear track. He threw down the gauntlet to his rivals by posting a 1’24.543, however, it was all for nothing when it was immediately deleted for running wide at the exit of turn five.

That infraction allowed his team mate Perez to jump to the top of the order with a 1’25.382, but that was beaten by Leclerc by two tenths. That is, until the Ferrari driver became the next driver to have his time deleted for running wide at turn 13.

The McLaren drivers, Norris and Piastri took advantage to seize the top two positions by both posting 1’24.5s. Perez improved by a matter of milliseconds but then lost his time for track limits, dropping him down the order.

Verstappen’s second and final push lap on used soft tyres was only thousandths of a second slower than his first effort, but that left him in third behind the two McLarens and remarkably off pole position. That meant that the battle for pole was down to the two McLaren drivers, with Norris holding the advantage.

Piastri improved to jump into provisional pole with a 1’24.454, with only Norris able to best him. However, a mistake at the final corner ruined his final lap, meaning the rookie secured his first pole position for an F1 race. Norris was less than a tenth behind his team mate in second, with Verstappen resigned to third.

Russell secured fourth on the grid ahead of the two Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc. Nico Hulkenberg took seventh for Haas, with Perez eighth after having his final push lap deleted for track limits. Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon completed the top ten, with both failing to put in a single valid lap time in the final phase of sprint qualifying.

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SQ3 result

P.	#	Driver	Team	Model	Time	Gap	Laps
1	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL60	1’24.454		18
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL60	1’24.536	0.082	14
3	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB19	1’24.646	0.192	12
4	63	George Russell	Mercedes	W14	1’24.841	0.387	17
5	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	SF-23	1’25.155	0.701	21
6	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	SF-23	1’25.247	0.793	21
7	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	VF-23	1’25.320	0.866	16
8	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB19	1’25.382	0.928	17
9	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR23	No time		13
10	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	A523	No time		15

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