Piastri achieves pole position in Qatar, Norris and Verstappen behind

Piastri secures pole position in Qatar, Norris and Verstappen chase him

Oscar Piastri, from the McLaren team, kept his championship chances alive by beating his teammate, Lando Norris, in qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix. Norris, championship leader, had a complicated end in the qualifying session due to an error in turn 2, which forced him to abort his last attempt just as Piastri was beginning to set the best times. Max Verstappen, also in the fight for the drivers’ championship, settled for third place on the starting grid for the penultimate race of the season, setting a time 0.264 seconds behind Piastri’s reference (1:19.387) and 0.156 seconds behind Norris. Piastri, after his victory in Saturday’s sprint race, is 22 points behind Norris, with 50 points still up for grabs in the last two races of the year. The points difference means Norris will be crowned champion if he wins Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix. The title battle will continue to Abu Dhabi if Piastri finishes ahead of Norris or within three points of his teammate on Sunday. Verstappen, 25 points behind Norris in the standings, must beat the championship leader in Sunday’s grand prix to have a chance of taking his title challenge to the final round.

This classification was a little better. We were still quite far off.

Max Verstappen

Verstappen also commented that he felt some limitations in the Red Bull, but at least secured third place, which opens up better opportunities. Norris, for his part, regretted his mistake in qualifying, but acknowledged Piastri’s good performance.

Oscar did a good lap, he drove very well and has been driving well all weekend. There’s nothing to complain about, I just didn’t do the lap, and still P2 for tomorrow.

Lando Norris

Piastri, after his victory in the sprint race, highlighted that the team kept the car “practically the same”, showing his satisfaction with the weekend’s performance.

Verstappen beat Mercedes’ George Russell by 0.011 seconds, which could be crucial to have the opportunity to finish ahead of Norris on a circuit with limited overtaking opportunities. Kimi Antonelli will start fifth on the grid, behind his teammate Russell, with Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) in sixth and Carlos Sainz in seventh. Fernando Alonso secured eighth place for Aston Martin, ahead of Pierre Gasly (Alpine) in ninth and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) in tenth. Leclerc had a spin on his first attempt in Q3, damaging his only remaining set of new soft tires. Nico Hülkenberg was 0.003 seconds away from entering Q3 for Sauber and will start 11th on the grid, ahead of Liam Lawson (Racing Bull) in 12th and Oliver Bearman (Haas) in 13th. Gabriel Bortoleto was the 14th fastest for Sauber, but faces a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision on the opening lap of the Las Vegas Grand Prix and will start 19th in Sunday’s race. Alex Albon was the 15th fastest, but will start 14th due to Bortoleto’s penalty. Yuki Tsunoda failed to make it into Q2 by 0.080 seconds, marking his third consecutive Q1 exit in as many Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver will start ahead of Esteban Ocon (Haas) in 16th and Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) in 17th, once Bortoleto’s penalty is applied. Hamilton was eliminated in Q1, after an exit in SQ1 in Friday’s sprint qualifying and failed to enter Q2 in Las Vegas last weekend. The last time Hamilton was eliminated in Q1 for two consecutive Grand Prix weekends was in 2009, while driving for McLaren in the Turkish and British Grand Prix. Lance Stroll qualified 19th and will start 18th, while Franco Colapinto was the only driver eliminated in Q1 who did not benefit from Bortoleto’s penalty and will start 20th.