Verstappen and Norris Aim to Recover in Qatar Sprint Race, Piastri Surprises with Pole Position
DOHA, Qatar – Max Verstappen and Lando Norris will face a sprint race on Saturday with the aim of minimizing damage, after Oscar Piastri achieved a surprising pole position, adding an unexpected twist to the Formula 1 championship fight. Piastri, after a period of irregular results, achieved a timely return to pole position in Qatar. On the last lap, he demonstrated great skill in controlling his car and overtaking George Russell.Norris, who leads Piastri and Verstappen by 24 points before the penultimate round of the season, went off track at the end of his lap, ruining his chances of getting pole position. Verstappen, for his part, could only manage sixth place.It was a good day. From the first lap we were competitive and made good adjustments in qualifying and everything felt good. The last lap was quite solid, except for a pretty big moment, but it was clearly good enough. I am happy. It’s good to be back on top, so I hope we can continue like this.
Oscar Piastri
Verstappen struggled throughout the session, complaining to Red Bull about the balance of his car and being outqualified by his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, for the first time.No, of course, I’m stupid if I don’t try to win. I’m here to try to win. So, I’ll see what I can find during the night and what we can do for tomorrow. It’s impossible to overtake, so I think I’ll probably finish third. But if I can at least get George off the line or something, then that’s probably the most I can hope for.
Lando Norris
When asked what can be expected in the sprint, which is run a few hours before another qualifying session for Sunday’s Grand Prix, he was pessimistic.It wasn’t good from the first lap. Really bad bouncing and very aggressive understeer that would turn into oversteer at high speed. It’s not what you want to go fast. So then you’re stuck and we tried, of course, to change some things on the steering wheel, but it never really worked. That made it quite complicated.
Max Verstappen
While his two rivals lamented disappointing sessions, Piastri celebrated an unexpected return to form after a streak that has seen him fall drastically from the top of the championship. Piastri hadn’t achieved any pole position since the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August, which was also his last victory in F1. In the time elapsed, he has lost the championship lead to Norris and has seen Verstappen reduce a 104-point deficit. When asked if Turn 1 was crucial to his title fight on Saturday, Piastri replied:With this balance, tomorrow in the sprint at least, it won’t be very fun. So it will be more a matter of trying to survive, I suppose, and then making some changes for qualifying.
Max Verstappen
Yes, exactly. That’s all I can do and we’ve started off on the right foot, so let’s hope we can keep it up.
Oscar Piastri
