Piastri Wins Sprint Qualifying at the Qatar Grand Prix
Australian driver Oscar Piastri, representing McLaren, dominated the qualifying for the sprint race of the Qatar Grand Prix, securing the “minipole” at the Lusail circuit.
Piastri set a time of 1:20.055, demonstrating exceptional performance in the session.
The competition was intense, with Piastri narrowly beating George Russell (Mercedes), who was 32 thousandths of a second behind, and his teammate, Lando Norris, 230 thousandths behind.Alonso Highlights Fourth Position
The experienced Spanish driver Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) put in a remarkable performance, securing fourth position (+395). His compatriot Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) finished eighth, 487 thousandths of a second behind the leader.Verstappen Faces Difficulties
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) had a complicated session, finishing sixth (+473) after going off track which affected his performance.
Lewis Hamilton also faced problems, being eliminated in SQ1 (18th) without being able to complete his last lap.Notable Eliminations
Gabriel Bortoleto (Kick Sauber) failed to advance from SQ2 (13th), while Franco Colapinto (Williams) did not pass SQ1 (20th).
In SQ2, Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) was out, while young Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) advanced by a narrow margin.SQ3 Development
Piastri started the final round with a time of 1:20.241, while Verstappen was dealing with damage to his car. Russell temporarily took the lead with 1:20.087, but Piastri responded with a perfect lap (1:20.055) to secure the “minipole”.
Norris couldn’t improve his time due to a braking loss in one of the initial corners.Upcoming Events
The sprint race of the Qatar Grand Prix will take place on Saturday starting at 3:00 p.m. (local time), with a total of 23 laps on the Lusail circuit.
