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Laurence Edmondson
Oscar Piastri kept his title chances alive by beating McLaren teammate Lando Norris to pole position for Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix.
Championship leader Norris had a messy end to the qualifying session after a mistake at Turn 2 saw him abort his final attempt just as Piastri started lighting up the timing screens on his way to the fastest time.
Max Verstappen, who is also still in contention for this year’s drivers’ championship, had to settle for third place on the grid for the penultimate race of the season after setting a time 0.264 seconds off Piastri’s 1:19.387 benchmark and 0.156 seconds off Norris.
Piastri is currently 22 points behind Norris following a victory in Saturday’s sprint race in Qatar, with 50 points left to play for across the final two races of the year.
The points gap means Norris will be crowned champion if he wins Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix, while the title battle will continue until Abu Dhabi if Piastri finishes ahead of Norris or within three points of his teammate on Sunday.
Verstappen, who is 25 points behind Norris in the standings, must beat the championship leader in Sunday’s grand prix to stand a chance of taking his title challenge down to the final round.
After the session, Verstappen said there were some limitations with the Red Bull.
“This qualifying was a little bit better. We were still quite far off,” Verstappen said. “I felt happier but still some limitations that don’t allow us to push harder.
“But at least we are P3 and it creates better opportunities. We know it’s quite hard to pass around here.
“Realistically, it’s a bit tough this weekend. Just not what I wanted it to be so far, but we will see what we can do tomorrow.”
Norris held the fastest time after the two McLaren drivers completed their first attempts in Q3, but appeared to carry too much speed into Turn 2 on his second attempt and had to back out of the throttle to avoid going in the gravel.
That opened the door for Piastri to secure pole position with a faster lap, and the Australian continued his impressive form from sprint qualifying and the sprint race earlier this weekend with the fastest time of all.
“I just had a bit of understeer and was going to go off, so I had to abort,” Norris said. “Which was a shame, but it’s the way that it is.
“Oscar did a good lap, drove very well and has been driving well all weekend. Nothing to complain about, just didn’t do the lap, and still P2 for tomorrow.”
Fresh from his sprint victory, Piastri said after qualifying, the team left the car “pretty much the same.
“Everything felt great all weekend. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! The team did a great job. We had a question mark on which tyres to use because I did a quick lap on the used tyres in Q2, but Q3 was very good on the new tyres, so I’m very happy.”
Verstappen beat George Russell‘s Mercedes to third place on the grid by 0.011 seconds, which could be crucial in giving him a shot at finishing ahead of Norris on a track where overtaking opportunities are limited.
Kimi Antonelli will line up fifth on the grid behind his Mercedes teammate Russell, with Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar in sixth and Carlos Sainz in seventh. Williams are under investigation for an unsafe release of Sainz during Q3 after the Spaniard’s rear tyres lifted a sticker from the garage floor and deposited in the first sector, resulting in a brief red flag as drivers returned to the pits between their first and second Q3 runs.
Fernando Alonso secured eighth on the grid for Aston Martin ahead of Pierre Gasly’s Alpine in ninth and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in tenth. Leclerc had a violent spin on his first attempt in Q3, which damaged his only remaining set of fresh soft tyres.
Nico Hülkenberg was 0.003 seconds shy of a spot in Q3 for Sauber and will start 11th on the grid ahead of Liam Lawson’s Racing Bull in 12th and the Haas of Oliver Bearman in 13th.
Gabriel Bortoleto was 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 Sunday’s race in 19th. Alex Albon was 15th fastest — 0.378 seconds off the pace of teammate Sainz in Q2 — but will start 14th as a result of Bortoleto’s penalty.
Yuki Tsunoda missed out on a place in Q2 by 0.080 seconds, marking his third consecutive Q1 exit in as many grands prix. The Red Bull driver will start ahead of Esteban Ocon’s Haas in 16th and the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton in 17th once Bortoleto’s penalty is applied.
Hamilton’s Q1 elimination followed an SQ1 exit in Friday’s sprint qualifying and a failure to make Q2 in Las Vegas last weekend. The last time Hamilton was knocked out in Q1 over two consecutive grands prix weekends was in 2009 while driving for McLaren at the Turkish and British Grands Prix.
Lance Stroll qualified 19th and will start 18th, while Franco Colapinto was the only driver knocked out in Q1 not to benefit from Bortoleto’s penalty and will start 20th.
