Oscar Piastri may have left it late in the championship race, but the Australian is certainly not going out without a fight. The McLaren driver took pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix Saturday, just hours after winning the Sprint to cut teammate Lando Norris’s lead to 22 points at the floodlit Lusail International Circuit.
Four-time defending champion Max Verstappen, the only other driver still in title contention and 25 points adrift of the Briton, qualified fourth for Red Bull.
Norris initially topped the leaderboard after the opening laps of Q3 but, following a brief delay to clear debris, the championship leader ran wide at Turn 2 on his final push lap and backed off. That opened the door for Piastri, who responded decisively to Norris’s early gambit.
The Australian delivered a superb 1m 19.387s on his second flying lap, enough to secure pole by 0.108s. Norris, who knows victory in today’s race will seal his maiden Formula 1 title, was left frustrated after appearing slightly distracted on his out-lap while negotiating George Russell’s Mercedes before the Turn 2 error scuppered his last attempt.
Piastri was delighted with his qualifying effort. “We left the car pretty much the same, very minor tweaks here and there, but everything has been feeling great all weekend, so if it ain't broke, don't fix it,” he said. “It was really good. We had a question mark on which tyres to use because I did a quick lap on a used set in Q2, but Q3 was really good on the new tyres.”
On the physical challenge of today’s race, he noted: “Pretty tough. I think with the two stops, we’re probably going to be pushing hard the whole time. It won’t be as hot as a couple of years ago but I’m expecting it to be a tough race. You’re pulling G forces at multiple points on the lap, so it’s hard work but incredible fun.”
Norris, meanwhile, offered no excuses for his costly mistake as he praised his teammate. “I just got a bit of understeer and was going to go off, so I had to abort. Which is a shame, but that’s the way it is. Oscar did a good lap and has driven very well all weekend, so nothing to complain about – just didn’t do the lap. The first couple of laps are opportunities for everyone, but after that it should probably be straightforward,” he said.
Verstappen ended the session just over a tenth further back. The Dutchman must finish ahead of Norris today to keep his title hopes alive and take the fight to the Abu Dhabi finale.
Verstappen admitted Red Bull still lack pace but remained optimistic. “This qualifying was a little bit better. We are still quite far off, but at least I felt a little bit happier. Some limitations prevent us from pushing harder around the lap, but we are P3 and starting on the second row, and that creates better opportunities because it’s hard to pass around here. We will see what we can do tomorrow,” he said
Behind the leading trio, Russell and Kimi Antonelli locked out the third row for Mercedes, followed by Carlos Sainz in the Williams. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari completed the top ten.
Earlier, Piastri had returned to winning ways with a dominant lights-to-flag victory in sprint race. He controlled the 19-lap dash to take his first win since the Dutch Grand Prix in August, collecting eight points to cut Norris’s lead. Norris finished where he started in third behind Russell
Verstappen gained two places with a brilliant launch to finish fourth. Yuki Tsunoda and Antonelli crossed the line fifth and sixth for Red Bull and Mercedes respectively, despite both serving five-second penalties for repeated track-limits infringements. Alonso took seventh, while Sainz claiming the final point in eighth.
Ferrari endured a miserable evening, with Leclerc slipping back at the start and finishing only 13th. Lewis Hamilton fared even worse, crossing the line 17th on what is turning into another deeply frustrating weekend for the seven-time world champion.
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