Lando Norris was on top from start to finish to take F1 Qatar GP sprint pole by 0.063s over George Russell, as Oscar Piastri was third.
SQ1:
The first part in sprint F1 Qatar GP qualifying saw fast pace all-through the pack as McLaren’s Lando Norris led the way rightly with a 1m21.356s lap ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ George Russell, where the two Brit at one point set identical times.
Sainz’s teammate Charles Leclerc was sixth after he couldn’t start his final quick lap when he fight with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez as replays showed. The Mexican was hampered in the first sector as he ended up 16th to be knocked out with a 1m22.718s lap – missing out SQ2 by just the 0.013s margin.
P14’s Liam Lawson and P15’s Alexander Albon set identical times to out-qualify Perez. Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda (1m22.722s) missed out by 0.017s margin in 17th, as he led Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m22.906s), Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu (1m22.948s) and Williams’ Franco Colpainto (1m23.423s).
SQ2:
The second part in sprint F1 Qatar GP qualifying was another tightly contested session with Norris leading the pack again after setting a 1m21.231s lap ahead of Russell and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, whose initial lap time was deleted due to track limits and wanted the team to check the floor.
There was another identical lap time set at one point by Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. The drop zone saw Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso miss out by 0.040s margin after his 1m22.433s lap after Alpine’s Pierre Gasly improved on his last attempt to make it into the Top 10 again.
Williams’ Alexander Albon was 12th with a 1m22.526s lap ahead of Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas (1m22.538s), Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (1m22.599s) and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (1m22.738s), where the Dane had just one the lap after mistake on his first attempt.
SQ3:
The final part in sprint F1 Qatar GP qualifying saw a tight end where Norris’ first lap of 1m21.012s was enough to hand him pole for the sprint race on Saturday by 0.063s margin over Russell, who improved late in the session with a 1m21.075s lap after the former elected to pit early.
Piastri improved but was demoted to third by Russell with a 1m21.171s lap. The Ferrari pair of Sainz (1m21.281s) and Leclerc (1m21.308s) slotted in fourth and fifth after late improvements to demote Verstappen (1m21.315s) and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (1m21.474s) to sixth and seventh.
Alpine’s Gasly was eighth as best of the rest with a 1m21.978s lap as Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg was ninth after his 1m22.088s lap as Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson had his best time deleted to be 10th with a 1m22.577s lap.
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