Qatar GP Dash Qualifying: Oscar Piastri takes pole with Lando Norris third, Max Verstappen sixth

Oscar Piastri claimed pole place for the Qatar Grand Prix Dash as his title rivals Lando Norris and Max Verstappen needed to accept third and sixth, respectively.

Piastri produced a powerful show on the Lusail Worldwide Circuit to edge out Mercedes’ George Russell for pole by simply three hundredths of a second, whereas championship chief Norris was two tenths again after making an error on his second flying lap in SQ3.

Verstappen made an error on his first try at a flying lap in SQ3 and was then outpaced by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and his Purple Bull team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who outqualified the Dutchman for the primary time this season.

Norris is 24 factors away from each his McLaren team-mate Piastri and Purple Bull’s Verstappen going into Saturday’s Dash on the penultimate spherical of the season, and will seal the title on Sunday if he’s at the least 26 factors forward within the standings.

Lewis Hamilton’s disappointing debut marketing campaign with Ferrari continued because the seven-time world champion made a tame exit in SQ1 that leaves him beginning 18th on the grid.

Having certified final in Las Vegas every week earlier, Hamilton as soon as extra lacked tempo and was barely keen to talk in his post-session interview as he uttered a complete of simply 9 phrases in response to a sequence of questions.

Piastri: Good day is sweet for a change!

Piastri’s efficiency, which adopted him topping the weekend’s sole observe session earlier on Friday, ended a poor run of qualifying type that had seen him outpaced by Norris over one lap on six successive events.

The Australian was the clear favorite for the title when he led Norris by 34 factors after the Dutch Grand Prix in August, however a run of six successive grands prix and not using a podium have left him with what he described on Thursday as simply an “outside shot” of catching his team-mate.

After reigniting his hopes on Friday, Piastri mentioned: “It has been a good day, which is nice for a change. Things clicked from the start, so thanks to the team. It has looked good this weekend so far.

“There are some things to tidy up, which is sweet to say on pole. It is solely Dash pole however I’ll take no matter I can get.

“Sprint weekends are tough to know if you are fully on top of things but it felt good all day and we made good adjustments before Qualifying. The pace was there all day.”

Norris bemoans mistake after heated radio trade

Norris has been on an outstanding run of type and would have had the title all however sewn up had it not been for each McLarens being disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix for extreme plank put on.

The Brit stays very a lot in charge of his personal future and was carefully matched with Piastri all through Friday earlier than sloppiness price him within the remaining a part of qualifying.

Norris was behind Piastri after their first runs on account of an error on the remaining nook, after which unusually allowed Alex Albon to go him as they ready for his or her second runs with the clock ticking down, which left him contending with the soiled air coming from the Williams.

Norris initially appeared to criticise his workforce for not leaving him sufficient time, however then accepted accountability as his engineer Will Joseph questioned why he had let Albon previous.

Norris mentioned: “The pace was there but I made a mistake in the last corner. I just didn’t put it together.”

On his prospects for the Dash, he added: “I would be stupid not to try and win but it is impossible to overtake so I think I will probably finish P3. Getting past George Russell on the line is probably the best I can hope for.”

Verstappen ‘attempting to outlive’ after irritating Friday

Verstappen arrived in Qatar with loads of momentum having made main positive aspects by profitable in Vegas, however he was by no means in a position to get on prime of his setup on Friday.

Frustrations he had aired in observe carried over to Dash Qualifying as he misplaced his cool over the radio when complaining about his automobile “bouncing like an idiot”.

Regardless of these struggles, he completed SQ2 inside a tenth of each McLarens and appeared to nonetheless be within the combine for pole, or at the least a second-row grid place.

As an alternative, he ran off monitor throughout his first flying lap in SQ3 and needed to abort it, which might drive him to take a extra conservative method along with his second effort.

Slipping behind Tsunoda meant Verstappen was outqualified by his team-mate for the primary time since Sergio Perez bettered him on the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Verstappen mentioned: “Not good from the primary lap. Simply actually unhealthy bouncing and really aggressive understeer that will shift into oversteer at excessive pace.

“Just not what you want to go fast. We were locked in. We tried to change a few things on the wheel but it never really worked, so it made it quite tricky. We changed a few things but it wasn’t working well, so it’s something we need to understand.”

On his probabilities in Saturday’s Dash, he added: “With this balance, it will not be a lot of fun. It will be more about trying to survive I guess and make some changes going into qualifying.”

Sky Sports activities F1’s Qatar GP schedule

Saturday November 29
1pm: Qatar GP Dash build-up*
2pm: QATAR GP SPRINT*
3.30pm: Ted’s Dash Pocket book*
4.15pm: F2 Dash
5.15pm: Qatar GP Qualifying build-up
6pm: QATAR GP QUALIFYING
8pm: Ted’s Qualifying Pocket book

Sunday November 30
11.55am: F2 Characteristic
2.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Qatar GP build-up
4pm: THE QATAR GRAND PRIX
6pm: Chequered Flag: Qatar GP response
7pm: Ted’s Pocket book

*additionally on Sky Sports activities Fundamental Occasion

System 1’s season-ending triple header continues with the Qatar Grand Prix Dash weekend reside on Sky Sports activities F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports activities with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime