Lando Norris dominates sprint qualifying at the Qatar Grand Prix
Max Verstappen may have achieved his fourth consecutive world championship in Las Vegas last weekend, but there is still plenty to play for. There is a three horse race for the constructors’ world championship going into the last two Grand Prix weekends of the season. McLaren is leading the way but Ferrari is closing in with Red Bull not completely out of the running yet. Further down the championship only four points covers P6 to P8, a very important, and lucrative, battle between Haas, Alpine, and RB.
In free practice one, the only practice session this weekend, Ferrari and McLaren were leading the way, covering the top four. Mercedes remains in the mix with George Russell in P8 and Lewis Hamilton in P10. While Verstappen was just behind Hamilton in P11, Red Bull may be concerned that Sergio Perez remains adrift from the team’s biggest competitors down in P18. But we always take practice sessions with a pinch of salt, the first true test will be sprint qualifying…
SQ1
As the light goes green for SQ1, Kevin Magnussen and Lance Stroll lead out the two Saubers as the drivers have 12 minutes to get through to the second part of sprint qualifying. The entire grid is quick to get out on the track, traffic was an issue in FP1 earlier today, so perhaps the grid doesn’t want to risk anything.
Carlos Sainz is the first of the McLarens and Ferraris to start a timed lap. The Spaniard jumps up to P2 with a 1:23,543, behind Valtteri Bottas. However, Charles Leclerc goes quickest with a 1:23.259. The newly crowned world champion cannot match the Ferrari driver, slotting into P2 behind Leclerc.
Next up we have the two McLarens, with Lando Norris leading his teammate on track. Norris goes purple in the first two sectors, going almost half a second quicker than Leclerc. Oscar Piastri is almost eight tenths behind his teammate, slotting into P6. Russell and Hamilton are the last two drivers from the top four teams to complete their lap times, going P2 and P9. Meanwhile, Perez finds himself down in P18 with all 20 drivers having set a time.
With three minutes left on the clock Hamilton, Zhou Guanyu, Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto, and Liam Lawson find themselves in the bottom five. However the times are tumbling as the grid continues to pump in the laps. Hamilton and Lawson get themselves out of trouble but now its the two Aston Martins that need to find some speed as we have a matter of seconds left on the clock. Perez also continues to slip down the timesheet, the Mexican can only go P13 on his last lap.
Colapinto is the first driver out, with Alex Albon knocking Perez out of SQ1. Zhou and Yuki Tsunoda also cannot improve out of the bottom five, with Esteban Ocon joining them. Norris, Sainz, and Russell secure the top three positions as the session comes to an end.
Out in SQ1:
- Perez.
- Tsunoda.
- Ocon.
- Zhou.
- Colapinto.
SQ2:
The drivers now have 10 minutes to get through to the final part of sprint qualifying. This time, Hulkenberg leads the way, but the drivers are slower to leave the pits this time around. As the Haas’ complete their lap times, Verstappen jumps to the top of the timesheet but its not enough to keep Leclerc behind who goes 0.058 quicker than the Dutchman. Meanwhile, Sainz slots in behind the Haas of Hulkenberg. Norris also can’t match Leclerc, replacing Verstappen in P2.
Piastri looks to be on a decent lap, setting a purple second sector, and he goes quickest with a 1:22.050. We’re still waiting for the two Mercedes to set their first competitive lap times, with Russell and Hamilton opting to do two build laps. Bottas is yet to set a lap time at all, with Magnussen having his earlier attempt deleted.
Russell goes P1 with a 1:21.488 on his first proper attempt, with Hamilton in P7. Piastri gets his earlier lap time deleted but Norris goes quickest with a 1:21.231. Now down in P14, Piastri is looking to redeem himself after going off the track on his last lap. The Australian goes P3, this has to count for Piastri as its his last lap.
Similarly, Stroll goes P9 on what will be his last lap, but has the Aston Martin gone too soon? Norris, Russell, Sainz, and Leclerc are all in the pits as the last set of laps come in. Albon goes P10 to get himself out of the drop zone and pushes Stroll out. But Liam Lawson soon drops the Thai driver back down. Pierre Gasly also improves at the expense of Fernando Alonso.
At the other end of the timesheet, Norris, Russell, Piastri, Hamilton, and Verstappen complete the top five ahead of both Ferraris.
Out in SQ2:
- Alonso.
- Albon.
- Bottas.
- Stroll.
- Magnussen.
SQ3
The grid only has eight minutes to set their quickest lap times in the hope of securing P1 for the sprint race tomorrow. As the light goes green Lawson leads out Gasly, Verstappen, Sainz, Russell, Leclerc, and Hamilton. The two McLarens and Hulkenberg opt to stay in the pit lane a bit longer. Verstappen goes for a second build lap, as does Sainz. But Leclerc commits to his first attempt, setting a 1:21.705. Gasly sits P2 with Lawson in P3 as the only other drivers having set a competitive lap time early on.
Norris is also going for it straight away, setting a 1:21.012 with his teammate 0.159 behind. Verstappen goes P3, but is quickly replaced by Russell. Hamilton slots into P5 behind Verstappen, 0.462 behind Norris in P1. Meanwhile, Sainz opts to do yet another build lap, the Spaniard will only have one attempt at setting a competitive time.
Hulkenberg finally leaves the pits to set his one and only timed lap. The Haas driver slots into P7, in front of Gasly, Lawson, and Sainz. Norris’ last lap isn’t better than his last attempt, so chooses to pit. Piastri cannot beat his teammate, Verstappen also cannot improve from P4, but Russell does jump up to P2. Hamilton also can’t improve, cementing P6, which turns into P7 when Sainz goes P4 with Leclerc behind him in P5.
Final classification of sprint qualifying
Norris secures P1 for the sprint race tomorrow, with Russell, Piastri, Sainz, Leclerc, Verstappen, Hamilton, Gasly, Hulkenberg, and Lawson rounding out the top 10. The RB driver had his lap time deleted at the end of the session, which dropped him to the end of the top 10. With the constructors’ championship on the line, its advantage McLaren going into Saturday, but the two Ferraris aren’t too far behind. Red Bull will be fighting with one hand tied behind their back with Perez down in P16.
Feature Image Credit: @F1 on X