Oscar Piastri, who had already set the best time in the free practice session, will start on pole for the sprint race of the Qatar Grand Prix on Saturday at Losail, ahead of George Russell and Lando Norris, relegated to the 2nd row. Max Verstappen, angry with his car, had to settle for 6th time. Isack Hadjar, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly rank 11th, 15th and 19th respectively.
Oscar Piastri back in the foreground. Twenty-four hours after announcing that he would not help Lando Norris to be world champion, precisely because he also continues to believe in a first coronation, the Australian is the big man at the start of the Qatar Grand Prix. Thus, shortly after having already shown himself to be the fastest during the only free practice session, Norris’ runner-up in the general classification before this penultimate meeting of the season once again beat all his rivals then during the sprint qualifications.
Piastri, who had not been to such a party since the Dutch GP, and even since Belgium, if we only talk about the sprint, thus offered himself the right to start from pole on Saturday. The former leader, joined by Max Verstappen after the disqualification of the two McLarens in Las Vegas, will start in front of George Russell (Mercedes) who came to scold Norris at the last minute for second place.
The Briton, first in the ranking, will therefore have to be content with the 2nd row, alongside Fernando Alonso, author of a very good performance. Behind, the two Red Bulls will make up the 3rd row.
Gasly and Hamilton ejected from entry
But it is not Verstappen but his teammate Yuki Tsunoda who will start in front of the other. The Dutchman never stopped railing against the bounces of his car on the track, including open DRS. Only 6th in this session, the quadruple world champion could have even finished further knowing that he only had one chance to set a time.
On the French side, Pierre Gasly, on his Alpine, was ejected from the start – “It’s complicated, we seem to be the slowest this weekend” – and will start from the penultimate place on Saturday (19th), alongside his teammate Franco Colapinto. Having passed at the last minute in SQ1, Esteban Ocon (15th) stopped in SQ2, just like Isack Hadjar (11th). The latter should have progressed to SQ3 but he was penalized for exceeding the limits of the track.
Like Gasly, Lewis Hamilton, who is definitely experiencing a nightmare end to the year at the wheel of his Ferrari and once again seemed disillusioned afterwards on the radio (“I can’t go any faster”), did not go further than SQ1. It is time for the season to end for the Briton, only 18th in this qualifying session.
Qatar GP sprint starting grid
1st: Plates – 2nd: Russell
3rd: Norris – 4th: Alonso
5th: Tsunoda – 6th: Verstappen
7th: Antonelli – 8th: Sainz
9th: Leclerc – 10th: Albon
11th: Hadjar – 12th: Bearman
13th: Bortoleto – 14th: Hülkenberg
15th: Ocon – 16th: Walk
17th: Lawson – 18th: Hamilton
19th: Gasly – 20: Colapinto
