Oscar Piastri may have left it late in his title bid, but he 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 Norris, qualified third for Red Bull. Norris had initially topped the leaderboard after the first Q3 laps, but a brief delay to clear debris, a strip of tyre compound that had peeled off Carlos Sainz’s Williams, halted proceedings. When the session resumed, the championship leader ran wide at Turn 2 on his final push lap after appearing slightly unsettled while negotiating George Russell’s Mercedes on the out-lap. The error forced him to abandon the lap, opening the door for Piastri. The Australian made it count as he delivered a superb 1m 19.387s on his second flyer, securing his sixth career pole by 0.108s. Norris, who knows victory today will seal his maiden Formula 1 title ahead of next weekend’s Abu Dhabi finale, was left frustrated but offered no excuses. “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,” Piastri 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.” Looking ahead to today’s race at the physically demanding, high-grip Lusail circuit, he added: “Pretty tough. 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, shrugged off his 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,” he said. “The first couple of laps are opportunities for everyone, but after that it should probably be straightforward.” 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 Abu Dhabi. “This qualifying was a little bit better. We are still quite far off, but at least I felt a little bit happier,” Verstappen said. “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.” Behind the top three, Russell and Kimi Antonelli locked out the third row for Mercedes, with Sainz seventh. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) completed the top ten.Earlier in the evening, Piastri had returned to winning ways with a dominant lights-to-flag victory in the sprint. He controlled the 19-lap dash to claim his first win since the Dutch Grand Prix in August, collecting eight points to further erode Norris’s lead. Norris finished where he started in third behind Russell. Verstappen gained two places with a brilliant launch to take fourth. Yuki Tsunoda and Antonelli were fifth and sixth, despite both serving five-second penalties for repeated track-limits infringements. Alonso secured seventh, with Sainz taking the final point. Ferrari endured a miserable evening, Leclerc slipping back at the start and finishing 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. The frustration deepened in qualifying later, where Hamilton suffered a second straight Q1 elimination – becoming part of an unwanted Ferrari record. His lap was only good enough for 18th on today’s grid, matching his sprint starting position. “I was generally feeling better. We made changes. The car was feeling better. Just wasn’t great,” the 40-year-old Briton said. Asked for a message to his fans, he added: “I don’t really have a message right now. I’m sorry. But I’m incredibly grateful for the support I’ve had all year. I wouldn’t have made it through this year without them.”
