Verstappen grabs pole position for Qatar Grand Prix

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen took pole position on the Qatar Grand Prix on weekend he can clinch drivers’ world title. F1Technical’s senior author Balázs Szabó experiences on the Lusail qualifying.

Verstappe tops first section – Q1

As anticipated, the primary qualfiying section was extremely intensive as drivers solely had a single one-hour observe session which meant that everybody wished to make use of the out there observe time.

Despite the difficult situations, it was Max Verstappen who as soon as once more set the tempo with a time of 1m 25.007s, simply over a tenth forward of Norris in second, with Alonso ending up third, adopted by the opposite McLaren of Piastri.

Russell went as much as fifth on his ultimate flying effort, with Leclerc in sixth for Ferrari. The Alpine pair completed within the high ten with Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon ending up seventh and eighth quickest.

Sainz appeared to wrestle for tempo on the slippy observe floor and took solely ninth. Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg went tenth quickest, and he was adopted by Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, and Yuki Tsunoda. Hamilton scraped by means of on only one comfortable tyre in 14th, with Alex Albon beating his team-mate for P15.

The 5 drivers who didn’t progress to Q2 are Logan Sargeant, Lance Stroll, Liam Lawson, Kevin Magnussen and Zhou Guanyu.

Sainz and Perez knocked out – Q2

The center a part of the session noticed drivers discover extra enchancment because the observe acquired cleaner and grippier.

Lewis Hamilton completed the session atop of the leaderboard with a time of 1m24.381s, main Verstappen by 0.102s, with the McLarens of Norris and Piastri in third and fourth.

Russell was fifth, forward of the Alpine pair of Gasly and Ocon, who continued to impress for the French outfit. Leclerc squeezed by means of forward of Alonso, and Bottas – who made it into Q3 for the primary time since Budapest.

Following his win in Singapore and a pole position in Monza, Carlos Sainz didn’t get used to the low-grip situations, and with a messy ultimate push lap, he missed the development into the ultimate a part of qualifying.

Sergio Perez had one more diffiult qualifying session. Although the Mexican squeezed by means of to Q3, however he had his time deleted for exceeding observe limits, which implies that he’ll line up thirteenth on the grid on Sunday.

The 5 drivers who didn’t progress to Q2 are Yuki Tsunoda, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez, Alexander Albon and Nico Hülkenberg.

Pole regardless of messy ultimate lap – Q3

The ultimate qualifying section noticed drivers carry out two runs on the comfortable tyres. Max Verstappen clocked in a 1m23.778s on his first lap, and he was on target to search out one other enchancment o his second lap earlier than making a mistake within the center a part of the observe.

Despite the error from the Dutchman, he managed to edge out the McLaren drivers of Lando Norris and Lando Norris. While the McLaren had eye-catching tempo, the day led to tears as each drivers misplaced their quickest lap.

Norris had each his first and his second effort cancelled for observe limits, leaving him with out a time which implies that he’ll line up tenth on the grid on Sunday.

Piastri had been first boosted to 3rd by Norris’s lap deletion, however his quickest time has been deleted too. It meant that George Russell moved as much as second and Hamilton to 3rd.

After troublesome weekends, Fernando Alonso managed to place his Aston Martin into P4, narrowly beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Oscar Piastri’s second quickest lap was adequate for P6 with the Alpine drivers Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon ending up seventh and eighth quickest.

Valtteri Bottas managed to excel on the sandy, soiled observe in troublesome windy situations, placing his Alfa Romeo on P9 for the primary race in Lusail.