Qatar Grand Prix

Piastri takes sprint pole ++ Tsunoda ahead of Verstappen

Oscar Piastri(Bild: AP/Altaf Qadri)

Oscar Piastri starts from pole position in the Formula 1 sprint race in Qatar!

The McLaren driver, who has been struggling of late, secured first place on the grid on Friday for the sixth and final sprint race of the season on Saturday (3pm), thus striking back in the three-way battle for the world championship title. World championship leader Lando Norris finished third (+0.230 seconds), while Red Bull star Max Verstappen had to make do with sixth place on the grid (+0.473) at the Lusail International Circuit.

Mercedes driver George Russell finished second, just 32 thousandths of a second behind. "It's good to be back," said Piastri, who had also set the fastest time in the only previous practice session, happily after his lap record. "It was a good day. I felt comfortable right from the start."

Here is the final result:

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton experienced another disappointment. The 40-year-old record world champion did not finish higher than 18th, which means that his chances of scoring points in the short race over around 100 kilometers are probably gone.

Here is the standings in the drivers' championship:

In the Formula 1 season finale, Norris holds all the aces despite the Las Vegas underbody fiasco. The 26-year-old Briton is currently 24 points ahead of Piastri and Verstappen, and if he extends his lead by two points in Qatar, he will be guaranteed his first world championship title before the last of 24 races of the season in Abu Dhabi. Should Norris win the Grand Prix, a cushion of 25 points will be enough. However, it is unlikely that Norris will be supported by his team-mate in the three-way battle for the title. "We had a very brief discussion and the answer is no," said Piastri in the run-up to the race.

According to Bayer, no additional strategy poker
In the Grand Prix on Sunday (17:00), tire sets may remain on the cars for a maximum of 25 laps for safety reasons, which is why the drivers have to come into the pits at least twice. However, Peter Bayer, CEO of Racing Bulls, does not expect any surprises from a strategic point of view. "At the end of the day, we all work with the same mathematical models. The more you specify from the outside, the more similar the strategies become. The majority of the teams will come in at relatively similar intervals and change tires," predicted the Vorarlberg native on ORF.