Formula 1 qualifying

Pole position! Piastri confirms top form in Qatar

Oscar Piastri(Bild: AP/Altaf Qadri)

Oscar Piastri has hit back in the Formula 1 title fight with victory in the sprint and pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix. On Saturday, the McLaren driver won the last short race of the season unchallenged ahead of Mercedes star George Russell and world championship leader Lando Norris in the second McLaren. Just under five hours later, the Australian went one better in qualifying for the 23rd and penultimate race of the season on Sunday (5pm in the sportkrone.at ticker) in a hundredth of a second thriller.

As in the sprint, Piastri secured first place on the grid, with Norris (+0.108 seconds) completing the front row. The Briton aborted his last fast attempt in Q3, which is why he was caught out by his team-mate. "It felt great the whole weekend. I'm very happy," said the 24-year-old after his sixth pole. Norris was happy with the results on Saturday. "I can't complain about the weekend so far either," he emphasized. In qualifying, he just couldn't get the second lap together. Defending champion Max Verstappen put his Red Bull in third place (+0.264). Mercedes star George Russell, second in the sprint, was only just behind in fourth (+0.275).

Norris now 22 points ahead of Piastri, Verstappen 25 behind
Piastri had previously reduced his deficit in the championship standings by two points to 22 points with his third consecutive sprint win in Qatar. Verstappen finished fourth and is now 25 points behind Norris. Should Norris win the Grand Prix, the Briton will have secured his first world championship title. If the 26-year-old does not triumph in the race, he will need a 26-point lead ahead of the finale in Abu Dhabi to be crowned world champion early. A total of 50 points are still up for grabs.

Here is the result in detail:

"I have more speed and the grip is better for our car," said Piastri after finishing on the podium for the first time since Monza almost three months ago. In the past few weekends, things had gone wrong for him personally. "The pace was not the reason. Now I'm in a good mood and the pace is strong. I'm no longer looking to the past, but to the future," emphasized Piastri, who was presented with the winner's trophy by tennis superstar Novak Djokovic.

Norris could be satisfied with third place, in the Grand Prix he wants to secure the first McLaren world championship title since Lewis Hamilton in 2008. "It's going to be a tough race. You almost can't get past here unless the others make a mistake," he said. If Verstappen does not finish the race ahead of Norris, the defending champion will be dethroned. Piastri was confident. "I'm expecting a tough race. I'll start from the best grid position and then I'll do what I did in the sprint."

Hamilton still unlucky
Hamilton once again had an unsuccessful day. After 17th place in the sprint, the Ferrari driver did not make it past 18th on the grid in qualifying and was eliminated in Q1, just like the day before. Team-mate Charles Leclerc had to settle for tenth place on the grid after a botched sprint (13th). Tsunoda suffered another setback in 16th place in qualifying.

Lewis Hamilton(Bild: EPA/DARKO BANDIC / POOL)

The starting position on the Lusail International Circuit just outside the capital Doha weighs particularly heavily, as overtaking is difficult. However, there could be additional strategic options in the race. For safety reasons, the sets of tires may only remain on the cars for a maximum of 25 laps, which is why the drivers have to come into the pits at least twice.