#F1 #QatarGP #SprintQualifying: @OscarPiastri beats @GeorgeRussell63 to crucial #F1Sprint pole.

Piastri Qatar Sprint Pole – Championship contender Oscar Piastri claimed a crucial pole position for the final 100km Sprint race of the season at the Qatar GP beating Mercedes’ George Russell by a slim 0.032 seconds as his fellow McLaren team-mate and championship contender/leader Lando Norris was third. Other title challenger Max Verstappen was down in sixth for Red Bull.

In SQ3, the initial flyers saw Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli register the first benchmark of a 1:20.903 as his team-mate George Russell pips him with his 1:20.528 effort.

Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda ended up fourth setting a 1:22.111 as Williams’ Carlos Sainz slotted into second whilst Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso placed his AMR25 fourth.

Verstappen had a moment and gone wide, and he has swearing on the radio, saying his car is “bouncing like a ***** idiot.” As the Dutchman suffered a track limits infringement and lost his lap-time.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc jumped to second with his 1:20.622, but momentarily as Russell took P2 with a 1:20.528.

Piastri then jumped to provisional pole with a 1:20.241 as Norris slotted into second and only 0.044 seconds behind his McLaren team-mate.

The final hot-laps saw Verstappen then could only reach P4 setting a 1:20.528 as Tsunoda jumped to third but gets pipped by Alonso’s 1:20.450.

Russell then with a purple sector one jumped to P1 with his 1:20.087 effort but only momentarily as Piastri snatched the Sprint pole setting a 1:20.055 beating the Mercedes driver by a slim 0.032 seconds.

Championship leader Norris ended up third and lines up on the second row of the grid alongside Alonso who placed fourth.

Red Bull pairing Tsunoda and championship contender Verstappen occupied the third row in fifth and sixth respectively.

Antonelli was seventh and ahead of Sainz who took eighth whilst Leclerc and Williams’ Alexander Albon rounded out the top ten.

In SQ2, which was topped by Norris, RB’s Isack Hadjar had his lap-time invalidated for exceeding track limits at turn eight allowing Antonelli to progress into SQ3. The Frenchman will start the 100km Sprint in 11^th.

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Oliver Bearman ended SQ2 12^th and in-front of Sauber duo Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg who were 13^th and 14^th respectively.

The other Haas VF-25 entry of Esteban Ocon was the slowest of the SQ2 runners in 15^th.

In SQ1, which was topped by Verstappen, A flurry of late improvements saw Williams’ Albon eliminate Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll with the Canadian just missing out of an SQ2 appearance by a slim 0.034 seconds and will start the Sprint 16^th.

Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Formula 1 Team’s Liam Lawson was next in 17^th as Ferrari’s Sir Lewis Hamilton was the shock eliminatee in a low-18^th with the Briton reporting his SF-25 entry: “wouldn’t go any quicker.”

BWT Alpine F1 Team pairing Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto brought up the rear.

You can see the full Formula 1 Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2025 Sprint Qualifying Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2025/races/1275/qatar/sprint-qualifying

2025 Qatar GP Sprint Qualifying Pole Position – Oscar Piastri, #81, McLaren Formula 1 Team, Mercedes, MCL39 – 1:20.055:

 

 

“It’s been a good day, which is nice for a change. It has been a day where things have clicked from the start. I’m happy with the result, a few things to tidy up but it is nice to be able to say that starting from pole. It is only the Sprint, but I’ll take what I can get. The pace was there all day, hopefully we can keep that going.”

#F1 #QatarGP #FP1: @OscarPiastri pips team-mate @LandoNorris by 0.058s.

#F1 Qatar Airways #QatarGP 2025 Preview. #Formula1 #QatarGrandPrix

2025 F1 World Championship Standings