#F1 #Qualifying: @OscarPiastri beats @McLarenF1 team-mate @LandoNorris to crucial #QatarGP pole.
Oscar Piastri, #81, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL39, celebrates in Parc Ferme after taking a crucial pole position, Qualifying, Formula 1 Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2025, Lusail International Circuit, Lusail City, Lusail, Qatar. Image credit to Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images. Piastri Qatar GP Pole, 2025 Qatar GP Qualifying, Qatar GP Qualifying Results, F1 Qatar GP Qualifying, Formula 1 Qatar GP Qualifying Results.
Piastri Qatar GP Pole – Oscar Piastri pipped McLaren team-mate and fellow title contender Lando Norris to a crucial pole position at the Qatar GP as other title contender Max Verstappen put his Red Bull third on the grid.
Norris must win tomorrow to capture his maiden World Drivers’ Championship crown whilst both Piastri and Verstappen need to jump the Briton to keep their title aspirations alive for the final round in Abu Dhabi.
In Q3, the initial flyers saw championship leader Norris register the first flyer with a 1:19.495 as Hadjar slots into second 0.619 seconds down.
Piastri was next ending up second and a slim 0.035 seconds adrift of his team-mate Norris with his 1:19.530 hot-lap.
Verstappen was next and with three personal bests placed his Red Bull third to be 0.454 seconds off but only briefly as Mercedes’ George Russell pipped the Dutchman to take third with his 1:19.842 effort.
The red flags were waved with five minutes and 27 second remaining to remove the plastic from the tyres left out on track by Williams’ Carlos Sainz as well as any gravel left out on circuit from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc’s spin.
After the track was cleared and the session resumed, the final flying laps saw Leclerc end up eighth with his 1:20.561, Norris missed out on setting a last hot-lap after making an error on his second flyer.
Piastri was next with a personal best opening sector and a purple middle sector to blast his MCL39 to take pole with a 1:19.387 as Verstappen ended up third with his 1:19.651.
Mercedes’ Russell pipped Mercedes team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli to take fourth and ended up 0.275 adrift of Piastri’s pole time.
RB’s Isack Hadjar qualified sixth and ahead of Williams’ Sainz who placed seventh with the Spaniard currently under investigation by the stewards due to his FW47 entry being released in an unsafe manner.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was eighth as Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Ferrari’s Leclerc completed the top ten.
In the second qualifying stage, which was topped by Piastri, some late improvements saw Leclerc eliminate Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg with the German just missing out on a Q3 appearance a slim 0.003 seconds.
RB’s Liam Lawson could only reach 12th with his final flyer and ahead of Haas’s Oliver Bearman who took 13th and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto who ended up 14th (the Brazilian has a five-grid-placed-penalty for the Grand Prix following his opening lap collision with Aston Martin’s Stroll in Las Vegas).
Williams’ Alexander Albon was the slowest of the Q2 runners in 15th.
In the opening segment, which was topped by Russell, a flurry of improvements saw Bortoleto send Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda out of Q1 with the Japanese driver missing out on Q2 by a slim 0.080 seconds and wounding up 16th.
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon was next in 17th and in-front of Ferrari’s Sir Lewis Hamilton who was knocked out a second time in Q1 this weekend ending up a low-18th.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto brought up the rear.
You can see the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2025 Qualifying Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2025/races/1275/qatar/qualifying
2025 Qatar GP Qualifying – The Top Three
2025 Qatar GP Pole Position – Oscar Piastri, #81, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL39 – 1:19.387:
“We left it pretty much the same, very few minor tweaks here and there. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! The team did a very good job. Very happy. Pretty tough [tomorrow] with the two-stops, we’ll be pushing flat out the whole time. I’m expecting a pretty tough race, it will be hard work. I’ll try my best, starting from the best spot. I’ll try and do what I did in the Sprint.”
2nd Place – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL39 – 1:19.495:
“I don’t know what happened on his last lap, I got some understeer and had to abort. Nothing to complain about, I just didn’t do the lap.
3rd Place – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB21 – 1:19.651:
“This Qualifying was a little bit better, even if we are still quite far off.” At least we are P3, starting on the second row – it creates better opportunities. Realistically it is a bit tough. This weekend has not been what I wanted it to be so far.”
