Piastri beats Norris to Qatar pole to boost title-race fightback hopes
Oscar Piastri continued his title-race fightback at the Qatar Grand Prix by beating championship leader Lando Norris to pole position. Having won the Sprint at the Lusail International Circuit from the front of the grid earlier on Saturday to reduce Norris' title lead to 22 points, Piastri edged out his McLaren team-mate to secure pole for the penultimate race of the season on Sunday, live on Sky Sports F1 at 4pm.
Max Verstappen, who also retains a chance of winning the drivers' title from his position 25 points back from Norris, was third for Red Bull behind the McLarens.
Norris led Piastri after the first runs in Q3 but aborted his second attempt following an early error, leaving the door open for the Australian to take pole by just over a tenth of a second with a time of 1:19.387.
Piastri said: "We left the car pretty much the same. Everything felt great all weekend. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
Norris can become world champion with a race to spare if he is 26 points, or more, ahead of Piastri and 25 points in front of Verstappen after Sunday's race. That means he must gain four points on Piastri and effectively finish ahead of Verstappen.
"I just had a bit of understeer and was going to go off so I had to abort, which was a shame, but it's the way that it is," said Norris, who finished third in the Sprint earlier on Saturday.
"Oscar did a good lap, drove very well and has been driving well all weekend. Nothing to complain about, just didn't do the lap, and still P2 for tomorrow."George Russell almost pushed Verstappen down to fourth but came up 11 hundredths of a second short of the Dutchman as he took fourth in front of his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli.Lewis Hamilton's woeful weekend continued as the seven-time world champion qualified 18th as he was knocked out in Q1. Hamilton was 18th in Sprint Qualifying on Friday, and was also knocked out in Q1 last weekend in Las Vegas.
His Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc also lacked pace but battled through to Q3 before ending up 10th after a spin in the final part of the session.Isack Hadjar took sixth for Racing Bulls ahead of Williams' Carlos Sainz, while Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso and Alpine's Pierre Gasly also finished ahead of Leclerc.Smooth Piastri betters nervy NorrisPiastri arrived in Qatar on a poor run of form that saw him go from leading the championship by 34 points after the Dutch Grand Prix in August to only having what he described as an "outside shot" at the title going into the final two rounds.There was hope he could rediscover his form at a circuit where he has fared well in the past, but Norris' superb recent run ensured he was likely to need his best to return to contention.
Piastri found that in the Sprint as he outpaced Norris over one lap for the first time in seven (Sprint and full-length) qualifying sessions and backed that up by cruising to victory in the 19-lap contest.Norris survived a scare in Q2 as a blunder on his first attempt left him needing to deliver under pressure to advance, which he was able to do as Piastri eased through.The Brit then appeared to be bouncing back when he edged Piastri by 0.035 seconds on the first runs of Q3, but as was the case in Sprint Qualifying a day earlier, he was unable to execute cleanly on his second attempt.
Piastri put together a clean lap to go clear, claiming a crucial pole position that gives him a huge opportunity to take the title battle to the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi next weekend.There is an added twist to Sunday's race with a one-off rule in place limiting usage of each tyre set to 25 laps, which will force the entire field into making at least two pit stops each, barring red-flag interruptions.Piastri added: "With the two stops tomorrow, we will be pushing hard the whole time. It will be a tough race. Hard work but incredibly fun."
Driver
Team
Time
1) Oscar Piastri
McLaren
1:19.387
2) Lando Norris
McLaren
+0.108
3) Max Verstappen
Red Bull
+0.264
4) George Russell
Mercedes
+0.275
5) Kimi Antonelli
Mercedes
+0.459
6) Isack Hadjar
Racing Bulls
+0.727
7) Carlos Sainz
Williams
+0.900
8) Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin
+1.031
9) Pierre Gasly
Alpine
+1.090
10) Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
+1.174
Knocked out in Q2
11) Nico Hulkenberg
Sauber
1:20.353
12) Liam Lawson
Racing Bulls
1:20.433
13) Oliver Bearman
Haas
1:20.438
14) Gabriel Bortoleto
Sauber
1:20.534
15) Alex Albon
Williams
1:20.629
Knocked out in Q1
16) Yuki Tsunoda
Red Bull
1:20.761
17) Esteban Ocon
Haas
1:20.864
18) Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari
1:20.907
19) Lance Stroll
Aston Martin
1:21.058
20) Franco Colapinto
Alpine
1:21.137
Sky Sports F1's Qatar GP schedule
Sunday November 3011.55am: F2 Feature Race2.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Qatar GP build-up4pm: THE QATAR GRAND PRIX6pm: Chequered Flag: Qatar GP reaction7pm: Ted's NotebookFormula 1's thrilling title race continues with the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday at 4pm (build-up from 2.30pm, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
