F1 Sprint Qatar GP: Piastri heads McLaren 1-2 ahead of Sprint

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri heads the front row as the Papaya-coloured team locked out the front row, for the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix sprint race, ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

SQ1

Equipped with the medium compounds, the two Ferraris led the pack out onto the Qatarian circuit. The Scuderia’s Spaniard, Carlos Sainz, was the first to set a lap time on the board but he was quickly demoted by several drivers. 

Of the banker laps, only one man could go to the top of the timing boards: Verstappen. The Dutchman set the new benchmark time with a 1:25.510, one-tenth faster than the two McLarens as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri occupied second and third respectively.

After everyone completed their lap times, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso as the last driver to complete a timed lap, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc sat on the cusp of elimination with two minutes left on the clock.

In the last runs of the first shootout, Russell jumped to the top of the timing sheets ahead of both Verstappen and Norris who rounded out the top five. 

Eliminated

20. Logan Sargeant, Williams

19. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

18. Yuki Tsunoda, Alpha Tauri

17. Alexander Albon, Williams

16. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

SQ2

With 10 minutes on the clock, five minutes less than the usual 15 minutes for Q2, the Mercedes pairing of Russell and Lewis Hamilton headed the queue out of the pit lane. 

Naturally, the two drivers set the benchmark time which was quickly beaten by the two Red Bulls and two McLarens, as Norris topped the timing board. However, Hamilton and Leclerc soon had their lap times deleted after their first banker laps. 

Hamilton exceeded track limits at turn 13 and Leclerc exceeded the white line at turn five.

Sainz looked to be on course to repeat his misfortunes of Q2 in qualifying on Friday as the Spaniard dropped down to 13th, in the overall timing board, as he had his lap time deleted. 

Despite a late lap, Hamilton looked to be safe from elimination but race control soon found the seven-time world champion had exceeded track limits and knocked him out of qualifying.   

Eliminated 

15. Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo

14. Liam Lawson, Alpha Tauri

13. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo

12. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

11. Pierre Gasly, Alpine

SQ3

With a couple of minutes in hand, before the pit exit light turned green, Verstappen sat at the exit of the pit lane. The reigning world champion was quickly joined by the two Ferraris as the pit exit light switched over. 

In the usual shortened session, the two Red Bulls of Verstappen and Sergio Perez and the two Ferraris were the first out on track. With no time to pit for a quick reset, the drivers who went out early will get the benefit of more runs. 

This turned out to be beneficial for Verstappen as his fast lap time – the benchmark – was deleted for track limits at turn five. Perez jumped to the top of the timing boards but he was soon demoted by the two McLarens.

On his final lap, and the one which counted the most, Verstappen went fastest in the first sector but the Dutchman struggled to put his car on the front row as he only managed to finish third. 

At the same time, Piastri banged in a perfect lap to go into pole position for the sprint race, Norris will start alongside as Verstappen completed the top three. 

Alonso, who initially qualified fifth for the sprint, had his final lap time deleted for exceeding track limits. This has dropped the two-time world champion down to ninth, between Perez (8th) and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (10th). 

Top 10:

10. Esteban Ocon, Alpine

9. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

8. Sergio Perez, Red Bull

7. Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

6. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

5. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

4. George Russell, Mercedes

3. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

2. Lando Norris, McLaren

1. Oscar Piastri, McLaren

That’s all for the article: F1 Sprint Qatar GP: Piastri heads McLaren 1-2 ahead of Sprint!

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