McLaren’s Oscar Piastri secured pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix, beating teammate Lando Norris by a tenth after Norris made a costly mistake on his final Q3 attempt. It marks Piastri’s first pole since the Dutch Grand Prix. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen settled for third after falling short of McLaren’s pace.
The early part of Q3 saw Norris set the benchmark with a 1:19.495, putting him ahead of Piastri, George Russell, and Verstappen. But when Norris pushed for improvement on the final run, a moment of oversteer at Turn 2 ruined his lap, forcing him to abandon the attempt entirely.
Piastri seized the opportunity, delivering a superb 1:19.387 to snatch pole. Verstappen couldn’t challenge either McLaren but had enough pace to climb ahead of Russell and secure P3 on the grid. Russell lined up fourth, while Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli claimed P5. Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar followed in sixth, with Carlos Sainz seventh despite causing red flags when plastic stuck to his rear-left wheel detached on track.
Further down, Q2 saw Piastri lead early, but Norris had drama after his first lap was deleted for track limits at Turn 10, leaving him 15th with no time. Switching to fresh Softs for one final attempt, he delivered under pressure, jumping from last to second place. Eliminated were Hülkenberg, Lawson, Bearman, Bortoleto, and Albon.
In Q1, Yuki Tsunoda briefly looked safe with a late 1:20.761, but a last-second improvement from Gabriel Bortoleto pushed him into the drop zone. Despite this, Tsunoda will still start 15th because Bortoleto carries a five-place grid penalty for a Las Vegas collision.
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