Lando Norris dominated the sprint qualifying at the Qatar GP, proving unbeatable in McLaren’s MCL38. With teammate Oscar Piastri finishing third, just behind George Russell, the sprint race offers the British team an excellent opportunity to extend their lead in the Constructors’ Championship over Ferrari. Max Verstappen, however, struggled for speed in the RB20 and finished sixth.
The last of six sprint races is somewhat insignificant in terms of the drivers’ title race following Max Verstappen’s fourth crown in Las Vegas. However, for McLaren and Ferrari, currently first and second in the Constructors’ Championship, there is much at stake. Beyond prestige, a championship title brings in millions more dollars in revenue from Formula 1’s prize pool than second place.
With two more races and a sprint event in Qatar, McLaren is defending a 24-point lead over the Italian team. This weekend in the wealthy emirate, there are 59 World Championship points up for grabs. Charles Leclerc made a strong impression in the afternoon during the first and only practice session: the Monegasque was nearly half a second faster than Lando Norris. Just over three hours later, the dynamics in the first sprint qualifying round were quite different: the Brit was half a second faster than Carlos Sainz. Max Verstappen advanced to the fourth position, nearly a second behind Norris.
Interestingly, or perhaps not given the results of recent months, Sergio Pérez was eliminated. The Mexican, who may have to fight for his place at Red Bull in 2025, finished sixteenth. Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, Guanyu Zhou, and Franco Colapinto also failed to survive the first cut.
Norris continues to dominate in the second round. George Russell remains the closest competitor (+0.257), with Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton, along with Verstappen, completing the top-5. Both Ferraris play a supporting role, with Liam Lawson making it through in tenth place. Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll, and Kevin Magnussen are the next five to be eliminated.
The final session brings no change at the top of the leaderboard, although Russell comes uncomfortably close (0.063) to Norris. “We came here for pole position and we achieved it,” says the Brit. “We want to win all sessions, our goal is a one-two finish to score good points for the constructors’ title. But it won’t be easy: Mercedes is fast, so is Ferrari.” As expected after the training, Verstappen is lacking speed in Red Bull’s RB20. He will start the sprint race from the sixth position.
