Lando Norris allowed Oscar Piastri to take pole position for Saturday’s crucial sprint race in Qatar after he made a mistake at the final corner.
Norris, who heads McLaren team-mate Piastri by 24 points heading into the concluding two rounds of the season, ran through the gravel, and will start third.
George Russell splits the McLaren pair, just 0.032 seconds slower than Piastri, with Max Verstappen’s championship bid suffering a blow after he could manage only sixth.
The Dutchman, who was out-qualified by Red Bull team-mate Yuki Tsunoda for the first time here, with the Japanese driver one place ahead of him on the grid – is level on points with Piastri with 58 points available to win.
Lewis Hamilton’s woeful run continued, and he will start the 25-lap dash to the chequered flag from 18th.
Verstappen aborted his first attempt in Q3 and was straight on the radio: “This f****** car man,” he said. “It is bouncing like an idiot.” Verstappen managed to get a lap on the board, but it was not one to trouble the leaders.
Up front, Piastri headed Norris by just 0.044 seconds at the top of the order after the opening runs of Q3.
Piastri extended his advantage with his final lap, and Norris appeared on course to topple his rival, only to lose control of his McLaren through the gravel trap at the concluding bend. He finished 0.230secs back.
Verstappen had started the mind games with Norris 24 hours previously when he claimed he would “easily” have taken the title in his British rival’s McLaren.
And in Q1, the Dutchman was at it on the track with Norris aggrieved he blocked him with his last lap. Both drivers were already safely through to Q2.
TOP-10 - QATAR GP SPRINT QUALIFYING
1. Oscar Piastri – McLaren
2. George Russell – Mercedes
3. Lando Norris – McLaren
4. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin
5. Yuki Tsunoda – Red Bull
6. Max Verstappen – Red Bull
7. Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes
8. Carlos Sainz – Williams
9. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
10. Alex Albon - Williams
“Verstappen just didn’t get out of the way,” complained Norris on the radio. Norris’ race engineer, Will Joseph, said: “Every other lap, he pulled over straight after, but on that lap he decided to stay out and screw you over.”
“Yes, just obvious,” replied Norris. The stewards noted the incident but took no further action. Norris had the last laugh of sorts by qualifying three places higher than the four-time world champion.
A week after he qualified 20th and last in Las Vegas, Hamilton suffered further misery with a second early bath in seven days.
The seven-time world champion, who insisted on Thursday he had no regrets about his move from Mercedes to Ferrari, headed into the final runs facing elimination, and although he clocked a faster lap to temporarily haul himself out of the drop zone, he soon fell down the order as others improved.
He finished nine tenths off Verstappen’s pace-setting lap and fourth tenths adrift of Charles Leclerc in the other Ferrari.
“Ah, man, the car won’t go any quicker,” said Hamilton over the radio. Leclerc progressed to Q3 and will start ninth on Saturday.
Hamilton’s mood had improved little when he reached the media pen for his television interviews. Asked if the car was tricky to drive, Hamilton replied: “Same as always.”
He was then asked if there were any positives he could take into tomorrow. “The weather’s nice,” he said.
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