Piastri beats Norris and Verstappen to pole in sprint shootout thriller in Qatar | Formula 1®
Oscar Piastri came out on top at the end of a frantic sprint shootout session at the Qatar Grand Prix, edging out McLaren teammate Lando Norris and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen to secure a breakthrough pole position.
Piastri, who had never won a qualifying session in Formula 1 before, set an impressive time of 1:24.454 minutes at the end of the shootout, finishing just under a tenth ahead of Norris, whose final lap time was canceled for exceeding track limits.
Max Verstappen, who lost his initial time due to track limitations, managed to get an attempt at the checkered flag, but that wasn’t enough to beat Piastri and Norris, who will form the first ever all-McLaren front row since then Brazilian Grand Prix 2012.
After Lewis Hamilton’s surprise exit from SQ2 and another loss of lap times in a session dominated by track limits, it was George Russell who led Mercedes in fourth, followed by the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc had to miss his own laps in the SQ3 phase, but managed to recover and beat the striking Haas of Nico Hülkenberg, who was with Sergio Perez (Red Bull), Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Esteban Ocon (Alpine). took seventh place) everyone violated the track restrictions from P8 to P10.
While Ocon advanced in SQ3, teammate Pierre Gasly narrowly missed out on 11th place, while Hamilton only ended up in 12th due to his track limit violations in the middle phase. Alfa Romeo pair Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu were separated from Liam Lawson’s AlphaTauri at the bottom of the SQ2 order (the latter two were caught up by track restrictions).
Lance Stroll followed his Q1 exit on Friday with an exit in SQ1 after running wide at Turn 5 towards the end of the first phase, leaving the Aston Martin driver 16th on the grid behind Williams driver Alex Albon, who his best lap time was lost because he exceeded the track limits.
Yuki Tsunoda of AlphaTauri, the other Haas of Kevin Magnussen and the second Williams of Logan Sargeant had their lap times canceled for crossing the white line that defines the track, so they later finished 18th, 19th in the 100 kilometer sprint race and 20 lay Saturday.
Sprint Shootout Highlights: 2023 Qatar Grand Prix
WHEN IT HAPPENED
SQ1 – Russell leads Verstappen and Norris as track limits dominate
After Friday’s race in Lusail, F1 tire supplier Pirelli discovered a problem during its routine analysis, believed to be caused by a collision between the sidewall and the track’s “pyramid” curbs – prompting the FIA to introduce new safety measures and to announce an additional training session before the sprint shootout.
As track limits were also changed at Turns 12 and 13, drivers were given a 10-minute “practice session” at 4:00 p.m. local time to assess the changes and general track conditions, during the start of the Sprint Shootout on 16 :20 p.m. was postponed.
As the shootout action began and the sun began to set, it was Verstappen who set the early pace with a 1:25.510 on the medium tires required for SQ1 and SQ2 before the soft tires were used in SQ3.
Aiming to bounce back from his dropped time in Friday’s qualifying, Norris finished in second place, followed by Russell, Piastri and Alonso. A number of drivers had their lap times canceled for exceeding track limits – Hülkenberg, Sargeant, Gasly, Leclerc, Stroll, Zhou and Hamilton all lost.
Russell led the way in SQ1 as drivers adjusted to the track limit changes
That meant Stroll – desperate to put a difficult first day behind him – found himself sitting in the drop zone alongside Magnussen, Lawson, Zhou and Sargeant with a few minutes to go, although there was still time for another flurry of runs.
While Verstappen and Norris watched the rest of the action from the pits and were apparently happy with their initial times, Russell took the opportunity to work his way up to a time of 1:25.413 minutes, which put his Mercedes just ahead of Red Bull and McLaren .
Gasly was a quality fourth for Alpine, ahead of Sainz, Alonso, Piastri and teammate Ocon, with Perez and Lawson completing the top 10 ahead of Leclerc, Hamilton, Bottas, Hulkenberg and Zhou, who was the last driver to advance to SQ2.
Stroll’s attempt to get out of the danger zone failed due to a slip in Turn 5, which left him in 16th place. Albon, Tsunoda, Magnussen and Sargeant also crashed at the first hurdle as they had all lost lap times towards the end of the session and exceeded track limits.
Knocked out: Stroll, Albon, Tsunoda, Magnussen, Sargeant
Tsunoda was eliminated in the shootout in SQ1
SQ2 – Norris at the top while Hamilton makes a surprise exit
As SQ2 began, news broke that after the meeting the stewards would investigate Russell, Hamilton, Gasly, Lawson, Sargeant, Tsunoda, Stroll and Albon for allegedly failing to follow the race director’s instructions regarding the maximum delta time.
When the first lap times were announced, Norris took first place with a time of 1:24.947, followed by Verstappen and Piastri, while Leclerc, Hamilton, Zhou and Sainz all lost their early lap times due to track restrictions, meaning they regained their composure and had to get going again.
After the final runs, which Norris and Verstappen once again skipped, it was the McLaren driver who remained at the top with his high performance of 1:24 minutes, right in front of Russell, Perez and the reigning double world champion.
Alonso finished fifth, Ferrari duo Leclerc and Sainz took sixth and seventh, while Piastri, the impressive Hülkenberg and Ocon secured the final places in SQ3 – the Alpine driver progressing at the expense of his teammate Gasly.
Hamilton shockingly crashed out of SQ2 after losing another lap time for exceeding track limits, which saw him finish 12th ahead of his former teammate Bottas. Lawson and Zhou – who also violated the track limit rules again – were the last drivers to retire.
Eliminated: Gasly, Hamilton, Bottas, Lawson, Zhou
Hamilton was eliminated in the second qualifying phase after exceeding the track limits
SQ3 – Piastri storms to the top of the time
Verstappen declared his intentions as the final SQ3 phase began, setting a time of 1m24.543s on soft rubber, but this was quickly canceled due to a breach of track restrictions, paving the way for Norris and Piastri to finish P1 and P1 respectively .P2 to advance.
That led to a thrilling finale with the McLaren teammates and a recovering Verstappen all battling for pole, but it was the Australian rookie who delivered when it mattered most, setting a time of 1m24.454s during Norris’ challenge with a wild result ended momentarily in the final corner.
Verstappen had to settle for third place on the timesheets, a few tenths off pole, but he is still in a good position to secure a third consecutive drivers’ title – with his teammate – in the sprint race that follows later in the evening Perez back pay attention.
Russell placed his Mercedes fourth in Hamilton’s absence, with the Ferrari duo Sainz and Leclerc fifth and sixth. Hülkenberg once again showed a competitive one-lap pace on the way to seventh, ahead of Perez, Alonso and Ocon, who lost further lap times over the track limits.
There could be another twist before the sprint begins, as Norris is also known for allegedly not following the race director’s instructions regarding maximum delta time, joining the aforementioned group of riders who between SQ1 and SQ2 are listed.
Norris couldn’t hide his joy as he stormed to pole for the sprint later on Saturday