Verstappen cruises to Qatar pole with title looming

Max Verstappen will start Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix from pole position, putting the Red Bull driver in an ideal position from which to clinch his third championship - providing it's not already sealed in tomorrow's sprint race.

McLaren's Lando Norris thought he'd taken second with his final run only to have his time deleted after the chequered flag, as did Oscar Piastri. It left George Russell in P2, and Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton third from Fernando Alonso.

While there were no on-track incidents, there had been big shocks at the end of the second round when both Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez - the only drivers other than Verstappen to win a race in 2023 - both missed the cut.

• 2023 Qatar Grand Prix - Qualifying results

The sprint race weekend meant that with just a single practice session in the books at dusk, it was already time to get evening qualifying underway under the floodlights at the dusty, windy, resurfaced Lusail International Circuit. Max Verstappen was favourite for pole, but Ferrari pair Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc had looked determined to make him work for it in FP1.

Q1: Verstappen beats Norris and Alonso, Hulkenberg and Albon leave it late

When the green light came on the end of pit lane, there was a long queue of cars - including both Alpines which nearly collided when they were both released from the garage at the same time. The Red Bulls were out on used soft tyres; Mercedes opted for mediums on their initial runs but coming in without setting a time, suggesting they were just scrubbing in a set for later use. Verstappen wasn't happy to see the touring George Russell getting in his way.

Fernando Alonso made an early claim for top spot, but the Aston Martin was deposed by Leclerc posting a time of 1:26.444s. Verstappen's response was just 0.044s off the Ferrari's pace before a flier from Alonso put the two-time champion back on top by 0.759s. Alpine's Esteban Ocon was also on form as he briefly took up second place. Leclerc's follow-up lap was deleted for exceeding track limits, a sign that they would be hotly enforced this weekend.

Mercedes were late in returning to the track, making them the last drivers to set times, but when they did they immediately moved into second and third for Russell and Lewis Hamilton respectively. By this time, teams were turning to new softs which allowed Valtteri Bottas to move into fourth in the Alfa Romeo. Soon after, Leclerc got a valid lap in and went top on 1:25.452s while Sergio Perez slotted into fourth behind the Silver Arrow pair.

Norris had been lagging at the bottom after having a lap deleted but the McLaren man then went top by 0.321s from Leclerc, his team mate Oscar Piastri moving up to fourth ahead of Sainz, Gasly and Ocon. With three minutes to go, Verstappen then put his foot down and claimed the top spot with a new bid of 1:25.007s. Elsewhere, Alonso was unhappy with Leclerc overtaking him before a push lap, and several drivers including Hamilton and Piastri were cited for failing to meet maximum lap time directives meaning a late night trip to the stewards.

Kevin Magnussen was unable to improve sufficiently to get out of the bottom five and was duly eliminated, but his Haas team mate Nico slammed in a great final effort to leap into the top ten. Alex Albon succeeded in a last-gasp effort to scramble to safety in 15th ahead of beleaguered team mate Logan Sargeant. As well as Sargeant and Magnussen, also eliminated was a furious Lance Stroll together with Liam Lawson and Zhou Guanyu.

Q2: Hamilton pips Verstappen, as Sainz and Perez both fail to make it through

The second round got underway with McLaren and Ferrari sending their drivers out immediately, Piastri leading the way. The Aussie rookie set an initial benchmark of 1:25.745s which was half a tenth quicker than Sainz, but not nearly quick enough to hold off Leclerc. Verstappen soon arrived on the scene to take command with an imperious 1:24.758s ahead of Pierre Gasly and Alonso went third, but Norris abandoned his own run after running wide.

Russell and Hamilton were late to set times but they were worth waiting for, P2 and P3 for Russell and Hamilton respectively compared to seventh for Perez, who felt he had been held up by Leclerc. Good efforts for Yuki Tsunoda (eighth) and Albon (tenths) pushed Piastri into the drop zone along with Hulkenberg, Sainz, Bottas and Norris but with time for another run.

Sainz' next lap saw him go wide and abort the run, adding to the pressure, but Piastri's push lap propelled him to the top - at least for a matter of seconds before he was displaced by Norris. Less than a tenth covered the top three. Leclerc couldn't match that and ended up splitting the two Mercedes cars in fifth.

Sainz battled with Verstappen for optimum track position for his final flying lap; Verstappen still went top, but Sainz was only fast enough for ninth and was quickly booted out of the top ten by others improving. He didn't have time to make another run, meaning he had missed the cut and was out of qualifying along with Tsunoda, Albon and Hulkenberg. So was Perez, who had a crucial lap time deleted for straying fractionally wide at turn 5 on his best run. At the other end of the timesheets, a late run of 1:24.381s by Hamilton had put the Briton at the top by a tenth.

Q3: Verstappen takes pole from Russell, Norris and Piastri fall foul of track limits violations

Bottas was first out in the final round on a set of used soft tyres, his first Q3 appearance since Hungary. His time of 1:25.586s was soon eclipsed by Alonso on new softs. Norris had his time deleted, but Piastri took charge with a time of 1:24.540s - at least until Verstappen crossed the line with seven tenths in hand over the McLaren.

Next up were the Mercedes drivers, Hamilton and Russell reporting in to P2 and P3 respectively but both over half a second off the Red Bull's pace. Leclerc was almost a second off the provisional pole time in the sole surviving Ferrari, after getting held up by Norris who was on his way back to pit lane.

After a brief lull it was time for the final push. Verstappen squandered his lap by running wide, allowing Norris to go second - until the McLaren's time was another to fall foul of track limits. Russell had managed to move ahead of Hamilton, who had been pipped by Piastri in the final moments before the rookie's lap too was deleted. It meant Alonso finished in fourth ahead of Leclerc, with Piastri dropping to sixth ahead of Gasly and Ocon. Bottas was ninth, while Norris was Left without a Q3 time and will line up in tenth place on Sunday's grid.

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