Qatar GP: Piastri leads Norris in frantic single practice

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri lit up the Losail night with a late-lap stunner to top the only practice session of Qatar’s sprint weekend – an hour that delivered drama, dust, and a frantic scramble for performance under the lights.

His final soft-tyre flyer edged out team-mate and title rival Lando Norris by just 0.058s, while Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso delivered a vintage showing to take third.

With Qatar hosting the final sprint weekend of 2025 – and only a single practice session available – teams hit the ground running. All 20 drivers were immediately unleashed on the hard tyres, juggling high-fuel balance checks with push laps as engineers raced to collect every scrap of data before qualifying.

• Qatar Grand Prix Free Practice 1 - Results

A Frenzied Start Under the Lights

Mercedes fired the first warning shot as George Russell clocked a 1m22.165s early on. That benchmark held firm for more than half the session, despite Max Verstappen’s best efforts—efforts hampered by a restless Red Bull RB21.

“It’s jumping a lot,” Verstappen radioed as the reigning champion wrestled with the car’s ride over Losail’s demanding high-speed sweepers.

Even Norris endured a shaky opening phase, drifting wide and puzzling aloud about being 1.6 seconds off Piastri’s early pace. Bit by bit, both McLarens reeled the track in, though the team still appeared uneasy on the hard compound.

And all the while, the strategic backdrop loomed large: Pirelli’s mandate limiting tyre stints to 25 laps, locking Sunday’s Grand Prix into a mandatory two-stop showdown. Every lap of preparation mattered.

Soft Tyres Transform the Order

After 45 minutes of relentless hard-tyre running, the softs emerged – and immediately turned the session on its head.

Norris struck first with a commanding 1m20.982s, three tenths clear of Piastri’s initial soft-tyre attempt.

A second effort from Norris looked even stronger before he suddenly aborted, leaving an opening that Piastri pounced on. The Australian delivered a beautifully hooked-up lap—1m20.924s—good enough to snatch the top spot in the dying moments.

Alonso slotted into a spirited third, just ahead of Carlos Sainz, who continued Williams’ strong run of form to take fourth.

Rookie standout Isack Hadjar stunned with fifth in the Racing Bulls entry, narrowly keeping Verstappen behind him. Alex Albon added more optimism for Williams in seventh.

Ferrari, meanwhile, endured another bruising reality check. Charles Leclerc wrestled an uncooperative SF-25 to eighth place, with Lance Stroll and Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli rounding out the top ten.

If the frantic single practice hour is any indication, the Losail circuit is preparing to deliver a wild and unpredictable weekend—and the battle at the top is far from settled.

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