F1 Qatar GP LIVE: Sprint race start time and qualifying results as Lando Norris claims pole
F1 reaction from sprint qualifying at the Lusail International Circuit as Norris sneaks top spot
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Your support makes all the difference.Lando Norris bounced back from his F1 championship defeat to secure pole position for Saturday’s sprint race in Qatar.
The British driver, mocked by Max Verstappen for failing to win the title in a McLaren deemed superior to the rest of the field, saw off Mercedes’ George Russell by just 0.063 seconds.
Norris’ pole, combined with Piastri qualifying third, hands a timely boost to McLaren as they bid to land their first constructors’ championship since 1998. The British team will take the title in Doha if they outscore Ferrari by 21 points and do not concede nine points to third-placed Red Bull. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc qualified fourth and fifth respectively for Ferrari.
Verstappen will start Saturday’s dash to the chequered flag from sixth, with Lewis Hamilton a place back, four-tenths slower than Russell in the other Mercedes.
What are the start times in Qatar?
All times GMT
Saturday 30 November
- Sprint race: 2pm
- Qualifying: 6pm
Sunday 1 December
- Race: 4pm
SPRINT QUALIFYING REPORT: Lando Norris bounces back from F1 title loss with sprint race pole in Qatar
Lando Norris bounced back from his championship defeat to secure pole position for Saturday’s sprint race in Qatar.
The British driver, mocked by Max Verstappen for failing to win the title in a McLaren deemed superior to the rest of the field, saw off Mercedes’ George Russell by just 0.063 seconds.
Norris’ pole, combined with Piastri qualifying third, hands a timely boost to McLaren as they bid to land their first constructors’ championship since 1998.
Full report below:
Lando Norris bounces back from F1 title loss with sprint race pole in Qatar
The Briton’s pole hands a timely boost to McLaren as they bid to land their first constructors’ title since 1998
F1 Qatar GP LIVE: Liam Lawson after qualifying P10
“A big step, we were not very fast earlier. It was cool to do that, it’s a shame our lap was deleted. Happy with the step we made.
“There’s always more to extract, we did a brief long run earlier. We’ll try and move forward.”
Red Bull boss Christian Horner:
“The racepace looked reasonable, starting sixth and it isn’t the easiest track to overtake that.
“We’ve definitely made steps in our understanding. It’s the medium-speed that we need to find a bit of performance. Well done to Lando, he’s done a good lap there.
On Vegas celebrations: “Winning a title in Vegas is a good and a bad thing! I half-expected Max to go missing like a certain movie! He rightly celebrated with some of the guys and girls with the team, the rest of us were on flights to Europe or here.”
Starting grid for the Qatar GP sprint race:
1. Lando Norris
2. George Russell
3. Oscar Piastri
4. Carlos Sainz
5. Charles Leclerc
6. Max Verstappen
7. Lewis Hamilton
8. Pierre Gasly
9. Liam Lawson
10. Nico Hulkenberg
11. Fernando Alonso
12. Alex Albon
13. Valtteri Bottas
14. Lance Stroll
15. Kevin Magnussen
16. Sergio Perez
17. Yuki Tsunoda
18. Esteban Ocon
19. Zhou Guanyu
20. Franco Colapinto
F1 Qatar GP LIVE: Sergio Perez after qualifying only 16th
“It was a shame, I thought we really progressed with the car, it’s a shame we ended up here.
“It’s going to be very difficult, we’ll focus on the rest of the weekend. In such a short race, there’s not a lot we can do.”
F1 Qatar GP LIVE: Max Verstappen after qualifying P6
“No pace to be honest, just slow. I don’t have the balance to attack entry, the car is a bit off. It makes it very difficult around here. Difficult to push, P6 is more or less where we should be.
“The sprint will be tough to fight the cars around me. Let’s see if we can improve the situation a bit. It’s not been amazing.”
F1 Qatar GP LIVE: Charles Leclerc after claiming P5 in qualifying
“Not good, when we are P4 and P5 it is not great, considering how important this weekend is for us. We are coming back to reality.”
F1 Qatar GP LIVE: Oscar Piastri after qualifying third...
“With these conditions, it was very tough. I was in the groove at the end but very fine margins, it’s a lot of fun.”
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella after sprint qualifying:
“P1 and P3, better than Vegas! it was difficult to put perfect laps together. We have to acknowledge that Mercedes are within the same tenth, Ferrari are very close - it’s certainly not an easy ride!
“We have to work hard to get the points tomorrow.”
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