Oscar Piastri leads Lando Norris in Qatar Grand Prix practice as Max Verstappen struggles

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Oscar Piastri topped the practice timings at the Qatar Grand Prix ahead of his McLaren teammate Lando Norris as Max Verstappen struggled with Red Bull set up.

The only practice session around the Lusail International Circuit is crucial for teams and drivers as they try to get vital data for the weekend.

Any information from the session is slightly unrepresentative of the qualifying and race conditions as the sun has yet to set, meaning it will be cooler later in the day.

There is a mandatory 25-lap limit for tyres this weekend due to safety concerns about degradation. It seems unlikely that we could see hard tyres used in the races, so it was expected that they would be used during this practice session.

It’s all to play for among the final three championship contenders this weekend, with Lando Norris able to take his maiden title in Qatar this weekend.

Max Verstappen is notoriously strong around this track, with the Dutchman’s fifth title still possible, especially after the McLaren double disqualification last time out in Las Vegas.

Verstappen initially struggled during practice, telling his team, ‘the steering feels really weird all of a sudden’ as cameras cut to the Red Bull running wide.

Williams do not believe the track will suit their car this weekend, but early hard tyre runs saw Carlos Sainz in P2, just three-hundredths slower than George Russell’s Mercedes.

It was a busy start to the session, with most cars out on the track. Although traffic shouldn’t be a massive issue in Lusail, Verstappen was caught out by a distracted Pierre Gasly, with the Dutchman needing to take quick avoiding action.

Drivers struggled for grip at the mid-point of the only practice run, with Norris running off the circuit multiple times, which resulted in the Brit finding himself in P18.

The championship leader did not have pace during the first half of the session, asking his race engineer, Will Joseph ‘Where can I find 1.6s?’ as he placed himself over seven-tenths of a second behind the leading Russell.

At the halfway mark the Mercedes driver still topped the timing sheets, ahead of Verstappen and Isack Hadjar in P3. The Racing Bulls rookie is tipped for a move up to be the four-time world champion’s teammate in 2026, with Red Bull set to make an announcement after this weekend.

Fernando Alonso found himself in fourth, with both Williams behind him, which will surprise Sainz and Alex Albon as they expected to be slower in Qatar.

Verstappen was really fighting with his car in the closing stages, after previously complaining about his steering and tyres. The Dutchman told the team that he was struggling with his gear shifts before noting that his car was clipping at Turn 6 and he had no pace coming out of the corner.

Ferrari had a disappointing opening session to the start of the Qatar Grand Prix weekend, with both cars out of the top ten at the end of the session.

It will be another difficult session for Lewis Hamilton, who qualified at the back of the grid in Vegas and claimed that this has been his ‘worst season’ in Formula 1.