Oscar Piastri takes Qatar Sprint pole ahead of George Russell as Max Verstappen struggles

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Oscar Piastri has taken pole position for the Qatar Sprint race as Max Verstappen was left furious with the performance of his Red Bull.

The final Sprint of the year will potentially play a pivotal role in the 2025 world championship, with Lando Norris able to take the title this weekend around the Lusail International Circuit.

Early SQ1 laps saw Max Verstappen top the timing sheets, before Norris knocked him off the front place, with Oscar Piastri sitting in third.

Mercedes were late to come out during the first part of qualifying, which left both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli with just minutes to try and put a lap on the board.

Fernando Alonso was flying around the Lusail circuit, leapfrogging the Red Bull and both McLarens to the top spot with a minute remaining. The performance from the Aston Martin really showed that no one was really safe.

It was another disappointing qualifying for Lewis Hamilton, who found himself out in the first part of the session once again. Ferrari really struggled for pace during the only practice of the weekend, with Charles Leclerc just scraping through into SQ2 in P13.

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Both Norris and Verstappen were investigated for impeding each other during two separate incidents during SQ1, however, no further action was decided by the stewards.

Verstappen’s problem with the Red Bull bouncing returned during the second part of qualifying, which saw him sitting in fourth after the first flying laps.

The current championship leader, Norris topped timings just four-hundredths of a second ahead of his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.

Times tumbled in the middle part of Sprint qualifying, with Yuki Tsunoda keeping pace with Verstappen. It comes as rumoured Red Bull successor Isack Hadjar saw his lap time deleted for track limits, promoting Antonelli up into SQ3.

Verstappen got increasingly frustrated with his Red Bull porpoising in the final part of Sprint qualifying as he struggled to get his car around the corners. The Dutchman struggled with understeer heading into Turn 1, sending him wide and through the gravel trap.

Piastri set provisional pole, just four hundredths of a second from Norris, with just minutes remaining in the session.

Verstappen led the final flying laps of the last sprint qualifying of 2025, but was a tenth down in the first sector. The four-time world champion needed to minimise the gap to the McLarens, as he found himself at the bottom of timings.

Tsunoda successfully outqualified Verstappen with his final flying lap, which is the first time since the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that the Dutchman has been beaten by a teammate in qualifying.