Oscar Piastri is officially the king of Lusail this weekend. After winning Saturday’s sprint, the Australian produced a sensational 1:19.387 in Q3 – smashing his own track record from Friday by seven tenths – to claim his sixth career pole position and his first since Zandvoort three months ago. Lando Norris could only manage second (+0.108s) despite a monster first run, while Max Verstappen rounded out the top three, 0.264s off the ultimate pace.
McLaren’s dominance was untouchable once again. Norris looked to have pole wrapped up after the opening Q3 flyers when he hooked up a 1:19.495 with an accidental tow from Verstappen, but Piastri responded with an almost perfect lap on his final run. Norris then made a rare mistake at Turn 2 and had to settle for the front-row lockout alongside his team-mate.
Verstappen admitted Red Bull had cured the worst of the bouncing that plagued them in the sprint, but the RB21 still couldn’t live with the orange cars. The Dutchman had to fight hard to keep George Russell’s Mercedes behind by just 0.011 seconds – vital on a track where overtaking is almost impossible.
Mercedes can still smile: rookie Kimi Antonelli backed up Russell with a brilliant fifth place, while Isack Hadjar put the second Red Bull sister car an impressive sixth. Carlos Sainz was a strong seventh for Williams but is under investigation after a piece of bodywork flew off his car and triggered the late Q3 red flag.
Fernando Alonso dragged the Aston Martin to a surprise eighth ahead of a stunning Pierre Gasly in ninth – the Alpine driver pulling a lap out of nowhere. Charles Leclerc completed the top ten, but it was another desperately painful afternoon for Ferrari.
Leclerc suffered two huge moments in Q3: first a wild 720-degree spin at Turn 15 after running wide on the kerb, then a second slide on his final lap. The Monegasque is over 1.1 seconds off pole and admitted over the radio the car simply has no pace in Lusail’s fast corners.
Lewis Hamilton’s misery continued with a third consecutive Q1 elimination – 18th on the grid, four tenths slower than Leclerc and almost nine tenths off Russell’s Q1 benchmark. The seven-time champion looked completely lost for answers as the SF-25 continues its late-season collapse.
Just missing Q3 were Nico Hülkenberg (P11 by 0.003s), Ollie Bearman (P13 in the Haas), Gabriel Bortoleto (P14), Alexander Albon (P15 after running wide on his final lap) and Yuki Tsunoda (P16), who couldn’t repeat his sprint heroics.
Full starting grid (subject to any Sainz penalty) and detailed qualifying times below.
Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 1m19.387s
Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.108s
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.264s
George Russell (Mercedes) +0.275s
Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.459s
Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) +0.727s
Carlos Sainz (Williams) +0.900s
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +1.031s
Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.090s
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +1.174s
Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) 1m20.353s
Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) 1m20.433s
Ollie Bearman (Haas) 1m20.438s
Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) 1m20.534s
Alex Albon (Williams) 1m20.629s
Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) 1m20.761s
Esteban Ocon (Haas) 1m20.864s
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 1m20.907s
Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 1m21.058s
Franco Colapinto (Alpine) 1m21.137s
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