Piastri takes pole at the penultimate corner, Verstappen struggles with wrong setup
Oscar Piastri reclaimed Lusail, one of his favourite tracks, claiming pole for the Sprint ahead of George Russell and teammate Lando Norris. The pole was effectively “stolen” at the penultimate corner, where Piastri put together the best lap of his run just as Russell encountered his worst, losing around 14 km/h in minimum speed and handing Piastri the top spot for Saturday’s short race.
High-grip conditions and clean driving: Piastri finds his rhythm
The technical picture from Sprint Qualifying shows a McLaren that maximises its high downforce capability, particularly through the floor, providing excellent lateral stability in fast corners and a low, “flat” aerodynamic platform performing at its peak. In these high-grip conditions, Oscar Piastri was immediately at ease: clean weight transfers, minimal rear-end movement, linear braking, and no major mistakes. His lap wasn’t explosive at a single point, but perfectly consistent in terms of clean driving. Lando Norris only briefly led through the double right of turns 4-5, but from the middle sector onwards, Piastri took the lead over his teammate and never relinquished it.
Norris more nervous, overdrives the car
On the other side of the garage, Lando Norris experienced the same car in a much more nervous manner. After considerable setup work, Norris went out with a slightly weak rear-end setup, showing noticeable “snap” on corner exits visible in the telemetry. Key points included turns 6 and 10, where he had to lift off the throttle, losing traction and widening his line. On his final lap, which was supposed to be his best, he made a mistake at the last corner, and his sector times were still slower than previous attempts. Norris will start third in the Sprint, a position from which he can manage the race carefully without too much pressure, but will still need to stay alert to avoid trouble.
Verstappen and Red Bull: setup gamble struggles
The biggest disappointment of the session (aside from Hamilton) was undoubtedly Max Verstappen. At Milton Keynes, finding the optimal window for the car often requires extreme setups, but the team appears to struggle with the limited on-track work available. Max Verstappen ran a RB21 suffering from severe bouncing, making it extremely difficult to drive through fast corners. With load losses, the front end unloaded, causing understeer followed by sudden oversteer, one of the worst handling conditions possible. Combined with a front-biased balance, the car became unpredictable. His off-track moment at the start of SQ3 wasn’t just a driving error—it likely damaged the floor, affecting performance on his final lap. Yuki Tsunoda even qualified ahead of Max Verstappen for the first time, highlighting the difficulties Red Bull faces when track time is limited. Verstappen’s car clearly needed suspension recalibration, including damping adjustments, to manage bouncing and improve longitudinal behaviour.
Russell makes the most of Mercedes in qualifying
George Russell and Mercedes also delivered an interesting picture. Russell ran slightly less downforce than the McLarens, with a lighter wing that cost him some speed through fast corners but made him very efficient on a single lap, especially on soft tyres. He clocked 329 km/h in the straights, slightly faster than Oscar Piastri (327) and Lando Norris (326), and Max Verstappen (325). His fast sections, including the double right of 4-5, were strong, but he gave up the final sector, particularly through the triple right and turn 15, effectively handing Piastri the Sprint pole.
Leave a Reply