OSCAR PIASTRI SNATCHES POLE POSITION FOR SPRINT RACE IN QATAR
Oscar Piastri took an important pole position for the Qatar Sprint, beating George Russell and his McLaren teammate Lando Norris.
The Australian was fastest when it counted in Friday’s SQ3. He topped the times on both of his flying laps, ending with a 1:20.055, just 0.032 seconds ahead of Russell’s Mercedes.
Norris, who leads the championship by 24 points over Piastri and Max Verstappen going into the Qatar Grand Prix, finished two-tenths behind. He went wide at the final corner on his last lap, costing him time.
Fernando Alonso took P4 for Aston Martin. Yuki Tsunoda surprised many by qualifying ahead of his Red Bull teammate Verstappen, who had problems with bouncing and ended up P6.
Kimi Antonelli, Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, and Alex Albon completed the top 10.
Isack Hadjar missed SQ3 after losing his final lap for going over track limits at Turn 8. He starts P11, ahead of Ollie Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto.
Nico Hulkenberg also lost his last lap for track limits and finished P14, just ahead of Esteban Ocon.
Lance Stroll was the first driver knocked out in SQ1, followed by Liam Lawson and Lewis Hamilton. Ferrari had another tough session, with Hamilton out early again. Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto were the last two on the timesheets for the 19-lap Sprint on Saturday.
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