McLaren’s Oscar Piastri claimed pole position for the 2025 Qatar Sprint in Lusail.
Piastri topped Practice in the closing minutes from teammate – Lando Norris by just 0.058 seconds, before he claimed sprint pole by a closer margin of 0.032s ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell with Norris qualified in third position.
Practice
Russell was first out onto the track ahead of Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg but it was the latter who set the first benchmark time of 1m 26.523 as everyone ran hard tyres in the opening stints.
Max Verstappen, Russell, Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Hulkenberg subsequently exchanged fastest lap times until Piastri went top in the 13th minute with 1m 23.039, only for Russell to go 0.077 seconds quicker than the Australian.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Verstappen then briefly displaced Russell who responded with 1m 22.165 to head Verstappen by 0.207s at the halfway mark, as attention turned to race simulations mid-session.
The final 13 minutes saw everyone switch to the soft tyre for qualifying simulations which saw Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar post 1m 21.819 to displace Russell with ten minutes left on the clock.
Sainz and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso went even quicker before Norris recovered from a quiet session to set 1m 20.982 with six minutes left.
Piastri however saved his best lap for his second flier on the soft tyre as he set 1m 20.924 to head his teammate by 0.058s at the checkered flag.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1m 20.924 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.058 |
| 3 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.386 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 0.480 |
| 5 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | + 0.579 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.580 |
| 7 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.685 |
| 8 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.744 |
| 9 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.745 |
| 10 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.774 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | + 0.859 |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.870 |
| 13 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | + 0.872 |
| 14 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.900 |
| 15 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 1.002 |
| 16 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | + 1.002 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 1.172 |
| 18 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.500 |
| 19 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 1.638 |
| 20 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 2.606 |
Sprint Qualifying
SQ1
Verstappen was first on track and set a benchmark time of 1m 22.258 on the medium tyre, but was soon displaced by Hadjar who set 1m 21,987 before Norris displaced him with 1m 21.621 to head Piastri by 0.192s.
Verstappen however found time in the eighth minute to set 1m 21.494 to put himself top, whilst the bottom five once everyone set a lap time comprised of; Hamilton, Colapinto, Stroll, Antonelli and Russell.
Norris and Piastri meanwhile usurped Verstappen’s lap time to lower the benchmark to 1m 21.286 in the ninth minute.
At the checkered flag, Stroll was knocked out in 16th position ahead of Lawson, Hamilton, Gasly and Colapinto, with the Argentinean heading the rear of the field in 20th position on the grid.
Verstappen meanwhile topped SQ1 with 1m 21.172 ahead of Alonso and Piastri.
SQ2
Verstappen again was first out on medium tyres and laid down 1m 21.295 as the benchmark time only for Norris to displace him with 1m 20.956, as Piastri split the pair in second and 0.049s off his teammate.
The bottom five once everyone set at least one lap time comprised of; Ocon, Albon, Bortoleto, Alonso and Antonelli, although Antonelli on his second flier went seventh-fastest at the expense of Bearman.
Once the checkered flag fell, Hadjar had a lap time deleted which eliminated him in 11th position ahead of; Bearman, Bortoleto, Hulkenberg and Ocon.
Nobody beat Norris’ initial lap time as the Brit topped SQ2 from Piastri.
SQ3
Antonelli and Russell were first on track as the top ten switched to soft tyres and the Italian set 1m 20.903 as the initial benchmark time, which Russell beat with 1m 20.528 just moments later.
Piastri however posted 1m 20.241 a minute later to go fastest from Norris by 0.044s as Russell, Leclerc, Albon, Sainz, Alonso, Antonelli and Tsunoda filled positions 3 – 9 ahead of Verstappen, who aborted his flier after he ran wide due to a “bouncing” issue with his Red Bull.
At the checkered flag, Russell briefly went fastest with 1m 20.087 but Piastri displaced him by 0.032s with 1m 20.055 to take pole for the sprint.
Norris qualified third after he was caught up behind Albon on his final flier but ahead of Alonso and Tsunoda who outqualified Verstappen, as the reigning champion qualified sixth.
Antonelli, Sainz, Leclerc and Albon completed the top ten.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1m 20.055 |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.032 |
| 3 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.230 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.393 |
| 5 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | + 0.464 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.473 |
| 7 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.477 |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 0.487 |
| 9 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.567 |
| 10 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.733 |
| 11 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | 1m 21.433 |
| 12 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 0.061 |
| 13 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | + 0.134 |
| 14 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | + 0.198 |
| 15 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 0.233 |
| 16 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1m 21.807 |
| 17 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 0.044 |
| 18 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.236 |
| 19 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.305 |
| 20 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 0.557 |
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