Red Bull’s Max Verstappen pipped Mercedes’ George Russell to a surprise pole position for the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix.
After being off the ultimate pace through the Sprint segment of the weekend, Verstappen and Red Bull turned their weekend around to take pole.
The Dutchman’s 1:20.520s effort bettered Russell by 0.055s with McLaren’s Lando Norris in third.
Remarkably, it was Verstappen’s first GP pole since the Austrian GP at the end of June.
UPDATE – Max Verstappen penalty hands George Russell F1 Qatar GP pole
With the Sprint spectacle done and dusted at the Lusail International Circuit, attention turned to qualifying for the Qatar GP.
Norris topped Sprint Qualifying and gifted Sprint victory to team-mate Oscar Pirastri, so the Papaya cars were well fancied going in.
As was Russell, second in the Friday short-format qualifying session and third in the 19-lap Sprint affair.
Elsewhere, the likes of Sergio Perez, Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were looking to turn the tide on what had been an underwhelming weekend prior to qualifying.
As the 18-minute timer set into motion at the start of Q1, an eager Russell lined up at the front of the pit lane queue to get out on track.
The Mercedes driver looked in good form with 10 minutes remaining in the initial qualifying session, topping the time sheets.
But the important facet of Q1 is the other end of the pecking order and avoiding the dreaded early elimination.
Once the whole field had completed at least one run, both Haas drivers, Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu, Williams’ Franco Colapinto and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon were the drivers who needed to improve.
Russell remained fastest by the end of Q1 as five drivers felt the keen sting of an early exit.
Both Williams’ out in Q1
It was a double exit for Williams with Alex Albon and Colapinto finishing 16th and 19th respectively.
0.026s separated Albon from advancing to Q2, showing just how tight the F1 field has become.
RB’s Liam Lawson also didn’t make the cut and after making the top-10 in Sprint Qualifying, Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg went out in Q1 on Saturday in 18th place.
A battery deployment issue plagued the German in his ill-fated quest to make Q2.
Propping up the order in dead last was Alpine’s Ocon.
Moving into Q2, Russell laid down a 1:21.161s benchmark and as his rivals ticked through with their first attempts, he couldn’t be matched.
That was until Verstappen punched in a 1:21.085s effort in his Red Bull RB20.
Russell then put in an effort one-thousandth of a second quicker to return to the top with five minutes remaining in Q2, only for Verstappen to reply with another faster effort.
Fighting to hold onto a Q3 top-10 shootout at this point was 10th-placed Kevin Magnussen, marginally ahead of the two Saubers, enjoying their best qualifying in a long, long time.
Saubers end valiant qualifying effort in Q2
Verstappen punched in an impressive effort to end Q2 fastest by a handy margin of 0.296s over Norris.
Elsewhere, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly saw his run of Q3 appearances come to an end, as he went out in Q2 in 11th place.
Prior to heading to Qatar, the Frenchman had been in the top-10 shootout in Austin, Mexico City, Sao Paulo and Las Vegas.
An incredible effort from Sauber came to an end in Q2 with Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas in 12th and 13th respectively.
That left RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll to round out the top 15.
READ MORE – F1 2024 Qatar Grand Prix – Qualifying Results
George Russell and Max Verstappen battle for Qatar pole
Moving into Q3, after enduring a dismal run to eighth in the Sprint race, Verstappen was all of a sudden looking like the favourite to take pole position for the Grand Prix.
Russell was still in the mix, as were both McLarens, but 12 minutes would decide their collective fate.
The benchmark after the first Q3 runs was laid down by Russell, a 1:20.575s effort for Verstappen to chase, ultimately winding up half a tenth back.
Norris, meanwhile, dipped a wheel in the gravel on his first run, then aborted his do-over, meaning he’d get just one flying run.
As the final runs came through, Russell couldn’t improve but the same couldn’t be said for the world champion as Verstappen soared to pole.
However, the result was in the balance as the stewards noted him potentially impeding Russell on his out lap.
Norris was able to clinch third with his one and only Q3 run ahead of his team-mate Piastri, the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ Hamilton.
Carlos Sainz took seventh in the second Ferrari with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Perez and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen rounding out the top-10.
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