The final Sprint Qualifying of the season delivered drama to Lusail as the battle for crucial championship points intensified under the Friday night lights. With frontrunners trading fastest laps and midfield contenders springing into action, the 45 minutes unfolded with relentless pace and rising tension. From Fernando Alonso’s early heroics to McLaren’s continued dominance, the stage was set for a fiercely competitive set of sessions, and for Hamilton, an early and costly end to his sprint qualifying hopes.
Hamilton Out in SQ1
Early into the session, Verstappen set the quickest time, which was quickly replaced by Hadjar. The Racing Bulls driver put in a time 0.271s faster than the Red Bull.
However, it wasn’t too long until the dominant McLaren’s claimed their positions in first and second. Unfortunately, there wasn’t too much pace for the Ferrari of Hamilton who found himself in the bottom 5 with 4 minutes to go.
With 1 minute to go, Fernando Alonso swooped in to snatch first place. The Aston Martin was 0.010s faster than Piastri. SQ1 came to an end as Verstappen reclaimed provisional pole. Lewis Hamilton only claimed 15th on his final lap, putting an early end to his Friday.
OUT:
Stroll
Lawson
Hamilton
Gasly
Colapinto
Norris Quickest in SQ2
Russell and Verstappen were the first cars to take to the track in the second part of sprint qualifying. Still flying around the circuit, Verstappen continued to set purple sectors early into the session.
6 minutes left of the session, Norris beats Piastri to first by 0.049s. This subsequently pushed Verstappen down to third.
Verstappen complained of his car bouncing around towards the end of the session. Despite this, he still put his car in third, 0.080s behind Norris.
Before the chequered flag, Antonelli sat 11th. After it fell, Hadjar lost his lap time to a deletion, knocking him out instead.
Out:
Hadjar
Bearman
Bortoleto
Hulkenberg
Ocon
A Struggling Verstappen in SQ3
The final 8 minutes of sprint qualifying began with all 10 cars on track. With all drivers attempting flying laps, Verstappen took it wide at Turn 4, which ruined his first run.
5 minutes to go, Antonelli set a leading time of 1:20.903. However, it wasn’t long before his teammate Russell knocked him off his top spot by 0.375s.
In the final 4 minutes, Piastri defeats both Russell and his teammate Norris by taking first place by 0.044s.
1 minute to go, and Verstappen found himself in 10th, struggling with steering issues. As the chequered flag comes out, he only finishes 6th.
Chequered Flag: Piastri on Pole
Russell took provisional pole just before Piastri snatched it back at the end. Norris took the final corner too wide and qualified 3rd. Both are very crucial results regarding the championship which could be crowned this weekend!
Top 10:
Piastri (1:20.055)
Russell (+0.032)
Norris (+0.230)
Alonso (+0.395)
Tsunoda (+0.464)
Verstappen (+0.473)
Antonelli (+0.477)
Sainz (+0.487)
Leclerc (+0.567)
Albon (+0.733)