McLaren’s Oscar Piastri claimed his first pole position since the Dutch Grand Prix, taking top sport in qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix by a tenth of second after team-mate Lando Norris made a mistake on his final flying lap. Red Bull title contender Max Verstappen took third place. 

At the start of the top 10 shootout, Norris took provisional pole with a lap of 1:19.495 the left him clear of Piastri and Russell, with Verstappen in fourth. 

Norris then headed out ahead of his team-mate for the final runs of the Q3, but a snap of oversteer in Turn 2 unsettled the championship leader right at the start of his lap and he soon backed out of the attempt. 

That opened the door for Piastri and the Australian powered through to post a lap of 1:19.387 that earned him his first pole position since the Dutch Grand Prix. 

Verstappen couldn’t match the McLarens’ pace but the Red Bull driver had enough in the tank to push past Russell and he will start the race from P3.

With Russell in P4, fifth place went to Kimi Antonelli in the other Mercedes, with Isack Hadjar in P6 for Racing Bulls ahead of Williams’ Carlos Sainz. The Spanish driver brought out the red flags in Q3, however, when he left the garage with plastic wrapped around his rear left. The material eventually worked free btu came to rest on the track. The red flags came out and Sainz was set to be investigated for an unsafe release. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso qualified eighth ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. 

In Q2, Piastri made the early running ahead of Verstappen but Norris, on used tyres, had his opening time deleted for a track limits infringement at the entry of Turn 10. Ahead of the final runs, the championship leader was down in 15thwith no time on the board. 

The Briton eventually emerged on fresh Soft tyres and used his single run of 1:19.861 to rise from P15 to P2, ahead of Verstappen and the Mercedes pair of Russell and Antonelli. 

Ruled out at the end of the middle segment were Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg in P11, followed by Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, Haas’ Ollie Bearman, Bortoleto and Williams’ Alex Albon. 

In the opening segment, Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda looked to have done just enough to claim a Q2 with a late lap of 1:20.761 that initially lifted him out of the drop zone but as better final times came, he drifted to P15 and then in the final seconds Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Boroleto put in a lap of 1:20.653 to edge the Japanese driver out. Tsunoda will still start 15th, however, as Bortoleto is set to take a five-place grid drop for causing a collision last time out in Las Vegas. 

Also ruled out at the end of Q1 were Haas’s Esteban Ocon in P17 followed by Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and last-placed Alpine driver Franco Colapinto.  

2025 FIA Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix – Qualifying 
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 11:19.387 - -
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 11:19.495 0.108 
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 11:19.651 0.264 
4 George Russell Mercedes 11:19.662 0.275 
5 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 11:19.846 0.459 
6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 11:20.114 0.727 
7 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 11:20.287 0.900 
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 11:20.418 1.031 
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 11:20.477 1.090 
10 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 11:20.561 1.174 
11 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 11:20.353 0.966 
12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 11:20.433 1.046 
13 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 11:20.438 1.051 
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 11:20.534 1.147 
15 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 11:20.629 1.242 
16 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 11:20.761 1.374 
17 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 11:20.864 1.477 
18 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 11:20.907 1.520 
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 11:21.058 1.671 
20 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 11:21.137 1.750