Qatar GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen storms back after Sprint woe to pip George Russell to pole

Max Verstappen claimed his first Grand Prix pole position in five months for Sunday's race in Qatar ahead of George Russell - although faces a post-qualifying investigation after an incident involving his Mercedes rival.

Just hours after Verstappen finished eighth in the 19-lap Sprint around the Lusail International Circuit, Red Bull staged a remarkable turnaround in form with set-up changes between sessions appearing to absolutely transform their car into a pole contender in the new four-time world champion's hands.

Verstappen duly took full advantage and claimed his first pole since June's Austrian GP and just second in the last 16 races.

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The Dutchman, who clinched his fourth successive Drivers' Championship last week in Las Vegas, topped Q2 but was behind Russell after the first laps of the final stage before turning the tables on the Briton with a brilliant final effort of 1:20.520, pipping the lead Mercedes by 0.055s.

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But Verstappen will head to the stewards on Saturday evening for allegedly driving "unnecessarily slowly" on a warm-up lap before his final pole-winning attempt.

While stewards have not confirmed it was exactly the lap in question, replays showed Verstappen was involved in an incident in the final sector when a faster Russell came up behind the Red Bull and had to slow down to avoid a collision.

Russell labelled Verstappen's driving as "super dangerous" over Mercedes team radio.

As Verstappen and Red Bull surged forwards, Sprint one-two finishers McLaren slipped back to the second row with Lando Norris third ahead of Oscar Piastri in fourth.

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Norris' Q3 was compromised by a mistake at Turn Five on his first attempt, when he went wide and put wheels in the gravel.

Having increased their lead to 30 points in the Sprint, McLaren can clinch their first Constructors' Championship since 1998 on Sunday if they outscore Ferrari by at least 15 points and are also not outscored by Red Bull by 23 points or more - although their grid positions make that less likely.

Charles Leclerc was fifth for Ferrari with Lewis Hamilton sixth in the second Mercedes after again failing to match team-mate Russell's pace.

A day after declaring he was "definitely not fast anymore" after finishing five places and 0.299s behind Russell in Sprint Qualifying, Hamilton's deficit to his team-mate on a single lap around Lusail grew to 0.436s.

Carlos Sainz, who also has to see the stewards after the session for an unsafe Ferrari pits release ahead of an oncoming Hamilton, took seventh.

Fernando Alonso performed well to return Aston Martin to the top 10 in eighth while Sergio Perez also returned to the top 10 after his Sprint Qualifying woes - although qualifying ninth in a car that his team-mate took pole in again underlined the Mexican's struggles in Verstappen's wake.

Kevin Magnussen, enjoying an Indian summer to his Haas career, took 10th.

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How did they do that?! Verstappen and Red Bull turn tables on rivals

"We threw the kitchen sink at it and pretty much everything we could change, we did change".

Red Bull boss Christian Horner's summary of how his team managed to transform the fortunes of what up until Saturday evening's main qualifying hour had been an ill-handling RB20 around the fast Lusail track.

Having qualified a distant sixth for the Sprint on Friday, Verstappen then finished only eighth behind Haas's Nico Hulkenberg after an uncharacteristic poor start in a 19-lap dash dominated by the McLarens and Mercedes' Russell.

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On Sprint weekends, teams' initial set-up work is initially condensed into one sole hour of practice but after the short-form Saturday race they can then make more fundamental changes before main qualifying for Sunday's Grand Prix.

But not even Verstappen thought Red Bull would re-emerge as pole contenders.

"Crazy! I didn't expect this," admitted the Dutchman afterwards.

"Well done to the team to give me a car that feels a bit more connected and once the car is a bit more together, you can push harder and it felt a lot better in qualifying.

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"We changed a bit on the car but I never thought it would make such a swing in performance, so that's promising. "I hope it lasts in the race."

He will start just ahead of Russell, who has now been pipped to both of this weekend's pole positions but appears to be the event's most consistent performer.

He is now eyeing back-to-back GP wins a week after triumphing impressively in Las Vegas.

"It's been a great run so far. The last four qualifyings we've been on the front row every one, which I don't think we could have dreamt of a few races ago," said Russell.

"I'm feeling in such a groove at the moment, feeling really great. My first lap was one of the best I've ever done and then for whatever reason, I just couldn't find that extra bit of time on the last lap and Max pipped me."

Sky Sports F1's live Qatar GP schedule

Sunday December 1
10.55am: F1 Academy Race Two
12.15pm: F2 Feature Race
2.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Qatar GP build-up
4pm: THE QATAR GRAND PRIX
6pm: Chequered Flag: Qatar GP reaction
7pm: Ted's Notebook

Formula 1's season-ending triple-header continues this weekend with the Qatar Grand Prix, live on Sky Sports F1. Get Sky Sports F1 or stream with NOW

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