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

Max Verstappen ends long pole drought just hours after struggling in the Sprint; Lando Norris behind world champion and Mercedes' George Russell in third; watch the Qatar GP live on Sky Sports F1 at 4pm on Sunday, with build-up from 2.30pm

Saturday 30 November 2024 21:52, UK

Max Verstappen claimed his first Grand Prix pole position in five months for Sunday's race in Qatar ahead of George Russell - although awaits the verdict of 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 a second in the last 16 races.

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.

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

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, taking to the kerb before eventually moving past.

Russell, who was also called to the stewards to explain his views on the near-miss, labelled Verstappen's driving as "super dangerous" at the time over Mercedes team radio.

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

Norris' Q3 was compromised by a mistake at Turn Five on his first attempt, when he went wide and put wheels in the gravel. His second lap saw him finish just over two tenths away from Verstappen.

But Ferrari, McLaren's main Constructors' Championship rivals, took only fifth with Charles Leclerc and seventh with Carlos Sainz.

Between the two red cars in sixth will start the Scuderia' 2025 signing Lewis Hamilton, who again failed to match team-mate Russell's pace on his penultimate qualifying outing for Mercedes.

A day after declaring he was "definitely not fast anymore" after finishing five places and 0.399s behind Russell in Sprint Qualifying, Hamilton's deficit to his team-mate over a single lap around Lusail grew slightly to 0.436s.

Fernando Alonso performed well to return Aston Martin to the top 10 in eighth, while Sergio Perez was also back in the Q3 positions in the second Red Bull having made a wretched start to the weekend in the Sprint events.

However, the Mexican's ninth-placed finish still paled into insignificance when compared with Verstappen's pole, the Dutchman lapping a whopping 0.9s quicker in the sister car.

Kevin Magnussen, enjoying an Indian summer to his Haas career, took 10th after team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, a points scorer in the Sprint, unexpectedly dropped out in Q1.

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 finished it only eighth behind Hulkenberg after an uncharacteristic poor start in a 19-lap dash dominated by the McLarens and Mercedes' Russell.

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.

"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 for the first time 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."

McLaren slip from the front but still have first chance to close out title

McLaren's near-perfect start to the weekend may have suffered its first setback in qualifying but the Constructors' Championship leaders remain in contention for a Sprint-Grand Prix double that could yet clinch them this year's teams' title with one round to spare.

Having increased their lead to 30 points by finishing first and second in Sprint, the Woking outfit will secure their first constructors' title since 1998 before next week's season finale in Abu Dhabi if they outscore Ferrari by at least 15 points and are also not outscored by Red Bull by 23 points or more on Sunday.

"As a qualifying car, we a bit off and did not have the same potential of Red Bull and Mercedes," admitted Norris, who finished up 0.252s back on pole.

"But I'm hoping it comes back to us in the race a little bit. Hard to know, fine margins. But I'm hoping [Sunday] plays a bit into our hands again."

Qatar GP Qualifying Timesheet


Driver	Team	Time
1) Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:20.520
2) George Russell	Mercedes	+0.055
3) Lando Norris	McLaren	+0.252
4) Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.309
5) Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.332
6) Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+0.491
7) Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+0.521
8) Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+0.731
9) Sergio Perez	Red Bull	+0.905
10) Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+0.980
Knocked out in Q2
11) Pierre Gasly	Alpine	1:21.437
12) Zhou Guanyu	Sauber	1:21.501
13) Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	1:21.731
14) Yuki Tsunoda	RB	1:21.771
15) Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:21.911
Knocked out in Q1
16) Alex Albon	Williams	1:22.390
17) Liam Lawson	RB	1:22.411
18) Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	1:22.442
19) Franco Colapinto	Williams	1:22.594
20) Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1:22.714

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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