P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Lando Norris will start from pole alongside George Russell for the Qatar Sprint race after a tight qualifying session in Lusail. In a session during which most drivers set two flying laps on soft t…
Lando Norris will start from pole position alongside George Russell for the Sprint race in Qatar, following a closely contested qualifying session in Lusail. Norris had a challenging session, needing to rely on just one flying lap after struggling in his first attempt due to a scrappy first sector. Despite a strong challenge from his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, Norris managed to secure his second Sprint pole of the year, edging out Russell by a mere 0.063 seconds. Russell’s front-row start matches his best qualifying result in Sprint races this year. Notably, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were closely matched, with Ferrari’s pace fading as qualifying progressed. Max Verstappen will line up sixth on the grid, followed by Lewis Hamilton in seventh. Pierre Gasly led the midfielders inside the top 10, with Nico Hulkenberg close behind. Fernando Alonso will start 11th, ahead of Alex Albon, Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll, and Kevin Magnussen, who returns to Sprint qualifying after missing the Sao Paulo weekend due to illness. Sergio Perez was eliminated in Q1 and will start 16th, his first bottom-five qualification for a Sprint race this year. Yuki Tsunoda expressed frustration with Red Bull’s run plan as he qualified 17th, followed by Esteban Ocon, who lacked spares for Alpine’s new front wing. Zhou Guanyu qualified 19th, with Williams rookie Franco Colapinto completing the grid in 20th place.
