Max Verstappen claims pole position in Qatar on the weekend he could clinch the Driver’s Championship, with George Russell starting Sunday’s race second, and Lewis Hamilton third
- Max Verstappen claimed his 30th career pole in Qatar on Friday night
- The Dutchman could win the World Championship in the Sprint on Saturday
- George Russell took second place, while Lewis Hamilton will start in third
Max Verstappen opened what is likely to be his title-clinching weekend by securing pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix.
The 26-year-old Dutchman was the irresistible force he has been all season under the Lusail International Circuit’s lights as he made himself firm favourite to notch victory No 14 in 17 attempts.
But, in a strange twist of scheduling, the full-distance race may be irrelevant to Verstappen’s ambitions of becoming the sport’s 11th triple world, for he is expected to wrap up the honours in today’s 19-lap sprint.
Formula One have implemented a new format for the six sprint weekend this season, with Saturdays given over entirely to the shorter-length stuff: a further qualifying session this afternoon to determine the starting positions for this evening’s sprint.
It is a strange day without moorings to the main event tomorrow – or what would be the main event but for the probability of Verstappen having already blown out his candles by then. Indeed, he hinted he would stage a mini-celebration if he concludes his year-long procession to glory prior to the grand prix itself.
Max Verstappen claimed his 30th career pole position by winning the qualifying in Qatar
George Russell was second in his Mercedes after McLaren’s Lando Norris was demoted to 10th
Sergio Perez, the only challenger to Verstappen’s title, qualified in a lowly 13th position
But, as it stands, there is no fizz sprayed on the podium on Saturdays. Which could prove a touch awkward.
If Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez, the only remaining mathematical challenger to the inevitable, fails to score six points in the sprint – which means finishing third or higher – then it is all over. Whatever happens, three points for Verstappen today – sixth or better – would settle it.
The bad news for Perez is that he is struggling for pace. The Mexican qualified a lowly 13th, his struggles compounded by having his best time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 5.
Verstappen ran off track right at the death, but he had already bagged a time four-tenths ahead of the rest. Mercedes’ George Russell was second quickest once his fellow Brit, McLaren’s Lando Norris, was demoted to 10th for driving over the white lines.
Norris’s team-mate Oscar Piastri was dumped from third to sixth for the same offence. That paved the way for Lewis Hamilton, in the other Silver Arrow, to qualify third.
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