Max sixth in sprint qualifying in Qatar: 'Difficult to push'

Published on 29 November 2024 by Misha van der Kroon

Max Verstappen has set the sixth fastest time during sprint qualifying in Qatar. Lando Norris topped all three sessions to claim pole position for the sprint race. George Russell set the second fastest time, followed by Oscar Piastri in third. The Ferrari drivers completed the top five: Carlos Sainz set the fourth time and teammate Charles Leclerc clocked the fifth time. While earlier today, the Ferraris seemed quicker during the first and only free practice session, the McLarens proved to have the upper hand in the session.

“We just had no pace, to be honest,” Max says after the session. “We were slow, I didn’t really have the balance to attack. The very high speed is OK, but everything else is not. That makes it difficult to push.” According to the four-time World Champion, sixth place is where they should start. “Maybe even P7,” he continues. “But it is of course not where we want to be.”

When asked about his expectations for tomorrow, Max answers: “In the sprint race, it will be tough to fight the cars around me with the balance that I have in the car. For qualifying, let’s see if we can improve the situation a bit. But I don’t expect the situation to completely turn around. So yeah, it has not been amazing.”

Verstappen’s first time in SQ1 is a 1:23.291 on medium tyres, putting him second, just three hundredths slower than Charles Leclerc. Lando Norris delivers a strong lap in his McLaren, going over four-tenths quicker than Leclerc. However, the Ferraris show that they have more to offer, with Sainz taking the top spot. Shortly after, Leclerc goes even faster with a 1:22.156. The battle between Ferrari and McLaren is intense, with Norris shaving off a tenth from Leclerc’s time to reclaim the lead. George Russell then joins the battle, matching Norris’s time to the thousandth.

As the first qualifying session draws to a close, the track conditions improve, and drivers continue to find more speed. Colapinto, Zhou, Ocon, Tsunoda, and Perez are eliminated in SQ1. Norris ends this session as the fastest driver.

SQ2 begins with a 1:22.188 for Max Verstappen on medium tyres. Norris, Leclerc, and Piastri quickly improve on this time. Again, drivers manage to exactly match lap times: Verstappen matches Piastri with a 1:22.050. However, since the four-time World Champion sets his time after the Australian, he gets second place for the moment. Verstappen’s position soon drops as Leclerc, Sainz, Russell, and Norris all go faster. He regains a spot when Piastri's time is deleted for exceeding track limits, pushing the McLaren driver to the bottom of the timing sheet. Verstappen improves slightly and climbs to fourth, ending the session just over half a second behind Norris.

When SQ2 concludes, Magnussen, Stroll, Bottas, Albon, and Alonso are eliminated. Once again, Norris finishes as the fastest driver.

At the start of SQ3, it is immediately busy, as many drivers immediately hit the track when the light goes green. Norris sets a 1:21.012, with teammate Piastri close behind, just over a tenth slower. Verstappen takes third, three-tenths off Norris, but is quickly bumped to fourth as Russell sets a quicker lap. Piastri tries for an even faster time after a strong first sector but fails to improve the time of his earlier lap. Meanwhile, Russell finds more pace and moves up to second, followed by a strong lap from Sainz.

Verstappen ends the session in sixth place. Norris secures pole position for the sprint race in Qatar, remaining the fastest man on track. Russell claims second, with Piastri in third. The Ferrari duo of Sainz and Leclerc complete the top five.

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Results sprint qualifying Qatar: