Max Verstappen celebrated his fourth world championship success by taking pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix.
A week on from wrapping up the title in Las Vegas, the Dutchman was 0.055sec ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell with Lando Norris third best.
‘What a turnaround,’ exclaimed an ecstatic Verstappen, referencing his problems over the weekend – he qualified sixth for the sprint earlier in the day and finished it eighth.
It was Red Bull’s first pole since Austria five months ago to the day. ‘Well done to the team for giving me a car that feels a lot more connected,’ added Verstappen.
Qualifying came after Norris handed victory to team-mate Oscar Piastri in the sprint as the pair approached the finish line ahead. It was payback for Piastri doing likewise in Brazil early this month when Norris was still in contention for the drivers’ title.
McLaren need to score 15 points more than Ferrari on Sunday to take the championship for the first time since 1998, ahead of the closing round in Abu Dhabi next week.
Max Verstappen finished 0.055seconds ahead of second place George Russell’s Mercedes
Lando Norris (right) will start in third a week after seeing his unlikely title bid finally ended
A McLaren one-two would clinch it regardless of where the two red cars finish.
Piastri qualified fourth – so both papaya men are ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who qualified fifth and seventh respectively.
Winning the constructors’ title would put the Woking-based team level with Williams on nine championships.
Lewis Hamilton qualified sixth, a place higher than in preparation for the sprint. The seven-time world champion was four-tenths slower than team-mate Russell.
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