Max Verstappen claimed his first Grand Prix pole position in five months for Sunday’s race in Qatar ahead of George Russell – although faces a post-session 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 podium since June’s Austrian GP and just 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 will head to the stewards on Saturday evening for allegedly driving “unnecessarily slowly” on a warm-up lap before his final pole-winning attempt.
While stewards have not confirmed it was exactly the lap in question, 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.
Russell labelled Verstappen’s driving as “super dangerous” over Mercedes team radio.
As Verstappen and Red Bull surged forwards, 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.
Having increased their lead to 30 points in the Sprint, McLaren can clinch their first Constructors’ Championship since 1998 on Sunday if they outscore Ferrari by at least 15 points and are also not outscored by Red Bull by 23 points or more – although their grid positions make that less likely.
Charles Leclerc was fifth for Ferrari with Lewis Hamilton sixth in the second Mercedes after again failing to match team-mate Russell’s pace.
A day after declaring he was “definitely not fast anymore” after finishing five places and 0.299s behind Russell in Sprint Qualifying, Hamilton’s deficit to his team-mate on a single lap around Lusail grew to 0.436s.
Fernando Alonso performed well to return Aston Martin to the top 10 in eighth while Sergio Perez also returned to the top 10 after his Sprint Qualifying woes – although qualifying ninth in a car that his team-mate took pole in again underlined the Mexican’s struggles in Verstappen’s wake.
Kevin Magnussen, enjoying an Indian summer to his Haas career, took 10th.
More to follow…
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
