Qatar GP 2025: Oscar Piastri takes Qatar sprint pole ahead of Lando Norris

Piastri’s pole position came despite a major moment of oversteer entering Turn Four, which he estimated cost him around 0.2 seconds, saying “it’s pretty scary; turning left from a right corner is never good, especially when you’re doing hundreds of kilometers per hour there”.

The root of Verstappen’s problems is that the Dutch pilot lost to his teammate Yuki Tsunoda in qualifying for the first time this season, and the Japanese was 0.009 seconds faster.

Verstappen’s car may turn out to be disabled when it set its fastest time.

On his first attempt, he left the track at the exit of Turn Four, bouncing violently over the gravel trap; This was the sort of incident where the floor of an F1 car could be damaged, but he did not mention this in his interview.

He also complained about the car bouncing and added swear words during the radio session.

Verstappen said: “Not good. Very bad bouncing from the first lap and very aggressive understeer which turns into oversteer at high speed. Not quite what you want. We tried to change a few things in the steering but it never worked.”

“With this balance, the sprint won’t be much fun. It will be more about trying to survive and then make some changes in qualifying.”

Although overshadowed by the title challenge, the star of sprint qualifying was arguably Fernando Alonso, who put Aston Martin into fourth place in the standings; This was an outstanding performance for a team that finished eighth in the constructors’ championship.

“One of the best results of the year,” he said. “Tough track, high-speed sections and the car was already in the window in P1 Q3. We had some stress in the second quarter due to traffic but we managed to get into the third quarter and then set up a lap.”

“Twenty-four years of experience, 44 years of experience, there are some disadvantages. I’m getting a little more tired because of the jet lag, but I know the tracks, I know the tires and I know how to get everything out on Fridays and it’s true that on Saturdays we open the parking garage and make some minor changes to the cars and everyone seems to be getting to the top of the track.”

Behind him, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli was seventh, while Carlos Sainz’s Williams and Alex Albon sandwiched Leclerc.

Hamilton said almost nothing in his only media interview after the session.

When asked how challenging the car was, he said: “Same as always.”