Qatar Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying: Lando Norris and George Russell untouchable
Lando Norris has obtained the pole position during this sprint qualifying. The British driver is closely followed by a very close George Russell. The Ferraris are quite far behind.
The SQ1
Make way for the medium tires. As required by regulations, the twenty drivers were required to take to the track with this tire compound. While Kevin Magnussen was the fastest in the early stages, the Dane was quickly beaten by Charles Leclerc (1:23’259”).
Lando Norris then strung together the first two sectors to beat the Ferrari with a time half a second better. The Briton was quickly beaten by Carlos Sainz and then by the Monegasque with nearly six tenths better.
At the same time, Lewis Hamilton was struggling, far behind and almost seven tenths of a second behind his teammate. The latter did the same time as Lando Norris (1:22’021”) two minutes before the end.
Everyone improved their lap time on their final attempt at the checkered flag. Lando Norris set a 1:21.356” lap time. Sergio Perez was eliminated in this Q1.
The eliminated: Franco Colapinto, Guanyu Zhou, Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda and Sergio Perez.
Lando leads a flurry of late improvements 📈
Here’s the SQ1 classification 🔽#F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/a4MeIp84Lv
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 29, 2024
The SQ2
Max Verstappen’s first quick lap was one tenth slower than Lando Norris’s best reference in SQ1. A statistic that all drivers respected. The two Mercedes took time to get going. It took them two laps to warm up and prepare their tires.
Carlos Sainz (1:21’809”) is the first man to have driven faster than in the first session. George Russell matched him three tenths shortly after. Lando Norris improved the time by 257 milliseconds (1:22’231”).
Alexander Albon narrowly missed out on qualifying for Q3 due to a mistake in the final sector. The Thai driver almost lost his Williams in a very fast corner. Pierre Gasly set the ninth fastest time, while Lewis Hamilton took fourth place.
The eliminated: Kevin Magnussen, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, Alexander Albon and Fernando Alonso.
The top 10 advance to battle for Sprint pole 💪
Here’s the SQ2 classification 🔽#F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/dJGvNIGDIw
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 29, 2024
The SQ3
The session almost began with an accident in the pits between the only Alpine and the only Red Bull still in the running. The incident should not be penalized.
Charles Leclerc is the only man to have pushed his first attempt to the finish line (1:21.705). All the others have cut. Lando Norris went much faster with a mark seven tenths better. Oscar Piastri failed by a tenth and a half.
Lewis Hamilton, who had started his attempt perfectly, lost a lot of time in the final sector and posted a provisional fifth time.
The drivers didn’t manage to improve their reference time at the end of the session. The Ferraris finished in fourth and fifth place. Pierre Gasly in eighth. George Russell was very close to beating Lando Norris, he missed by a few thousandths.
LANDO NORRIS TAKES SPRINT POLE IN QATAR!! 🧡
The McLaren driver delivers under the lights to secure top spot for tomorrow’s Sprint! #F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/OppvVxF0Kf
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 29, 2024
