Max Verstappen’s late push earned him an incredible Pole Position ahead of an excellent George Russell in a tightly contested battle. McLaren and Ferrari are further behind than expected: the British team occupies the second row, while the Ferraris line up in fifth and seventh positions. Let’s recap what happened on this Saturday evening with a summary and the results from the Qatar GP F1 qualifying session.
Q1
Soft tires for everyone, with Russell setting an impressive pace right away with a 1:21.519, ahead of Norris and Alonso by 59 and 89 thousandths of a second. Verstappen took fourth, followed by Gasly and Stroll, with Sainz and Piastri half a second behind. Hamilton and Perez rounded out the Top 10, with Leclerc also safe so far. Bottas, Lawson, Tsunoda, and Albon were also safe. The Ferraris improved with Sainz in second and Leclerc in fifth, while Piastri had a not-so-clean lap in eighth.
New tires for everyone in the final minutes. Unfortunately, Franco Colapinto and Esteban Ocon remained at the back of the grid. Perez made a strong move to climb to eighth. Tsunoda eliminated Albon and Lawson, while Hulkenberg couldn’t find his rhythm and stayed in 18th. At the front, Russell lowered his time and remained at the top, with the Ferraris next in line, Leclerc second and Sainz third, within a tenth of a second. Norris, Verstappen, Alonso, Hamilton, Perez, Piastri, and Gasly closed out the Top 10. The two Stake Sauber drivers, Bottas in 12th and Zhou in 14th, also performed well.
Q2
Used tires for Verstappen, McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Verstappen led the group with a 1:21.085 ahead of Russell and Piastri. Norris followed two-tenths behind, with Perez and Gasly three-tenths further back. The Ferraris were in sixth and seventh positions, with Charles Leclerc ahead of Carlos Sainz. Hamilton and Magnussen rounded out the Top 10.
Oscar Piastri was the first to return to the track and improved his time, closing to within 36 thousandths of Verstappen. Everyone else followed suit, with Norris setting the fastest time of 1:20.983 ahead of Verstappen, Russell, and Leclerc, all within a tenth and a half. Carlos Sainz and Hamilton were only eighth and ninth. The McLarens returned to the pits, and the others pushed on. Verstappen went faster with a 1:20.687, with Leclerc third, three-tenths behind. Russell was fourth ahead of Hamilton, while Carlos Sainz was seventh, just ahead of Alonso. Magnussen and Perez eliminated Gasly, along with Zhou, Bottas, Tsunoda, and Stroll.
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Q3
First attempt: It was a battle between Russell and Verstappen. The British driver posted a strong 1:20.575 ahead of Verstappen by a few thousandths of a second. Charles Leclerc was third, three-tenths behind, followed by Hamilton and Sainz. The McLarens had a difficult session: Oscar Piastri was sixth, while Norris canceled his lap after making a mistake. Alonso’s time was also deleted, with Kevin Magnussen and Perez seventh and eighth.
Second attempt: Lando Norris was the first to return to the track but immediately canceled his lap after struggling in Turn 1. Max Verstappen improved his time, unlike Russell, and beat him by 55 thousandths to take Pole Position! McLaren locked out the second row, with Norris and Oscar Piastri ahead of Charles Leclerc, all within a tenth of a second. Lewis Hamilton squeezed between the two Ferrari cars, beating Carlos Sainz by 30 thousandths. Behind Carlos Sainz were Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, and Kevin Magnussen.
Qatar GP F1 Qualifying Results.
| Pos | Num | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Diff |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:21.579 | 1:20.687 | 1:20.520 | |
| 2 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:21.241 | 1:21.069 | 1:20.575 | 0.055 |
| 3 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:21.578 | 1:20.983 | 1:20.772 | 0.252 |
| 4 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:21.821 | 1:21.121 | 1:20.829 | 0.309 |
| 5 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:21.278 | 1:21.000 | 1:20.852 | 0.332 |
| 6 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:21.637 | 1:21.095 | 1:21.011 | 0.491 |
| 7 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:21.447 | 1:21.199 | 1:21.041 | 0.521 |
| 8 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:21.608 | 1:21.208 | 1:21.251 | 0.731 |
| 9 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1:21.675 | 1:21.425 | 1:21.425 | 0.905 |
| 10 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:21.891 | 1:21.387 | 1:21.500 | 0.980 |
| 11 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:21.843 | 1:21.437 | ||
| 12 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber | 1:22.103 | 1:21.501 | ||
| 13 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | 1:21.927 | 1:21.731 | ||
| 14 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 1:22.364 | 1:21.771 | ||
| 15 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:22.011 | 1:21.911 | ||
| 16 | 23 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1:22.390 | |||
| 17 | 30 | Liam Lawson | RB | 1:22.411 | |||
| 18 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 1:22.442 | |||
| 19 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Williams | 1:22.594 | |||
| 20 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:22.714 |
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