McLaren F1 star Lando Norris will start on pole for today’s Qatar Grand Prix sprint race at Lusail International Circuit.
Max Verstappen has achieved the most sprint race wins in 2024, where he claimed victories in China, Miami, Austria and Austin, with Lando Norris achieving the most recent sprint win in Brazil.
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It was McLaren who gained the upper hand in sprint qualifying, as both drivers qualified ahead of Ferrari and Norris took pole position for Saturday’s race.
George Russell split the two McLarens, and set the second fastest time ahead of Oscar Piastri.
Meanwhile, Verstappen will start the sprint race P6 in a miserable session for Red Bull following his team-mate’s performance.
Sergio Perez suffered an early exit in SQ1 and languished down in P16, the latest in a run of disappointing results for the Mexican driver.
Here is the starting grid for Saturday’s sprint race at the Qatar GP:
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1. Lando Norris [McLaren] – 1:21.012secs
2. George Russell [Mercedes] – +0.063
3. Oscar Piastri [McLaren] – +0.159
4. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] – +0.269
5. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] – +0.296
6. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] – +0.303
7. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] +0.462
8. Pierre Gasly [Alpine] – +0.966
9. Nico Hulkenberg [Haas] – +1.076
10. Liam Lawson [VCARB] – +1.565
11. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin]
12. Alex Albon [Williams]
13. Valtteri Bottas [Sauber]
14. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin]
15. Kevin Magnussen [Haas]
16. Sergio Perez [Red Bull]
17. Yuki Tsunoda [VCARB]
18. Esteban Ocon [Alpine]
19. Zhou Guanyu [Kick Sauber]
20. Franco Colapinto [Williams]
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The Sprint Race in Qatar kicks off today at 5pm local time. Find the session start times converted to your local time zone below:
Local time 5pm Saturday
Central European Time 3pm Saturday
United Kingdom (BST): 2pm Saturday
United States (EDT): 9am Saturday
United States (PDT): 6am Saturday
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McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has insisted Ferrari remain a threat despite the performance gap on Friday in Qatar.Lando Norris took pole position for
Lando Norris and McLaren topped the sprint shootout in Qatar on Friday, making them the favourites for the main qualifying as wel
Laurence Edmondson, F1 EditorNov 29, 2024, 11:54 PMClose• Joined ESPN in 2009• An FIA accredited F1 journalist since 2011After securing seventh place on t
After a Sprint qualifying with pole for Lando Norris, the McLaren driver will have to face an in-form George Russell and beat Oscar Piastri to get the desired e