Oscar Piastri secured a crucial pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix, continuing his strong run of form this weekend.
Fresh off a sprint victory where he started from pole, the Australian clinched another pole in the grand prix qualifying later in the day, pipping his McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris by 0.108s.
His impressive results so far at Lusail have given him a much-needed confidence boost in his title chase, as a victory for him on Sunday would push the championship to the season finale in Abu Dhabi next weekend. This is a scenario Norris will certainly be looking to avoid and will be fighting hard to snatch a win tonight and leave Qatar as the champion.
The third title contender, Max Verstappen, is one-tenth further back in third, and he must finish ahead of Norris to keep his sixth title bid alive heading to Yas Marina.
Further down, the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli secured fourth and fifth respectively, followed by Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar and Carlos Sainz of Williams.
Fernando Alonso secured eighth place for Aston Martin ahead of Pierre Gasly of Alpine, while Ferrari endured another difficult qualifying with Charles Leclerc in 10th and Lewis Hamilton languishing in 18th after getting knocked out in the first segment once again.
Starting Grid For The 2025 Qatar Grand Prix
Here’s the starting order for Sunday’s race in Lusail:
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren): 1:19.387
- Lando Norris (McLaren): +0.108
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull): +0.264
- George Russell (Mercedes): +0.275
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes): +0.459
- Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls): +0.727
- Carlos Sainz (Williams): +0.900
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): +1.031
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine): +1.090
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): +1.174
- Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
- Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
- Oliver Bearman (Haas)
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
- Alexander Albon (Williams)
- Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
- Esteban Ocon (Haas)
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
Pit Lane Start
- Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
The Qatar Grand Prix race starts at 7 p.m. local time (11 a.m. EST, 4 p.m. U.K. time) on Sunday, November 30.