Lando Norris took a formidable pole position in Sprint qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix on Friday evening. Norris set the pace in all three segments and never looked like he’d been beaten.
His advantage dropped from half a second in SQ1 to six hundredths in SQ3. But if he’d improved as much as his rivals on the transition from mediums to softs, it would have been a more comfortable margin.
In truth, Norris just seemed to have more confidence than his fellow frontrunners in Lusail. McLaren were hopeful that this would be their strongest track in the season-ending tripleheader, and that optimism looks well-founded.
Norris will share the front row with Mercedes driver and fellow countryman George Russell. Teammate Oscar Piastri starts third.
Significantly for the constructors’ championship, Ferrari are fourth and fifth with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. McLaren led by 24 points heading to Qatar, which means they can seal the title with a perfect or near-perfect weekend.
Newly-crowned world champion Max Verstappen was only sixth, a spot ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Sergio Perez couldn’t even escape SQ1 on a weekend where Red Bull could fall out of mathematical contention.
Lewis Hamilton couldn’t believe Lando Norris’ pace at the Qatar Grand Prix
It was another tough qualifying session for Hamilton, the most successful driver on the grid. If second was his ceiling – as evidenced by Russell – then seventh was his floor given that Perez had dropped out early.
Hamilton was fifth in SQ1 and fourth in SQ2, but in a familiar story, he lost ground when pushing hardest of all in the shoot-out. Russell has beaten him 17 out of 22 Grand Prix qualifying sessions and leads 5-1 in the Sprint equivalent.
At the end of the first session, Mercedes engineer Peter Bonnington told Hamilton he was P5 and informed him of the gap to Norris. If he hoped to compete for pole, it was a major blow.
“Eight-tenths?” a stunned Hamilton replied.
That message would suggest that he was fairly happy with his own lap. But he couldn’t comprehend how he’d lost so much time to his rapid compatriot.
Lando Norris left Jenson Button in awe at one corner in Sprint qualifying
Finally blessed with a contending car, Norris has shown his might over a single lap this season. If he can take pole for Saturday’s Grand Prix – and the vast majority will back him on the early evidence – then he’ll match Verstappen’s haul of eight for the season.
This is also his second Sprint pole of the year, following up his wet-weather effort in China. His 19-3 qualifying edge over Piastri has perhaps been overlooked.
Jenson Button loved what Norris did as he watched one of his SQ2 laps. He was in awe of the confidence he showed on the throttle through turn 16.
The problem for the 24-year-old is that he’s only converted three of his eight poles so far this year. Eddie Jordan has urged Norris to study Verstappen’s starts, identifying one of his biggest weaknesses.
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