Max Verstappen scored his first pole since the Austrian Grand Prix, beating George Russell by just five hundredths of a second in a tight qualifying session at the Lusail Circuit fotr the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix. Lando Norris was third for McLaren ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri.

After a disappointing start to the weekend with sixth in Sprint qualifying and eighth in the Sprint itself, Verstappen would have been forgiven for thinking that qualifying foe the race would be another ardous hour. 

But in the time between the Sprint and qualifying he admitted his Red Bull team “worked a miracle” and his RB20 was quick from the start. After easing through Q1 he outpaced Norris by 0.3s to top Q2 and then in the final top-1- shootout eclipsed Russell by 0.055s with a spectacular final flyer. 

“Let’s go guys! Well done. What a turnaround!” he said on the radio afterwards. 

“I think from the first lap in Q1, it felt a lot more promising, but then to get the tyres in the right window is very tough,” he reflected later. “So then it went away a little bit, then it came back again. And then, yeah, luckily for Q3, I think it was there. And yeah, very happy with how we turned it around.”

Verstappen  set the early pace in Q1 with the Dutchman stopping the clock at 1:21.713, just over three tenths of a second clear of the McLarens of Norris and Piastri. However, as the four-time champion headed back to the pits, George Russell posted a lap of 1:21.519. Norris then improved on his second run to close to within six hundredths of a second of Russell as Fernando Alonso went third fastest, a tenth ahead of Verstappen. 

At the end of the sesison Russell put in a pair of quicker laps to take top spot on a time of 1:121.241, 0.03s clear of Leclerc, with Sainz third ahead of Norris, Verstappen and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. 

In the final seconds RB’s Yuki Tsunoda hauled himself out of the drop zone to take P15 just 0.026s ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon who was eliminated ahead of the second RB of Liam Lawson, Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg, Williams’ Franco Colapinto and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. 

In the opening runs of Q2, Verstappen again led the way as he posted a lap of 1:21.085 to go 0.076s clear of Russell and three tenths ahead of the McLarens. 

Russell was out on track early for his second run and the Mercedes’ driver’s first flyer on his new set of tyres put him 0.001s ahead of Verstappen .The Dutchman was embarking on another flyer though and when he crossed the line he edged three hundredths of a second clear of the Mercedes driver to take P1. Norris, though, was going quicker and thanks to a purple first sector the McLaren driver took top spot by the narrow margin of 0.066s. 

There were final runs to come, however, and this time Verstappen posted three purple sectors to jump almost three tenths of a second clear of Norris who did not improve. 

Outside the top 10, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was the first driver eliminated and the Alpine driver exited in P11 ahead of Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas, RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and the second Aston Martin of Lance Stroll.  

In the opening ruins of Q3 Russell took provisional pole with a lap of 1:20.575. Vesratppen posted another purple sector, this time across the first third of the circuit, but his opening run flyer of 1:20.620 left him 0.045s behind. Norris, meanwhile, dipped a wheel into the gravel in Turn 5, an error that forced him to abandon his first run. 

That left the fight for pole wide open and for the first time since June, Verstappen stormed through to take pole position with a lap of 1:20.520, 0.75s ahead of Russell. 

Behind Norris, fourth place went to Piastri with Leclerc in fifth ahead of Hamilton, Sainz and Alonso. Checo’s sole run on new Softs saw him match his Q2 best and the Mexican will start the Qatar Grand Prix in ninth place ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen. 

2024 FIA Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix – Qualifying 
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:20.520 - -
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:20.575 0.055 0.068
3 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:20.772 0.252 0.313
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:20.829 0.309 0.384
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:20.852 0.332 0.412
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:21.011 0.491 0.610
7 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:21.041 0.521 0.647
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:21.251 0.731 0.908
9 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:21.425 0.905 1.124
10 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:21.500 0.980 1.217
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:21.437 0.917 1.139
12 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:21.501 0.981 1.218
13 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:21.731 1.211 1.504
14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:21.771 1.251 1.554
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:21.911 1.391 1.728
16 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:22.390 1.870 2.322
17 Liam Lawson RB/Honda RBPT 1:22.411 1.891 2.348
18 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:22.442 1.922 2.387
19 Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 1:22.594 2.074 2.576
20 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:22.714 2.194 2.725