Formula 1 – Report | Photo: Formula 1
Max Verstappen was in scintillating form on Friday, taking a dominant pole position for this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix. The Dutch driver set a blistering lap to comfortably beat George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in an action-packed affair in Lusail.
Verstappen clocked a stunning time of 1m 23.778s on his first – and only – lap in Q3, to beat Russell, in second, by 0.441s, and Hamilton in third, by over half a second – although he aborted his final lap in Q3 after sliding in the first sector.
There was plenty of confusion following the session as both McLaren drivers had their times deleted for exceeding track limits. Once the penalties were applied, Oscar Piastri was dropped to sixth after initially being third, while Norris will line-up 10th, after losing his time that had put him second.
Fernando Alonso wound up fourth for Aston Martin ahead of Charles Leclerc in fifth for Ferrari. Ahead of Norris, but behind Piastri, on Sunday will be the Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, in seventh and eighth, with Valtteri Bottas in an impressive ninth for Alfa Romeo.
FORMULA 1 QATAR AIRWAYS QATAR GRAND PRIX 2023
Qualifying results
| 1 | 1:25.007 | 1:24.483 | 1:23.778 | |
| 2 | 1:25.334 | 1:24.827 | 1:24.219 | |
| 3 | 1:26.076 | 1:24.381 | 1:24.305 | |
| 4 | 1:25.223 | 1:25.241 | 1:24.369 | |
| 5 | 1:25.452 | 1:25.079 | 1:24.424 | |
| 6 | 1:25.266 | 1:24.724 | 1:24.540 | |
| 7 | 1:25.566 | 1:24.918 | 1:24.553 | |
| 8 | 1:25.711 | 1:24.928 | 1:24.763 | |
| 9 | 1:26.038 | 1:25.297 | 1:25.058 | |
| 10 | 1:25.131 | 1:24.685 | DNF | |
| 11 | 1:26.058 | 1:25.301 | ||
| 12 | 1:25.808 | 1:25.328 | ||
| 13 | 1:25.991 | 1:25.462 | ||
| 14 | 1:26.118 | 1:25.707 | ||
| 15 | 1:25.904 | 1:25.783 | ||
| 16 | 1:26.210 | |||
| 17 | 1:26.345 | |||
| 18 | 1:26.635 | |||
| 19 | 1:27.046 | |||
| 20 | 1:27.432 |
Formula 1 Media | Photo: Formula 1
