Qatar - Sprint Qualifying

Even though the fight for the WDC is over, with Max Verstappen taking his fourth win, the 2024 season is far from over. There are plenty of points still for the taking and for some teams, they can mean the difference between winning the WCC and going home with a disappointing second place. How can the last sprint of the year change the situation at the top? The Ferraris looked rapid in FP1, but so did the McLarens. And we shouldn't forget that last year it was Piastri who dominated the Qatar sprint.

Both teams fighting for the championship seemed quick, but they weren't the only ones in contention for the pole. Russell quickly emerged as a possible polesitter, as he continuously matched the times of his rivals. And it wasn't only the 'big' teams that showed promising results. The Sauber of Bottas came to life during SQ1, bringing hope to the neon-green garage. For the team that has not scored a point so far, an eighth or seventh place in the sprint race would be a dream come true. By the end of the session, the top four consisted of four different teams, with McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull all putting one of their drivers on the provisional front rows. Yet again, Perez did not see the second part of qualifying and neither did Tsunoda, Ocon, Zhou, and Colapinto. 

SQ2, unsurprisingly, saw the same top contenders, although not all of them got through it with ease. Piastri went wide on one of his attempts and saw his lap time, identical to that of Verstappen, deleted. This put him deep into the elimination zone. Thankfully for the championship hopes of his team, he managed to jump back to the top of the field. The same couldn't be said about Alonso, Albon, Stroll, and Magnussen. Bottas, hard as he tried to give himself a fighting chance in the sprint, was also knocked out before SQ3.

With how short the last session of qualifying truly is, every lap counted and the pressure only grew higher with every corner. Leclerc put in a good first effort, hindered only slightly by an incident at one of the corners, but he was no match for the speed of the McLarens. Both orange cars blitzed to the very top of the times on their very first attempt. With no major improvements to be seen during the second runs on softs, it seemed like a McLaren front row was imminent. That was until Russell put in a great lap that put him between Norris and Piastri. The Ferraris followed the top three with Verstappen, Hamilton, Gasly, Lawson, and Hulkenberg behind. 

Order of the grid:

1. Lando Norris

2. George Russell

3. Oscar Piastri

4. Carlos Sainz

5. Charles Leclerc

6. Max Verstappen

7. Lewis Hamilton

8. Pierre Gasly

9. Liam Lawson

10. Nico Hulkenberg

11. Fernando Alonso

12. Alex Albon

13. Valtteri Bottas

14. Lance Stroll

15. Kevin Magnussen

16. Sergio Perez

17. Yuki Tsunoda

18. Esteban Ocon

19. Zhou Guanyu

20. Franco Colapinto