Max Verstappen lost his first pole position in five months to George Russell at the Qatar Grand Prix after the world champion was handed a one-place grid penalty following an incident with his Mercedes rival.
Just hours after Verstappen finished eighth in the 19-lap sprint at the Lusail International Circuit, Red Bull pulled off a remarkable turnaround with setup changes between sessions that seemingly made their car absolutely a pole contender in the new one Four-time world transformed hands of the champion.
The Dutchman, who won his fourth consecutive Drivers’ Championship in Las Vegas last week, was at the top of Q2 but trailed Russell after the opening laps of the final stage before turning the tables on the Brit with a brilliant final performance of 1:20.520 turned around and overtook him 0.055 seconds ahead of Mercedes.
However, Verstappen was called before the stewards after the meeting for allegedly “driving unnecessarily slowly” on a warm-up lap shortly before his final attempt to win pole.
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George Russell narrowly avoids Max Verstappen en route to his flying lap in qualifying for the Qatar GP, in the incident that left the Red Bull driver behind on the grid
Television recordings had shown that Russell, who was also on a preparation lap, got faster behind the Red Bull and suddenly had to swerve over the curb at Turn 12 to avoid crashing into the rear of Verstappen.
At the time, Russell described Verstappen’s driving style over the Mercedes team radio as “super dangerous”.
After speaking to both drivers and reviewing a range of data streams and on-board cameras, the race stewards ultimately confirmed their opinion, giving Verstappen a place on the grid from pole position.
While the decision reversed the order of the two starters in the front row, the double sprint winner McLaren remained in the second row, with Lando Norris third ahead of Oscar Piastri in fourth.
Norris’ Q3 was marred by a mistake at turn five on his first attempt, when the Brit went wide and stuck his wheels in the gravel. On his second lap he finished just over two tenths behind Verstappen.
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Lando Norris was not surprised by Max Verstappen’s pole position, but hopes it will come back to McLaren in the race.
But Ferrari, McLaren’s main rival in the constructors’ championship, only finished fifth with Charles Leclerc and seventh with Carlos Sainz.
Starting between the two red cars in sixth place is the Scuderia’s 2025 newcomer, Lewis Hamilton, who was once again unable to keep up with the speed of his teammate Russell in his penultimate qualifying outing for Mercedes.
A day later He stated that he was “definitely not fast anymore” After finishing 0.399 seconds behind Russell in sprint qualifying, Hamilton’s gap to his teammate increased slightly to 0.436 seconds in a single lap around Lusail.
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Lewis Hamilton is happy to have just one more qualifying session in the Mercedes before moving to Ferrari, but hopes the changes will bring more pace to the race.
Fernando Alonso put in a good performance to get Aston Martin back into the top 10 in eighth, while Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull also landed back in the Q3 spots, recovering from his miserable start to the weekend in the sprint races .
However, the Mexican’s ninth place still paled into insignificance compared to Verstappen’s efforts, as the Dutchman was a whopping 0.9 seconds faster in the sister car.
Kevin Magnussen, who was enjoying a late summer in his Haas career, finished tenth after his teammate Nico Hülkenberg, a points scorer in the sprint, unexpectedly retired in the first quarter.
How did they do that?! Red Bull explains the sudden change of pace before the penalty
“We threw the kitchen sink at it and pretty much everything we could change, we changed.”
Red Bull boss Christian Horner summarizes how his team managed to change the fate of a poorly driving RB20 on the fast Lusail track until the main qualifying hour on Saturday evening.
After qualifying a distant sixth for Friday’s sprint, Verstappen finished only eighth, behind Hulkenberg, after an unusually poor start in a 19-lap race dominated by the McLarens and the Mercedes-Russell .
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Watch Max Verstappen take pole at the Qatar Grand Prix, his first since the Austrian Grand Prix in June
On sprint weekends, teams’ car set-up work is initially concentrated in a single hour of practice, but after the short Saturday race they can then make more fundamental changes outside parc ferme before qualifying for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
The break in sessions seemed to do wonders for Red Bull, although not even Verstappen expected them to re-emerge as pole contenders.
“Crazy! “I didn’t expect that,” the Dutchman admitted afterwards and before his grid penalty was confirmed.
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Red Bull’s Max Verstappen reflects on his near collision with George Russell during qualifying at the Qatar Grand Prix.
“Thank you to the team for giving me a car that feels a little more connected. Once the car fits together a bit better you can push harder and it felt a lot better in qualifying.”
“We made a few changes to the car, but I never thought it would make such a leap in performance, so that’s promising. “I hope it stays in the race.”
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George Russell was frustrated with Max Verstappen after the pair almost crashed in qualifying in Qatar.
Russell, on the other hand, is now aiming for two GP victories in a row for the first time, a week after his impressive triumph in Las Vegas.
“It’s been a great run so far. “In the last four qualifying sessions we have been on the front row every time, something we couldn’t even dream of a few races ago,” said Russell as he thought he would start second behind Verstappen.
“I’m feeling so good at the moment and I’m feeling really great. My first lap was one of the best I’ve ever done and for some reason I just couldn’t gain more time on the last lap and Max passed me.”
McLaren slips from the top but still has the first chance to secure the title
McLaren’s near-perfect start to the weekend may have suffered its first setback in qualifying, but the constructors’ championship leaders remain in contention for a Sprint Grand Prix double that could secure them this year’s team title with one lap to go.
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Lando Norris was not surprised by Max Verstappen’s pole position, but hopes it will come back to McLaren in the race.
After extending their lead to 30 points by finishing first and second in the sprint, the Woking team will secure their first constructors’ title since 1998 ahead of next week’s season finale in Abu Dhabi if they pip Ferrari by at least 15 points and Red Bull also didn’t leave any points behind on Sunday with a lead of 23 or more points.
“As a qualifying car we were a bit off and didn’t have the same potential as Red Bull and Mercedes,” admitted Norris, who finished 0.252 seconds off pole.
“But I hope we can get it back a bit in the race. Hard to say, good margins. But I hope that (Sunday) plays into our hands again.”
Sky Sports F1’s live Qatar GP schedule
Sunday December 1st
10.55 a.m.: Second race of the F1 Academy
12.15 p.m.: F2 feature race
2.30 p.m.: Grand Prix Sunday: Preparation for the Qatar GP
4:00 p.m.: THE QATAR GRAND PRIX
6:00 p.m.: Checkered flag: reaction to the Qatar GP
7 p.m.: Ted’s notebook
Formula 1’s season-ending triple-header continues this weekend with the Qatar Grand Prix, live on Sky Sports F1. Get Sky Sports F1 or stream NOW
