Red Bull’s Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Brazil Grand Prix just before the heavy rain opened which resulted an early end to qualifying.

The Sao Paulo skyline became increasingly heavy as dark clouds drew over the Interlagos circuit, prompting an early queue in qualifying as rain threaten.

When it emerged, the circuit descended into darkness to prompt the red flag, as the rain finally came once the opening Q3 laps had been concluded.

Verstappen ensured he was at the front of the queue, and set the only time in Q3 below the one minute, 11 seconds mark.

High winds ensured that track conditions became more difficult, and the drivers had to quickly conclude their laps – but no one could overturn Verstappen’s best effort before the rain came – Oscar Piastri looked to be on course to get close, but instead went off the road at Turn 12.

The session was not resumed and Verstappen’s pole was confirmed, as Charles Leclerc collected a front-row start for Sunday’s main race.

Lance Stroll surprised to claim third on Sunday’s grid, as Aston Martin timed its runs well; Fernando Alonso was fourth over the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

McLaren left its runs too late and ended up seventh with Q2-topper Lando Norris, as Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez, and Piastri completed the top ten.

Stroll’s tenth best time in Q2 withstood a late siege from the Haas and Alpine drivers as the Aston Martin driver secured his first Q3 appearance since the Belgian Grand Prix.

Alonso’s climb into the top four from the drop zone put Stroll on the brink, but with two tenths in hand over the drivers occupying the elimination zone.

Having been dumped into the bottom five when Alonso improved, Esteban Ocon attempted to surpass Stroll but was unable to find enough time; instead he was jumped by Nico Hulkenberg’s lap as the Haas driver moved up to P11.

Ocon’s Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly could not improve either, but moved up to P13 ahead of Kevin Magnussen. Alex Albon lost his best lap due to track limits, although this had no effect on his final placing.

Both Alpines are under investigation for impeding on the exit of the pits, having been seen moving slowly in front of the Red Bulls and Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri.

A brief cleaning of the circuit prompted a 15-minute delay to Q1 proceedings, as Pirelli had reported issues with stones and screws on the track surface during FP1.

The threat of rain arriving in the middle of the 18-minute Q1 session prompted a series of second runs to cover it off, although the rain had not emerged at this point.

A third phase of laps to get into Q2 had been triggered over the final five minutes, kick-started by Albon breaking into the top four after he had moved out of the drop zone.

With the timing board resembling a slot machine in the final minute, Tsunoda sat on the edge in P15 as he attempted to improve and pull himself out of danger, but he could not best his previous lap.

This gave Ocon an opportunity to break out of the bottom five and relegate Tsunoda, which the Alpine driver duly managed with a time good enough for P14.

Tsunoda was 0.006 seconds clear of Daniel Ricciardo as the AlphaTauri driver could not repeat his Mexico qualifying heroics, as Valtteri Bottas also missed the mark in Q1.

Logan Sargeant attempted to join Albon in Q2 and briefly moved into P15, but was knocked back into the bottom five amid a last-gasp series of laptime improvements.

The Williams driver dropped to P19, as Zhou Guanyu qualified last – 0.2 seconds down on Sargeant’s best lap.

So anticlimactic end to qualifying and yet it was Max Verstappen who takes his usual spot in pole position.

Brazil Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:10.727
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:11.021
3 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:11.344
4 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:11.387
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:11.469
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:11.590
7 Lando Norris McLaren 1:11.987
8 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:11.989
9 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:12.321
10 Oscar Piastri McLaren No time
11 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:10.547
12 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:10.562
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:10.567
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:10.723
15 Alexander Albon Williams 1:10.840
16 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:10.837
17 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri 1:10.843
18 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:10.955
19 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:11.035
20 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:11.275

Max Verstappen scored his 16th victory following a dominant drive at Mexico, setting a new achievement in Formula 1 with the most wins this season.

At the start, Verstappen shot off the line as the Ferraris ahead moved slowly away, the three-time champion carving between Leclerc and Sainz to easily claim the inside line for Turn 1.

There, Sergio Perez suddenly arrived on the far left of Verstappen and Leclerc, having got an even better getaway than his teammate and then gained from the slipstream coming off the other RB19 and then Leclerc’s Ferrari.

Perez’s run was so good his wheels were the furthest ahead when the trio reached the turn-in point for Turn 1, but with Verstappen swinging slightly back left just seconds before this, Leclerc got pinched between the Red Bull cars.

Contact was inevitable and Perez was pitched off and soon into retirement with major sidepod damage, while Leclerc sustained a broken front wing endplate.

He cut the remaining opening corners, but Verstappen was swiftly back ahead and took off into a lead of 1.5 seconds at the end of lap one of 71.

Verstappen edged well ahead of Leclerc over the next phase of tyre management driving to reach a three-second lead by the end of lap 11, with Leclerc also pulling clear of Sainz at the same time.

Daniel Ricciardo initially held Hamilton at bay, but eventually the Mercedes driver used DRS and a late switch to the inside run to Turn 1 just as Verstappen had reached that three-second gap in front of Leclerc.

That continued to climb to 4.6 seconds before Red Bull pitted Verstappen at the end of lap 19, where Leclerc enjoyed a five-second advantage over Sainz, who by this point had Hamilton swarming behind.

Verstappen rejoined back in the back and soon carved his way back to the podium place, aided by Mercedes attempting to undercut Sainz by stopping Hamilton for hards from behind on lap 24.

As Leclerc continued to pull away from his teammate even with his damaged car, Ferrari decided its best strategy was to stay out and build a tyre offset against both Red Bull and Mercedes – the leader staying in the high one munute, 23 seconds compared to one minute, 24 seconds for Sainz and one minute, 22 seconds for Verstappen and Hamilton.

Ferrari finally pitted Sainz on lap 30, one lap after Verstappen had easily got back ahead with a DRS run to Turn 1’s inside, with Leclerc brought in the next time by after his teammate, with both taking hards.

That left Verstappen with a massive 16.8 seconds lead, with Hamilton easily undercutting Sainz and now just three seconds back on Leclerc, but on lap 33 the race was majorly disrupted.

Kevin Magnussen crashed at Turn 9 – the Haas driver having lost the rear of his car after a sudden right-rear suspension failure thought to have been brought on by components overheating – brought out the red flags.

Magnussen was able to walk away from the high-speed shunt, despite looking a little sore from the impact, with Verstappen pitting again for more hards shortly before the full red flag was activated.

This was required because the barriers well inside Turn 9 needed assessing, which angered Verstappen, who faced a second standing start now providing a tow to Leclerc, Sainz and Hamilton.

When the five red lights went out again after a 22-minute delay, with the leaders lined up on the hards – other than Hamilton in third on the mediums – again Verstappen aced the start and was able to lead into Turn 1 unopposed.

Behind, Leclerc was able to keep Hamilton from Verstappen’s slipstream and after they swung right and left on the long run to Turn 1, the Ferrari took the outside line and swept into the right hander without contact with the Mercedes tight on the inside.

For the leaders, that was the extent of the drama as Verstappen immediately pulled a new 1.3 seconds lead, which he had almost doubled by the time DRS was activated again for the start of lap 39.

The first time through Turns 1 and 4 with Hamilton bearing down with DRS, Leclerc was able to defend, but on lap 40 his late move to the inside on the run to Turn 1 – putting his right-side wheels on the grass in the process – got him up to second.

Hamilton still having DRS on the run to Turn 4 meant Leclerc’s fightback went nowhere, Verstappen had a 3.2 seconds lead to his 2021 championship rival – but with a more durable tyre fitted and with 30 laps left.

Next, Verstappen carried on pulling away by a few tenths each time by as he lapped in the low one minute, 22 seconds, with Hamilton quickly dropping Leclerc by over five seconds despite Ferrari insisting their pace difference would soon swing around due to the hards lasting longer.

Heading into the final 15 laps, with Verstappen over 10 seconds clear in the lead, Ferrari’s prediction had not come true – with Hamilton able to maintain his five-second advantage in front of Leclerc.

With ten laps left Verstappen’s lead had reached 12.7 seconds, with Leclerc, rather than gaining on Hamilton, slipping back to over six seconds down, the final gaps between the top three ending up as 13.8 seconds and 9.2 seconds as the race at the front fully fizzled out to the chequered flag, where Hamilton set the fastest lap right at the end.

Sainz was 4.0 seconds adrift of Leclerc having initially defended hard against the medium-shod Russell after the second start before the second Mercedes fell back – Russell’s day transformed by gains against Oscar Piastri and Ricciardo at the restart.

But it was Lando Norris who came home fifth having produced a mighty, battling drive – the McLaren driver initially started on the softs from P17 and then was one of the first drivers to stop after he had made limited early progress.

Stopping under the safety car before the red flag was called hurt Norris’s day, as did losing several places with a poor second start, but then the McLaren driver charged through the pack.

He passed Ricciardo with a muscular move at Turn 4 with 11 laps left, then shot up to Russell and soon pressured him into running deep at Turn 4, which allowed Norris to shove his way through at the double-apex Turn 6 a few seconds later.

Although Ricciardo faded from starting fourth, he nevertheless scored AlphaTauri’s best result of the season, and had such pace on his hards late on he was able to pressure Russell up ahead.

Piastri ended up eighth having been involved in a late Turn 1 incident with Yuki Tsunoda that dropped the second AlphaTauri driver out of the points.

Alex Albon came home comfortably ahead of Esteban Ocon at the end of the top ten – this pair and Pierre Gasly in P11 finally overcoming the stout resistance Nico Hulkenberg had displayed for a long time in the remaining Haas.

Aston Martin had a nightmare race, with Fernando Alonso retiring in the pits shortly after the second start and Lance Stroll doing likewise after late contact with Valtteri Bottas – an incident that will be investigated now the race has concluded.

Leclerc also faces a trip to the stewards to explain why he drove on with his early front wing damage.

So congratulations to Max Verstappen in winning the Mexico Grand Prix and achieving the most wins this season with 16, setting a new record in the sport. As for his Red Bull teammate, it was major disappointment to see Sergio Perez out of the race following contact with Charles Leclerc on the opening lap. This is racing but the next action is Brazil.

Mexico Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 49:23.531
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +13.875s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +23.124s
4 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari +27.154s
5 Lando Norris McLaren +33.266s
6 George Russell Mercedes +41.020s
7 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri +41.570s
8 Oscar Piastri McLaren +43.104s
9 Alexander Albon Williams +48.573s
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine +62.879s
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine +66.208s
12 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +78.982s
13 Nico Hülkenberg Haas +80.309s
14 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +80.597s
15 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +81.676s
16 Logan Sargeant Williams DNF
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin DNF
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin DNF
Kevin Magnussen Haas DNF
Sergio Pérez Red Bull DNF

The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz scored a surprising front row lockout at Mexico beating the pre-qualifying favourite Max Verstappen.

Verstappen ended up in third position after the Scuderia pair had nudged ahead on the first Q3 runs and could not beat them even though neither Leclerc nor Sainz improved on their second efforts.

Since qualifying has concluded, Verstappen faces an investigation for a Q1 impeding incident as does George Russell, while Lewis Hamilton is also under investigation for a yellow flag speeding incident.

On the first runs in Q3, the Ferrari cars appeared to respond well to the track temperature dropping a touch and Leclerc edged Sainz by 0.067 seconds with a time of one minute, 17.166 seconds lap.

Verstappen slotted in 0.120 seconds behind while Sergio Perez and the Mercedes drivers had to run used softs for the start of the final Q3 segment.

Then when the second runs commenced, the Ferrari cars led the pack around but neither driver improved and that gave a chance to Verstappen.

He posted personal bests in the first and second sectors – the latter Q3’s fastest – but it was not enough and he ended up 0.097 seconds adrift.

Daniel Ricciardo edged Perez to take a sensational fourth for AlphaTauri, with Hamilton unable to recreate his Q2-leading form and so he ended up sixth.

Oscar Piastri was seventh while his teammate Lando Norris was the highest-profile Q1 faller, with Russell eighth.

Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu rounded out the top ten for Alfa Romeo.

In Q2, where Hamilton’s late enough put him top with Verstappen still in the pits and easily through on just one run, Zhou was initially knocked out by Albon’s last-gasp effort.

But Albon’s time was then deleted for track limits at Turn 2 on that final effort – Albon appearing to cut the inside of the tight left-hander.

The Williams driver therefore finished ahead of Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso, who had a last-lap personal best ahead of the chequered flag falling in the middle segment that nevertheless left him P14.

Yuki Tsunoda did not set a time as his job was about providing Ricciardo with a tow to ensure his Q3 progression as the AlphaTauri driver faces a drop to the back of the grid for taking a new power unit ahead of practice.

Tsunoda did feature in one of the session’s more bizarre incidents, as he appeared to clip a Williams jack leaving the pits ahead of the final Q3 runs – an incident that is also under investigation by the race stewards.

In Q1, topped by Verstappen, Alonso spinning at Turn 3 brought out yellow flags as a group of drivers began to start their final laps.

This prevented Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen, Lance Stroll and Norris from beating their personal bests and trapping them in the drop zone – Norris ending up there after a brief look at trying to set a laptime on mediums as did Piastri and the Mercedes cars and the Ferraris with Norris then failing to get higher than P19 on his first efforts on softs.

Logan Sargeant did improve and jumped ahead of Norris, but ended up back in P20 after losing his best time to a track limits infraction at Turn 11, having already lost his previous personal best for going too wide at Turn 12.

Sargeant faces two post-session investigations – one for possibly failing to slow down enough under the Alonso yellows late in Q1, as Hamilton is also suspected of doing, and the other for a possible overtaking incident under yellows with Tsunoda at the same point.

Russell, Norris and Zhou face the now traditional post-qualifying investigation for apparently going too slowly on warm-up laps, which has typically not led to sporting penalties since they became a regular feature from Monza as part of the FIA’s attempt to improve qualifying traffic.

The pitlane impeding incidents involving Verstappen, Russell and Alonso occurred as the pack headed out ahead of the final Q1 runs, with the first named spotted stationary at the end of the pitlane ahead of Russell who then did the same thing.

The Singapore Grand Prix stewards cleared Verstappen of a pitlane impeding incident but later admitted that was incorrect.

So a surprising qualifying result with Ferraris taking the front row. The Red Bulls were the pre-session favourites and yet unable to get the lap times or grid positions. The race could be different story as there’s a long run down to Turn 1 and the RB19 has stronger race pace. Bring on Sunday action.

Mexico Grand Prix qualifying positions:
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:17.166
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:17.233
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:17.263
4 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri 1:17.382
5 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:17.423
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:17.454
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:17.623
8 George Russell Mercedes 1:17.674
9 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:18.032
10 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:18.050
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:18.521
12 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:18.524
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:18.738
14 Alexander Albon Williams 1:19.147
15 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri No time
16 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:19.080
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:19.163
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:19.227
19 Lando Norris McLaren 1:21.554
20 Logan Sargeant Williams No time

Max Verstappen achieved his 50th victory in Formula 1 by finishing ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris at the Circuit of the Americas.

The race was a fascinating strategic battle between the teams but the raw pace from Verstappen was impressive despite brake concern while Ferrari’s challenge disappeared early.

Norris got a better start than Ferrari’s polesitter Charles Leclerc and was quickly alongside the Scuderia before heading to the Turn 1 apex to make certain of the lead.

Behind, Hamilton tried to defend against Carlos Sainz but was jumped when the Spaniard followed Norris through the inside line of the uphill hairpin and Hamilton instead moved wider and saw off Verstappen’s run even further to the right.

The leaders raced through the track’s sector one esses complex with Norris shooting clear of Leclerc, with Sainz, Hamilton and Verstappen trailing.

Norris’s lead was 1.7 seconds at the end of lap one of 56, which he tripled over the early laps – during which Hamilton battled by both Ferraris with DRS runs to Turn 12 at the end of the long back straight on lap four and six, with Verstappen doing likewise to Sainz soon after.

Even as he passed Leclerc, Hamilton was lapping quicker than Norris and he set about trying to close down the McLaren’s three-second advantage as the leaders carefully paced the medium tyres they had all started on.

But over the next stage of the race, Norris and Hamilton were matched in lap times in the low one minute, 42 seconds, while Verstappen remained behind Leclerc even with DRS, the Ferrari dropping back from Hamilton by a few tenths per lap.

After scoring a sprint win in Qatar, the team was forced to retire Oscar Piastri’s car due to radiator damage sustained in a lap one clash with Esteban Ocon, just as Verstappen passed Leclerc with a move to Turn 12’s inside that the Ferrari defended too late and was shoved wide on exit.

Leclerc tried to hang on to the world champion, who faced a 7.0 seconds deficit to Norris at the end of lap 11 when Hamilton had just brought the leader’s gap under three seconds again since the early laps.

Hamilton pressed on and by lap 16 had cut a second out of Norris’s previous advantage, the McLaren driver struggling to stay in the one minute, 42 seconds bracket.

At this stage, Verstappen triggered the race’s first big strategy call when he came into take more new mediums, with McLaren bringing Norris in from the front a lap later at the end of lap 17, but putting him onto new hards.

Mercedes asked new leader Hamilton if he could stay out for an additional five laps, but when he was not certain he could it opted to bring him in at the end of lap 21 – just after he had slipped off track with a big lock-up at Turn 11 leading onto the back straight.

This was too soon for a one-stop strategy, which Ferrari left Leclerc out to attempt back in the lead he had held earlier for only a few seconds, so Hamilton rejoined a net third position behind Verstappen but with a tyre life hard advantage of five laps and the Mercedes also on the hard.

By stopping earlier and with consistent pace in the one minute, 41 seconds, Verstappen had cut his previous seven-second gap to Norris in half and he was soon homing in on the McLaren – which retook the lead when Leclerc finally pitted on lap 23.

Norris gifted Verstappen 1.2 seconds when he locked up and went deep at Turn 11 on lap 25 and two laps later the Red Bull was in DRS range.

Verstappen used the overtaking aid to close in on the back straight on lap 28 and he made a late dive to the inside of Turn 12, where Norris tried to cut back on the exit but was overcome in the following sequence of corners.

But Norris did not immediately fall adrift and indeed behind Hamilton was soon closing in again on the leading pair with his hards, before Verstappen upped his pace into low one minute, 41 seconds and pulled a new three-second lead.

Just after Verstappen became the latest driver to lock up and go deep at Turn 11, McLaren pitted Norris to take a second set of new hards at the end of lap 34, with Verstappen coming in for the same compound at the end of the following lap.

The undercut’s power plus a slightly slow left-rear change meant Norris had Verstappen’s previous gap down to 1.7 seconds, as they ran behind the one-stopping Leclerc.

Hamilton stayed out longer again given his previous off-set approach and so cycled back to the lead, before pitting at the end of lap 38 to go back to the mediums.

As he rejoined, Verstappen passed Leclerc with DRS into Turn 1, with Norris making a late dive by the Ferrari into Turn 12 on the same lap, at the end of which he faced a 1.2 seconds deficit to Verstappen.

From there, Hamilton caught and passed Leclerc and it was he who had the most gripping end to the race, as his pace was either the same or quicker than the leader – who had been 7.6 seconds ahead when the Mercedes rejoined for the second time.

Norris dropped back from Verstappen, who was unhappy with the braking on his Red Bull RB19, and on lap 48 Hamilton was all over him in the final sector – then mounted a DRS attack into Turn 1 where Norris defended hard.

But Hamilton was able to get by on the exit as Norris went deep and that left a 5.2 seconds gap to Verstappen up ahead – the triple champion complaining with his brake issue and annoyed at receiving radio messages while trying to deal with it.

Initially over the final few laps, Hamilton was able to reduce Verstappen’s lead by a few tenths each time, but as the leader continued to struggle with his brake issue it came down more rapidly right at the end.

But it was not enough for Hamilton – with Verstappen benefitting from getting DRS lapping Zhou Guanyu on the back straight on the last lap – and the gap between at the chequered flag was 2.2 seconds, with Norris a further 8.5 seconds back in third.

Sainz ended up fourth after being waved by Leclerc late on – the Monegasque driver frustrated his one-stopper had backfired, as Sergio Perez demoted him to sixth by the flag.

Ferrari and Sainz, on the medium-medium-hard two-stopper, briefly thought Norris might be beatable, but in the end, the McLaren had a 4.4 seconds gap at the finish as Norris upped his pace in response to his former teammate’s late threat.

George Russell looked at one stage as if he was on the one-stopper before he was taken off a shortened middle stint on the hards and he ended up seventh ahead of Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll.

Stroll rose from the pitlane – where he forgot to return to after the pre-race reconnoitring laps and had to be pushed back off the grid by his mechanics to claim ninth, the Aston Martin driver emerging ahead from a close late battle with Yuki Tsunoda.

The AlphaTauri driver was the only competitor to try the three-stopper, which paid off and he had enough pace on the softs right at the end to seal another point to go with his P10 finish by setting the fastest lap on the last lap.

Fernando Alonso had to retire with floor damage in the closing stages – the double champion also rising from a pitlane start to lead Stroll in the points before his issue occurred – and his former teammate Ocon was the first retirement, also due to damage sustained in the clash with Piastri.

Alex Albon was the only driver to receive a five second penalty for track limits abuse on his way to P11, but several others – including Hamilton – were given black-and-white warning flags for repeatedly going off track.

So an exciting end to the United States Grand Prix but Max Verstappen was able to hold off the chasing Lewis Hamilton despite braking concern. If only there was more laps available for the Mercedes driver as victory was on. Next time.

UPDATE – Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have been disqualified following post-race checks. Exceeding plank wear.

United States Grand Prix race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:35:21.362
DSQ Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +2.225s
2 Lando Norris McLaren +10.730s
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +15.134s
4 Sergio Perez Red Bull +18.460s
DSQ Charles Leclerc Ferrari +24.662s
5 George Russell Mercedes +24.999s
6 Pierre Gasly Alpine +47.996s
7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +48.696s
8 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +74.385s
9 Alexander Albon Williams +86.714s
10 Logan Sargeant Williams +87.998s
11 Nico Hulkenberg Haas +89.904s
12 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +98.601s
13 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +1 lap
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas +1 lap
15 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri +1 lap
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin DNF
Oscar Piastri McLaren DNF
Esteban Ocon Alpine DNF

Max Verstappen dominated the sprint race at the Circuit of the Americas with a lights to flag victory in the Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton finished in second for Mercedes while Charles Leclerc was third in the Ferrari.

At the start, Verstappen and Leclerc moved away seemingly in unison, but the Ferrari gained during the launch’s second phase. As Leclerc tried to move alongside the Red Bull, Verstappen edged his rival right across the track and close to the grass by the pitlane exit.

That left Leclerc pinched very tightly on the inside of the uphill left-hand hairpin at Turn 1, with Hamilton swinging around on the outside line, Lewis was able to get a run on the Ferrari – coming by on the exit off the track in a move that was not called out by race control.

By the end of the first lap of 19, Verstappen and Hamilton were well clear of Leclerc and they continued to pull away across the race’s opening half, as they were able to lap in the mid one minute, 39 seconds with the Ferrari back in the one minute, 40 seconds.

Hamilton made inroads into Verstappen’s lead early and had DRS on him for a few laps, but by the sixth lap Verstappen was over a second ahead – the world champion only fear that the drivability issue that impacted his sprint qualifying performance was then put down to sliding in the wind by Red Bull.

From there, Verstappen remained the only one of the leaders able to regularly stay in the one minute, 39 seconds, which meant his lead quickly rose over Hamilton and was 3.3 seconds by the end of lap 10.

There was little action in the second half of the sprint, with Verstappen continuing to pull away from Hamilton to an eventual winning margin of 9.4 seconds, with Leclerc a further 8.5 seconds back in third.

There was at one stage big gap back to Lando Norris in fourth as the leaders had been able to run clear thanks to Carlos Sainz – the only soft tyres runner with the rest on mediums – using his softer rubber to gain places from the McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri at the start.

But the Singapore Grand Prix winner was soon under massive pressure as his rubber’s less durable nature unfolded.

Sainz was getting most attention from Norris early on as Piastri went backwards fast, with Sergio Perez soon joining the two good friends and former teammates in a battle for fourth at the mid-point in the race.

On lap 10, Norris finally got by Sainz at Turn 12 at the end of the track’s long back straight and so was facing a 6.7 seconds gap to Leclerc, which he reduced over the rest of the race – finishing just 0.8 seconds behind the race polesitter, who Norris will start alongside on Sunday.

Perez passed Sainz on the lap after Norris and held onto fifth to the end, albeit 4 seconds adrift of Norris, with Leclerc just ahead.

Sainz held onto sixth way ahead of Alpines’s Pierre Gasly, who was promoted into seventh thanks to George Russell’s five-second time penalty being applied at the finish – following an off-the-track pass on Piastri exiting Turn 15 on lap three.

Russell felt he was pushed off, but the race stewards decided his move was illegal, with Alex Albon putting the Mercedes under huge pressure for the final point with a late charge of personal best laps in ninth, which put him just 0.3 seconds behind Russell once the penalty had been applied.

That meant Russell held onto the final point in a race where Piasti dropped down to P10 behind Albon – an investigation into their battle early being given as no further action – and the Qatar sprint winner picked up a warning for track limits abuse.

The race’s only retirement was Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, who was retired in the pits after the team picked up another brake problem on his AMR23.

So not the most thrilling sprint and yet the pace of Max Verstappen looks very promising so it should be significant come the main event on Sunday. As for Charles Leclerc, third in the sprint but will start on pole position for the United States Grand Prix. Hopefully a better and entertaining race in store at COTA.

United States Grand Prix, sprint race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 31:30.849
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +9.465s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +17.987s
4 Lando Norris McLaren +18.863s
5 Sergio Pérez Red Bull +22.928s
6 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari +28.307s
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine +32.403s
8 George Russell Mercedes +34.250s
9 Alexander Albon Williams +34.567s
10 Oscar Piastri McLaren +42.403s
11 Esteban Ocon Alpine +44.986s
12 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri +45.509s
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +49.086s
14 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +49.733s
15 Nico Hülkenberg Haas +56.650s
16 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +64.401s
17 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +67.972s
18 Kevin Magnussen Haas +71.122s
19 Logan Sargeant Williams +71.449s
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin DNF

This time Max Verstappen kept within track limits to take pole position in the sprint shootout at COTA, edging out Charles Leclerc to the top spot while Lewis Hamilton was once again third fastest.

The Red Bull driver had earlier spun around after hitting the kerbs in the second segment of the weekend’s shorter qualifying session, where the drivers were obliged to run mediums in SQ1 and SQ2 until switching to softs in SQ3.

In the final segment, the majority of drivers only had one new set of softs, which meant they sat in the garages for a long time until Verstappen headed out and set a lap time of one minute, 34.538 seconds.

Although track limits were again a big talking point – with the FIA having widened the white line limits exiting Turns 9, 12 and 19 to help the drivers following discussions with the teams – Verstappen had no repeat of the error that cost him pole for the United States Grand Prix.

Ferrari’s Leclerc was again his main challenger – setting the quickest time in the middle sector on his sole SQ3 run and so closing in on the 0.1 seconds gap he had to Verstappen after sector one before then falling back again in the Austin lap’s final third to end up just 0.055 seconds adrift.

Hamilton slotted his Mercedes into third, with an effort set after most of the other frontrunners – ending up fractionally behind Leclerc and 0.069 seconds adrift of Verstappen.

Lando Norris led his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in fourth and fifth, with Carlos Sainz sixth.

Sergio Perez had another disappointing qualifying for Red Bull Racing – finishing seventh and a massive 0.5 seconds down on teammate. But he was forced to run in SQ3 without a new set of softs as he had used all of his in Friday’s action.

The same was true of George Russell, who therefore took eighth position, and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly – P10 in the final order behind Williams driver Alex Albon.

In changing but less windy conditions compared to Friday’s session, Albon was able to rise from a Q1 exit in Grand Prix qualifying to reach SQ3 for the sprint event.

In SQ2, where seven drivers only completed one run due to lacking medium tyres to use, Ricciardo just missed out on progressing behind Albon, along with Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon and Zhou Guanyu.

Zhou was one of the few midfield runners to complete multiple runs in the middle segment, but his personal best at the end was not enough to reach Q3, while Stroll was left out due to a late massive double lock-up aboard his Aston Martin at Turn 12 at the end of the track’s main straight.

In SQ1, Ricciardo’s late improvement knocked out Nico Hulkenberg, who was eliminated alongside his Haas teammate Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda and Logan Sargeant.

Russell faces a post-session investigation for appearing to impede Leclerc going through the penultimate corners late in Q1, with the Ferrari driver joking commented: “And penalty for Mr Russell – thank you”, following the incident.

In a similar incident in Q1, Tsunoda seemed to impede Hamilton at the same point, with the Mercedes driver feeling the pair had lightly touched right-front corner to left-rear, but race control decided the clash was not worthy of further investigation.

Russell will also be among those investigated for apparently failing to follow the race director’s instructions regarding driving too slowly on in and out laps – intended to reduce traffic issues this year – alongside Albon, Hulkenberg, Magnussen, Gasly, Piastri, Bottas, Tsunoda and Perez.

Albon, Piastri and Russell were pinged again for this in SQ2, this time along with Stroll, Zhou, Ricciardo and Norris.

The sprint event is next and it will be fascinating who will win the 19-lap race.

United States Grand Prix, sprint shootout results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:34.538
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:34.593
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:34.607
4 Lando Norris McLaren 1:34.6395
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:34.894
6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:34.939
7 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:35.041
8 George Russell Mercedes 1:35.199
9 Alex. Albon Williams 1:35.366
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:35.897
11 Daniel. Ricciardo AlphaTauri 1:35.978
12 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:36.087
13 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:36.137
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:36.181
15 Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo 1:36.182
16 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:36.749
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:36.922
18 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:36.922
19 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:36.945
20 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:37.186

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc achieved pole position for the United States Grand Prix following a lap time deletion for Max Verstappen due to track limits.

In an exciting and close competitive session between Red Bull and its typically trailing rivals, Leclerc led the way for the Scuderia through Q2 and again on the first runs in Q3.

Track limits were a focus throughout the one-hour qualifying session, with the penultimate and final corners – Turns 19 and 20 – tricky for the drivers to stay within the white lines.

Leclerc’s time of one minute, 34.828 seconds topped the first of two Q3 runs, with Verstappen down in third position behind Lewis Hamilton and with 0.252 seconds to close, with the Mercedes 0.056 seconds behind the Ferrari.

On the final Q3 run, Leclerc led the pack and went even quicker with one minute, 34.723 seconds despite setting no purple sectors, which gave the opportunity for Verstappen.

The world champion gained time as his final lap wore on, but a slide Turn 19 sent him a fraction wide and his one minute, 34.718 seconds was deleted.

That promoted Lando Norris into second following a solid second Q3 run after taking used softs for the first efforts in the final segment.

Hamilton came through last of the frontrunners but was unable to beat the McLaren driver off the front row for Sunday’s main race despite going fractionally faster than his previous Q3 personal best.

Carlos Sainz took fourth ahead of George Russell, with Verstappen’s first Q3 time putting him only in sixth position, but nevertheless ahead of teammate Sergio Perez, who ended up ninth.

Alpine pair Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon took seventh and eighth, with Qatar sprint winner Oscar Piastri rounding out the top ten.

In the Q2 segment topped by Leclerc, Yuki Tsunoda, Zhou Guanyu, Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo were all eliminated. With Ricciardo losing a final lap that was good enough to get him into Q3 for running too wide out of Turn 19.

In Q1, which Hamilton was fastest, Nico Hulkenberg was knockout after also losing his final lap to running too wide out of the penultimate turn, the Haas driver having at one stage been leading the opening segment.

Behind him, both Aston Martin cars were shockingly knocked out following their front brake issues in FP1, with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll setting personal bests on their final Q1 laps but ending up in P17 and P19 around Williams pair Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant.

Tsunoda, Ricciardo and Stroll face a post-qualifying investigation for possibly failing to follow the race director’s instructions regarding the maximum lap time for out and in laps that is aimed at reducing traffic issues in qualifying.

So congratulations to Charles Leclerc in taking pole position for Scuderia Ferrari. As this is a sprint weekend, there will be another opportunity to set the best lap time for grid positions.

United States Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:34.723
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1:34.853
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:34.862
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:34.945
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:35.079
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:35.081
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:35.089
8 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:35.154
9 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:35.173
10 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:35.467
11 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:35.697
12 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:35.698
13 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:35.858
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:35.880
15 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri 1:35.974
16 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:36.235
17 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:36.268
18 Alexander Albon Williams 1:36.315
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:36.589
20 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:36.827

Newly world champion Max Verstappen dominated the Qatar Grand Prix and this is the Red Bull’s driver 14th victory in an ultra-successful season.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris finished second and third, recording another podium for McLaren, while Oscar was Max’s closest pursuer for much of the race and the latter charging up from starting P10.

At the start, Verstappen moved his car to cover George Russell’s run to the inside of Turn 1 and as he went left just behind the Red Bull’s left rear, Lewis Hamilton – starting on the softs with the two front-row starters on mediums – attacked his Mercedes teammate.

As the soft-shod W14 surged around the one running mediums, they came together in Verstappen’s wake and the contact popped Hamilton’s right rear off and spun him out in the gravel, with Russell spinning and falling to last.

The safety car was sent out as Hamilton’s car was recovered – team radio messages revealing both Mercedes drivers initially blamed the other for the shunt – and so the race only really got going at the start of lap five of 57, with Verstappen leading Piastri, Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen aced the restart to run immediately 1.0 seconds clear of Piastri, with the Red Bull driver doubling his advantage heading towards the lap count hitting double figures, despite the McLaren clearly pushing early on to try and regain the DRS advantage.

The lead gap had hit three seconds when McLaren pitted Piastri on lap 12, with Red Bull, which could leave Verstappen out until lap 17 per the number of laps the used set had done before the race, choosing to do so.

As Piastri had had to battle several others that had stopped under the safety car, when everything shook out again following the first round of stops for the leaders Verstappen’s advantage went up to 8.1 seconds.

Over the first two laps after Verstappen’s first stop, Piastri was able to shrink this down to only 7.4 seconds as the leader gently eased his second set of used mediums before pulling away again.

Piastri being on used mediums that had done more previous laps than Verstappen meant he again pitted for the second time comparatively early, on lap 25 for a third second of mediums – in this case, a new set for Piastri that meant he could run the full 18 laps for his third stint.

Verstappen made his second stop on lap 34, by which point Piastri’s strong pace early in his third stint meant he had cut the Red Bull’s lead to 5.8 seconds as the second stop sequences played out.

For his third stint, Verstappen had been handed new hards, which set up a difference for the fourth stint – with Piastri by this point with just over 20 laps to go having his teammate Norris catching up quickly too.

Verstappen used his hards to extend his lead back out again as the final third wore on, with Piastri facing a 10.2 seconds deficit by the time he stopped for the final time – taking hards – on lap 43.

As McLaren pitted Norris the next time by, the focus for the race’s ending became whether he could overall his teammate during the run to the flag, as Piastri had lost time warming his hards up to temperature and so Norris was able to get within 1.8 seconds as he rejoined.

But that pulled out again to 2.5 seconds as Norris had to go through the warm-up phase on the hards, at which point McLaren told Norris it wanted the pair to hold position as the team was worried the recovering Russell might put a set of softs on at the end and be a real threat.

Norris initially disagreed with McLaren’s call, but in the end held station just over a second behind his teammate as the orange squad wrapped up its second double podium in successive races.

Verstappen’s winning margin ended up being 4.8 seconds after he stopped for a third time to go back to the mediums on lap 51 – but his service ended up at a slightly sluggish 4.1 seconds as Red Bull struggled to get his front left used hard off, did the most damage to Max previous commanding gap over Piastri.

Despite that, Max crossed the finishing line in front of the McLarens to take his latest victory. Another masterclass performance in the Red Bull.

Qatar Grand Prix race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:27:39.168
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren +4.833s
3 Lando Norris McLaren +5.969s
4 George Russell Mercedes +34.119s
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +38.976s
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +49.032s
7 Esteban Ocon Alpine +62.390s
8 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +66.563s
9 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +76.127s
10 Sergio Perez Red Bull +80.181s
11 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +81.652s
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine +82.300s
13 Alexander Albon Williams +91.014s
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas +1 lap
15 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +1 lap
16 Nico Hulkenberg Haas +1 lap
17 Liam Lawson AlphaTauri +1 lap
Logan Sargeant Williams DNF
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes DNF
Carlos Sainz Ferrari DNS

Max Verstappen is a three-time Formula 1 world champion after finishing in second position in the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race, which was won by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

The 19-lap event featured three safety car periods and was characterised by the drivers opting to use soft tyres making big gains early on and the safety car restarts, before falling back as the race wore on with their Pirelli tyres graining.

A three-way crash that triggered the third safety car period eliminated Sergio Perez which ultimately sealed Verstappen’s title.

At the start, Piastri held the lead off the line from pole while his fellow front row and medium tyre starter Lando Norris and Verstappen, also on the yellow-walled rubber from third, were swamped by the cars starting on the softs – George Russell, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

The race was then neutralised by the safety car being called into action soon after Liam Lawson spun off from the back of the pack at Turn 2, where he appeared to lose the rear of his AlphaTauri at the long left-hander and spun off into the gravel.

When the race restarted on lap three, Piastri made a getaway but lost the lead when Russell made a late dive to the inside of the Turn 6 hairpin – getting ahead as Piastri slid a touch and lost momentum exiting the corner.

Proceedings were then neutralised by another safety car – required because Logan Sargeant had spun off by himself running through the Turn 9 right-hand kink mid-way through the second sector.

The race restarted again at the start of lap seven, with the drivers on the mediums being told the cars running the softs were already seeing tyres graining up and the expectation being the event would swing back towards those on the more durable compound.

Russell was even better than Piastri on the second restart, shooting clear well before the track’s final turns once the safety car had run ahead to the pits to lead by 1.4 seconds as lap seven went by.

The Mercedes driver was able to hold Piastri at bay and out of DRS range for the first few laps after the second restart, during which Verstappen climbed back to third with DRS-assisted runs passes on the Ferrari pair on consecutive laps.

On lap 11, Russell was finally in DRS range for Piastri as the soft tyre swing turned out as many engineers had predicted and the McLaren driver surged back to the lead with a DRS run to the first corner.

A few seconds later, a third safety car was required when a three-way battle involving Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez in the lower reaches of the top ten resulted in all three cars off the road at Turn 2.

Ocon was under pressure as a soft tyre runner versus the other two on medium tyres and as he fended off Hulkenberg’s attentions in and out of Turn 1, Perez got a run on both into Turn 2, where Ocon moving right and the Haas being sandwiched triggered the contact and put Ocon and Perez out on the spot – with Hulkenberg able to escape the scene before retiring in the pits.

The race resumed again on lap 15, with Russell having argued hard with his Mercedes engineer in favour of pitting during the final safety car as he felt his tyres were gone, a suggestion his team dismissed.

Piastri cleared Russell with P1, with Verstappen taking second with a DRS blast into Turn 1 the next time by, with the leader having established a 2.6 seconds lead over the recovering Red Bull.

Verstappen set two fastest laps during the first two tours of the remaining three, but he could not eat into Piastri’s lead enough to ever make a move.

Piastri had the legs on the final lap to cap Verstappen’s charge to finish 1.8 seconds back, with Norris recovering to third having passed the Ferrari pair in the first two laps after the third safety car ended, then getting Russell with a move around the outside of Turn 1 on the final lap.

Russell ended up fourth – ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who rose up the order after his shock Q2 sprint qualifying elimination and lowly P12 grid spot thanks to the Ocon-Hulkenberg-Perez shunt happening just in front of him and the Ferrari drivers fading in the final laps.

Of the pair in red, Leclerc had jumped Norris to run fifth just after the third restart before the McLaren driver’s medium tyre life advantage came to bear, with Sainz then under pressure from his team-mate after Norris had gone through.

Leclerc locking up ahead of Hamilton at the Turn 6 hairpin on the final lap gave Sainz some breathing room, but it was not enough as the Mercedes driver carved his way passed both Ferraris on the last lap.

With Sainz and Leclerc sixth and seventh, Alex Albon made many late gains to rise to ninth, with soft starters Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly falling back to ninth and 10th having led Hamilton in the period immediately after the third restart.

At the rear of the field, Lance Stroll, Kevin Magnussen and Zhou Guanyu made pitstops during the final safety car, but could not use their fresh rubber to make an impact.

Leclerc and Stroll face a post-race investigation over apparent repeated track limits infractions.

Post-race penalties for these two drivers following track limits. So Alex Albon and Fernando Alonso are promoted to the points.

So congratulations to Max Verstappen in winning the 2023 season and becoming a three-time Formula 1 world champion. What a fantastic achievement in the Red Bull.

As for Oscar Piastri, well deserved to take victory for McLaren in the sprint. Has a bright future in the sport so this success is just the start.

Qatar Grand Prix sprint race results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 35:01.297
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull +1.871s
3 Lando Norris McLaren +8.497s
4 George Russell Mercedes +11.036s
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +17.314s
6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +18.806s
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +19.860s
8 Alexander Albon Williams +19.864s
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +21.180s
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine +21.742s
11 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +22.208s
12 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +22.863s
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +24.523s
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas +24.970s
15 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +26.868s
Nico Hulkenberg Haas F DNF
Esteban Ocon Alpine DNF
Sergio Perez Red Bull DNF
Logan Sargeant Williams DNF
Liam Lawson AlphaTauri H DNF

Oscar Piastri achieved his first pole position in Formula 1 by taking the fastest time in the sprint shootout at the Qatar Grand Prix. His teammate Lando Norris is second earning McLaren a front row grid slot.

Max Verstappen could only manage third but this position is enough to seal the championship with the sprint race coming up.

The session was dominated again by the focus being on track limits following the issues in Friday’ qualifying and changes to the Losail track following Pirelli discovering repeated high-speed kerb impacts were damaging the tyres.

In SQ3, where all drivers ran soft tyres having progressed on mediums in SQ1 and SQ2, Verstappen lost his first flaying lap for going too wide out of Turn 5, which was a place where wind was causing issues for the drivers.

That one minute, 24.453 seconds lap, completed when the Red Bull driver’s soft tyres were at their freshest, still would not have been good enough to get ahead of the McLaren drivers when they completed their opening efforts later in the final segment.

Unlike at other sprint qualifying events this year, the smooth new track surface here meant the drivers were able to push on for multiple laps throughout the segment, with the cars also fuelled to run throughout in anticipation of possible extra runs being needed in case of times being lost due to track limits.

Piastri’s opening time was shaded by his teammate’s one minute, 24.536 seconds, which Verstappen unable to beat on his second attempt meant he would end up behind the McLaren pair.

On their final runs, Piastri went ahead with one minute, 24.454 seconds and the focus switched to Norris behind, as he had led his teammate in the opening two sectors.

But when Norris ran very wide out of the final turn he abandoned his lap, which meant Piastri went one better than the second position he took in Spa sprint shootout qualifying earlier this season.

Behind the top three came George Russell, Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, with all apart from George boosted by Fernando Alonso losing his final SQ3 time for a track limits off at Turn 13 and dropping him from fifth to ninth.

Esteban Ocon rounded out the SQ3 top ten for Alpine.

In SQ2, Hulkenberg’s last-gasp improvement with the then-quickest time in the middle sector knocked out Pierre Gasly.

Behind, Lewis Hamilton was the shock knockout, losing two laps to track limits – including his final effort, which would not have been fast enough to progress in any case – as he ended up in P12 ahead of Valtteri Bottas, Liam Lawson and Zhou Guanyu.

In SQ1, Lance Stroll was eliminated in P16, as several drivers had their final times deleted, including Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda, while behind this pair Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant also lost their final laps and ended up P19 and P20.

Sargeant ended up without a representative time on the board for Williams after his initial efforts were also excluded for track limits violations at Turn 13, with a similar situation also impacting Zhou in SQ2.

The session was preceded by a 10-minute effective warm-up session so the drivers could sample the new track limits at Turns 13 and 14 – painted kerbing lines onto the asphalt that reduce the track width by 80cm for the length of the kerbs at those points.

Verstappen topped the running, with a best time of one minute, 27.085 seconds, which he concluded with another verbal joust with his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, who had wanted the driver to finish a lap after he had gone so wide out of Turn 5 that he found one of the few gravel traps at this venue.

So congratulations to McLaren with this fine team effort. Oscar Piastri did a superb job to take pole position. The sprint race follows and it will be interesting if Max Verstappen can take the championship.

Qatar Grand Prix, sprint shootout results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:24.454
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1:24.536
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:24.646
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:24.841
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:25.155
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:25.247
7 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:25.320
8 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:25.382
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:25.344
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:25.510
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:25.686
12 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:25.962
13 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:26.236
14 Liam Lawson AlphaTauri 1:26.584
15 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:54.546
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:26.849
17 Alexander Albon Williams 1:26.862
18 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:26.926
19 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:27.438
20 Logan Sargeant Williams 2:05.741