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Norris dominates sprint qualifying in Qatar ahead of Russell in P2
Lando Norris took a clean sweep of all the sprint qualifying sessions to dominate the evening at the Qatar Grand Prix, taking P1 to start tomorrow's sprint race on pole. George Russell was able to find some extra pace on his final lap to steal P2 away from Norris' teammate Oscar Piastri, who rounded out the front three.
Although the drivers' championship battle may be over, the constructors' title is still up for grabs, but it was McLaren who took the initiative, showing their strength in Qatar over the Ferrari's as they look to increase their lead before the season final in Abu Dhabi.
Norris was not challenged by anyone else on the grid in SQ1, SQ2 and SQ3, easily earning P1 for tomorrow's sprint race ahead of fellow Brit Russell, just pipping Piastri to the front row with his final lap. Behind the front three, Carlos Sainz was the leading Ferrari, coming ahead of Charles Leclerc in what will be a disappointing result for the Scuderia.
World champion Max Verstappen could only put his RB20 P6, coming ahead of Lewis Hamilton in P7, while Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg and Liam Lawson rounded out the top ten.
SQ1
As it is with the sprint weekend format, the only running that had been done for teams and drivers was the free practice session earlier in the day, a session that was topped by Leclerc, showing that Ferrari had the early pace in the Middle East as they look to close the gap to McLaren in the constructors' championship.
It was Norris who was able to top the SQ1 timing sheets when the chequered flag fell, but at the bottom of the standings, it was Sergio Perez who had yet another first-session exit, only fast enough for P16, with the VCARB of Yuki Tsunoda just behind him in P17. Esteban Ocon, Zhou Guanyu and Franco Colapinto rounded out the bottom five.
OUT - P16 Perez, P17 Tsunoda, P18 Ocon P19 Zhou, P20 Colapinto
SQ2
Norris was able to do the same again in the second session around the Lusail Circuit in Doha, with the Mercedes also showing some nice speed after their 1-2 finish last weekend at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
However, in the drop zone, Fernando Alonso could not do enough to break through into the top ten, just missing out in P11. Alex Albon and Valtteri Bottas could only qualify in P12 and P13, respectively, with Alonso's teammate Lance Stroll only good enough for P14. Kevin Magnussen was bottom of the second session in P15, while teammate Hulkenberg was able to make it through not S3.
OUT - P11 Alonso, P12 Albon, P13 Bottas, P14 Stroll, P15 Magnussen
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