Lando Norris looked to be driving towards a great second time in qualifying for the
Qatar Grand Prix. Meanwhile,
Oscar Piastri qualified in fourth place. However, both
McLaren drivers saw their times scrapped for exceeding track limits, throwing the second and third starting positions into the hands of
George Russell and
Lewis Hamilton.
That Norris had to fear for his place next to
Max Verstappen on the front row of the grid was already indicated by the
McLaren driver during his out-lap. Not long after, his lap time was indeed dashed, meaning he will have to start from 10th rather than second on Sunday. As a result, Russell was promoted from P3 to P2.
Consequently, it was not Norris, but his teammate Piastri who appeared at the interviews after qualifying. At that moment, however, a bizarre scene occurred: during his interview, the message appeared on screen that Piastri had also lost his lap time. As a result, he will have to start Sunday's
Formula 1 race from sixth place. As a result,
Lewis Hamilton will now start from P3, while Fernando Alonso and
Charles Leclerc also gained an additional place.