Max Verstappen took pole for the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix denying George Russell, turning around an otherwise tough weekend.
Verstappen was never in the groove in Qatar and was only sixth in Spring qualifying while he finished eighth in the Sprint race in what he labeled an undrivable Red Bull RB20.
But Red Bull experimenting with Sergio Perez in the Sprint race paid dividends as they made the required changes to their car between the Sprint and qualifying and as the result: Verstappen on pole.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner commented on the changes: "We threw the kitchen sink at it and pretty much everything we could change, we did change.
"The car is in a happier window. It's so cold that getting tyre temperature and looking after those tyres will be crucial tomorrow."
It was the four-time Formula 1 champion's first pole since the Austrian Grand Prix as Red Bull went through a performance slump while McLaren emerged as the team to beat.
As for McLaren, and after they dominated the Sprint race earlier on Saturday, the were never in the strong position they enjoyed from the start of the weekend and as a result Norris was third fastest.
Oscar Piastri followed Norris and was fourth fastest in the #81 McLaren and was ahead of Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari, the Monegasque fifth fastest with Carlos Sainz in seventh.
Again McLaren made were crucially ahead of Ferrari, their main rivals in the 2024 F1 constructors' championship.
Lewis Hamilton, once again, was not at the level of his teammate and split the Ferraris going sixth fastest as the seven-time F1 champion continues to endure one of the toughest phases of his illustrious career.
Fernando Alonso delivered a strong performance for Aston Martin to take eight place ahead of Sergio Perez who made Q3 for the first time since Austin, ninth fastest in the Red Bull.
Kevin Magnussen was superb for Haas qualifying tenth fastest.
Verstappen, however will have to see the stewards after the session for driving too slowly in Q3, something Russell complained about after almost driving into the rear of the #1 RB20...
What the top three said
After taking his 41st career pole position, Verstappen said: "Crazy! I didn't expect this.
"Well done to the team to give me a car that feels a bit more connected and once the car is a bit more together, you can push harder and it felt a lot better in qualifying.
"We changed a bit on the car but I never thought it would make such a swing in performance, so that's promising.
"I hope it lasts tomorrow in the race. I don't know that yet. It just felt a lot more stable over one lap and that's exactly what we need.
"Very happy to be on pole. It's been a while!" the Dutchman concluded.
Russell, clearly disappointed added: "It’s been a great run so far. The last four qualifyings we’ve been on the front row every one, which I don’t think we could have dreamt of a few races ago.
"I’m feeling in such a groove at the moment, feeling really great. My first lap was one of the best I’ve ever done and then for whatever reason, I just couldn’t find that extra bit of time on the last lap and Max pipped me.
"But just taking the positives. The car’s been so great the last two weekends, and just enjoying it while we can," he maintained.
As for the incident with Verstappen, the Briton added: "I ended up going through the gravel, all over the floor. It felt like the floor was scraping over that kerb and through the gravel, so I hope it didn’t damage it.
"Maybe that’s the reason why we didn’t improve, I don’t know. But it was a bit of a hairy one two corners before we start the lap," Russell concluded.
Third-placed Norris said: "Not the position we were hoping for after yesterday and today but the maximum we could do, for sure.
"My lap was pretty good just not quick enough compared to the others. Happy with the lap and happy I got everything out of it, not happy with the result. Everyone saw how close it was between all of us throughout qualifying.
"Not a lot in it between all of us, which gives us hope that we can still go forward. But there are some quick cars behind us," the McLaren driver concluded.
Q1: Perez makes it into Q2!
Russell was the first driver parked at the end of the pitlane waiting for the green light as qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix started in the night of the desert with track temperatures at 22 degrees Celsius, air temperature 19.
Unlike the Sprint qualifying, the drivers were out on the Soft Pirelli tyres from the beginning.
Magnussen set the first lap time, but then Bottas and Zhou went first and second with Perez third. Alonso went to the top briefly before Stroll took over as the big boys were on their runs.
Sainz started his lap on a used set of Softs but pitted before the start/finish line as Leclerc went second fastest behind Stroll.
Norris then went fastest but Verstappen dropped him to second while Piastri further behind them on track went third fastest.
The Mercedes drivers, Hamilton and Russell followed, the former pitting before the end of the lap, the latter going on to top the timing screens.
All the top runners did their laps in used Softs, but soon Sainz was out on a new set of the red-walled tyres and went on to post the fourth fastest time while Peres goes seventh fastest.
Norris on his second lap went second fastest as Alonso improved to third on his first run on new tyres as other midfielders flirted with the top five positions.
With less than seven minutes remaining on the clock, the final runs began and Russell radioed saying he would give Hamilton a tow into Turn 1.
Norris had his lap time deleted for track limits but that meant he dropped only one position on the board.
In the end of Q1, Russell was the fastest driver, 0.037s ahead of Leclerc who was second fastest with Sainz third in the sister Ferrari.
Norris was fourth ahead of Verstappen in fifth while Alonso was sixth with Hamilton seventh as Perez made it into Q2 and was eighth fastest.
Piastri, Gasly, Magnussen, Bottas, Stroll, Zhou, and Tsunoda completed the top 15 respectively.
As for those who missed out, Alex Albon was the first losing out to Tsunoda by 0.026s, while Liam Lawson was 17th fastest.
Lawson complained about Alonso slowing down on track saying that it sucked only for his engineer to correct him by saying it was Stroll.
Nico Hulkenberg was 18th fastest in the Haas while Franco Colapinto was 19th with Esteban Ocon last.
Q2: Perez makes Q3 and so does Alonso and Magnussen
Without any delay, the second part of qualifying was soon underway with the remaining 15 drivers starting the battle towards the top ten.
Russell started his push lap first and went fastest with Sainz going second fastest while Leclerc was third, but then Piastri snuck into second while Hamilton was fifth.
The Verstappen went to the top, 0.076s clear of Russell and Norris soon followed but was only good for fourth.
The first runs delivered: Verstappen - Russell - Piastri - Norris - Perez - Leclerc - Sainz - Hamilton - Magnussen - Bottas.
The second round of hot laps started with less than seven minutes remaining as drivers bolted on new Soft tyres to try and make it into Q3.
Hamilton and Sainz almost crashed into each other as the Spaniard was released in the Briton's way. No contact though.
In the end of Q2, Verstappen led the way into Q3, almost three tenths faster than Norris in second while Leclerc was third.
Russell was fourth fastest ahead of Hamilton in fifth with Piastri sixth fastest. Sainz was seventh with Alonso eighth.
Magnussen was impressively through again in ninth while Perez continued his strong form to make Q3 in tenth.
As for those who were knocked out, first came Gasly in 11th, losing out to Perez by 0.012s and was 0.064s ahead of Zhou Guanyu in 12th.
Bottas was 13th in the sister Sauber ahead Tsunoda who was 14th with Stroll in 15th.
Q3: Verstappen denies Russell
Crunch time, the top ten finalists head out on track for the final battle on Saturday evening at Lusail International Circuit.
All the drivers made it out on track except for Verstappen who stayed behind in his pit box with over two minutes already gone from the session.
Magnussen went first with the fastest time, then Sainz went faster only for Leclerc to go even faster and drop him to second.
Norris was next in the McLaren but aborted his lap while Russell went fastest in his first effort while Piastri was only good for fourth. Hamilton's first lap put him in third.
Then Verstappen was out on his first lap and went second fastest.
With the first runs out of the way, Russell was on provisional pole with Verstappen second, Leclerc third, Hamilton fourth, Sainz fifth, Piastri sixth, Magnussen seventh, Perez eighth.
Norris and Alonso did not have lap times since the former aborted his first effort while the latter lost his first lap time for exceeding track limits. Norris went for his second lap earlier than others but aborted it again.
At the end of the final runs, Verstappen took pole from Russell by 0.055s while Norris was 0.252s off the pace in third.
Piastri was fourth fastest in the other McLaren, 0.052s behind his teammate and 0.023s ahead of Leclerc who was the leading Ferrari in fifth.
Hamilton was sixth fastest, 0.491s off pole and 0.030s ahead of Sainz who was seventh in the #55 Ferrari.
Alonso was eighth fastest for Aston Martin, over seven tenths of the pace but ahead of Perez who was ninth with Magnussen in tenth.
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