Max Verstappen took yet another pole in the 2023 Formula 1 Season at the Qatar GP. He finished 4 tenths ahead of the two Mercedes. The two McLaren cars were right up there, but lost out due to track penalties. Here’s everything that happened.
Q3 Roundup
Verstappen clocked a stunning time of 1m 23.778s on his first – and only – lap in Q3, to beat Russell, in second, by 0.441s, and Hamilton in third, by over half a second – although he aborted his final lap in Q3 after sliding in the first sector.
There was plenty of confusion following the session as both McLaren drivers had their times deleted for exceeding track limits. Once the penalties were applied, Oscar Piastri was dropped to sixth after initially being third, while Norris will line-up 10th, after losing his time that had put him second.
Fernando Alonso wound up fourth for Aston Martin ahead of Charles Leclerc in fifth for Ferrari. Ahead of Norris, but behind Piastri, on Sunday will be the Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, in seventh and eighth, with Valtteri Bottas in an impressive ninth for Alfa Romeo.
Q2 Roundup
Yuki Tsunoda missed out on a place in Q3 by just 0.004s to Bottas, and will start Sunday’s race for AlphaTauri in 11th, with the Japanese racer set to line up on the grid alongside Carlos Sainz, who suffered a shock Q2 exit for Ferrari.
Sergio Perez, who had his fastest time deleted for exceeding track limits, will start in 13th for Red Bull – on a weekend where he could deny his team mate Verstappen the championship. Alex Albon wound up 14th for Williams after running wide on his final lap in Q2, with Nico Hulkenberg 15th for Haas.
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Q1 Roundup
Logan Sargeant narrowly missed out on a place in Q2 thanks to Albon, who knocked him out with his final lap in Q1. This leaves the Williams rookie in 16th for Sunday’s race, ahead of the visibly frustrated Lance Stroll in 17th.
Liam Lawson was 18th fastest for AlphaTauri, and he was joined in the bottom three by the Haas of Kevin Magnussen, with Zhou Guanyu set to start at the back of the field for Alfa Romeo.
