He’s back! Piastri wins sprint stunner, claims pole after big blunder in epic F1 title twist

Oscar Piastri grabbed pole position for the penultimate race of the Formula One season when he edged teammate and title rival Lando Norris as time expired in Saturday’s qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix.

Piastri had cut Norris’s lead in the championship to 22 points by winning the sprint race earlier in the day.

George Russell was third in a Mercedes while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the only other driver who could win the title, qualified fourth. The defending champion is 25 points behind Norris.

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Norris took an early grip on the final qualifying session, which was then interrupted after Carlos Sainz came out of the pits with plastic wrapping around one of the tyres on his Williams and it peeled off on a corner.

At the restart, the drivers had enough time for a flying lap, but Norris abandoned after starting badly.

“I just had a bit of understeer and was going to go off so I had to abort,” said Norris. “Which was a shame, but it’s the way that it is.”

Piastri made the most of his opening.

“That was mega,” the Australian shouted into his radio.

The fastest qualifier has won all three previous Qatar Grand Prix, although in 2024, Verstappen incurred a penalty in Q3, was demoted to second on the grid but won anyway.

Norris said he believed he had a chance.

“You never know. The first couple of laps are always opportunities for everyone but after there I think it’s probably going to be pretty straightforward for everyone too,” he said.

Piastri, who needs to finish ahead of Norris to take the title race to the wire, said he was looking forward to it.

“It will be a tough race. Hard work but incredibly fun,” he said.

Earlier, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton continued to struggle, posting the 18th fastest time in his Ferrari in the 20-car first qualifying session and failing to advance. It was his fifth straight early exit in qualifying.

Earlier, Piastri boosted his bid for a maiden drivers’ world championship on Saturday when he reduced McLaren teammate Norris’ lead to 22 points by winning the sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix.

Driving with assurance after a fine start from pole position, the 24-year-old Australian delivered a cool drive reminiscent of his early-season domination to finish 4.951 seconds clear of Mercedes’ Russell with Norris 1.3 seconds adrift in third.

Four-time champion Verstappen came home fourth for Red Bull ahead of teammate Yuki Tsunoda and teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli in the second Mercedes.

The latter two were both handed five-second penalties for exceeding track limits.

Piastri’s third consecutive sprint race win at the Lusail International Circuit trimmed Norris’s lead while Verstappen dropped further behind, by a point, to 25 points behind the Briton.

It was Piastri’s first success since he won the Dutch Grand Prix on August 31 when he led the title race.

“It’s been good so far and everything went smoothly,” said Piastri.

“I’m happy so far and now just have to keep it rolling.”

Norris, who can win the title on Sunday if results go his way, said he had ignored the threat from the defending champion who finished fourth behind him.

“I never saw him,” he said.

“Just George ahead…. I wasn’t looking behind. It felt like a lot of pushing and it will be a tough race tomorrow.”

Piastri explained his return to form as a recovery of pace and performance on the high-speed high-grip circuit that suited his style.

The dash began with only 16 cars on the grid and four in the pitlane – both Alpines, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) — as Piastri led away from a near-perfect start on pole to lead Russell and Norris.

Verstappen jumped Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and teammate Tsunoda for third.

After noisy grumbles about his car on Friday, Verstappen appeared reborn and razor-sharp under the floodlights as he fought for a chance to attack Norris, but the Briton resisted and stayed out of reach.

The whole field was running on medium compound tyres for the 19 laps, rendering pit-stops out of use, and there was little close racing.

After nine laps Piastri led by 1.7 seconds ahead of Russell with Norris adrift by two seconds, but ahead of Verstappen by a similar margin.

The Dutchman began to reveal his frustrations.

“I’m constantly jumping, not only bouncing,” he reported, as he had during sprint qualifying when he forecast that the race would be a battle for survival.

As the tyres began to wear, Piastri stayed controlled in front, two seconds clear of Russell in an unchanged top five.