Lando Norris took pole position for the F1 sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix, the last F1 sprint race of the 2024 season.
In doing so, Norris moved McLaren one step closer to winning the constructors' championship.
Norris took pole position in dominant fashion, with teammate Oscar Piastri right behind him in third place at lights out for Saturday's F1 sprint race. This gives McLaren a huge chance of taking home a large number of points in the F1 sprint race as they aim to win their first constructors' championship since 1998.
“It's very fast around here,” Norris told James Hinchcliffe after qualifying. “Today's qualifying was great, especially as we were able to bounce back from our last position.
“We came here to win the pole and we achieved that, so today's job is done.”
Norris has made it clear that his and McLaren's goal is to lock out the front row on Saturday.
“I mean, we want to win. As drivers, we want to win every session,” Norris said. “Our goal is a one-two. We want to maximize constructors' points today, so we'll go for that.”
George Russell will start second alongside Norris, while Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. will start fourth behind Piastri.
Full qualifying results for the F1 sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix are below.
McLaren entered the Qatar Grand Prix with a 24-point lead over Ferrari and 53 points over Red Bull. This gives the Woking-based team the chance to win the F1 Constructors' Championship at this weekend's Qatar Grand Prix.
Simply put, McLaren needs to lead both Ferrari and Red Bull by at least 45 points heading into the final race of the season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. If their lead over Ferrari and Red Bull was just 44 points, a tiebreaker could be considered, which mathematically would mean McLaren would not win the title.
McLaren currently leads Red Bull by 53 points, with a lead of 45 points. Red Bull needs to close the gap to McLaren to under 44 points. This means they will have to outscore McLaren by at least nine points in Qatar to survive. If it's less than that, or if McLaren outperforms Red Bull in Qatar, Red Bull will be eliminated.
Now, regarding Ferrari, the situation is a little tougher for McLaren. McLaren currently holds a 24-point lead over Ferrari and needs to increase that lead to 45 points after taking a total of 21 points over Ferrari at the weekend in Qatar. If they accomplish that task, Ferrari will be eliminated.
However, if they beat Ferrari by less than 21 points, or if Ferrari beats McLaren, the constructors' title will go to the final race weekend, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
