Verstappen grabs surprise Qatar F1 GP pole as McLaren make their play | Formula One

Max Verstappen put in a great lap in qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix, taking his first pole position since the Austrian Grand Prix, but behind him McLaren took a strong lead and clinched their first F1 Constructors' World Championship since 1998. decided the victory. -Two people finished in the sprint race, with both drivers qualifying ahead of their Ferrari rivals.

The result was a surprise for Verstappen, who won his fourth consecutive title at the final race in Las Vegas, but in Qatar he struggled in the sprint and once again lacked balance, finishing eighth. Red Bull have found their setup for qualifying.

Mercedes' George Russell was second in Sunday's race, with Lando Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri third and fourth. Norris had the advantage in the sprint, but conceded victory to Piastri in the final minutes, with the Australian conceding victory to the Briton in the Brazilian sprint.

With a car looking strong at the Lusail circuit, McLaren will remain optimistic it can finally end its title drought of more than a quarter of a century. They went into the encounter at the Lusail circuit with a 24-point lead over Ferrari, but the sprint widened that lead to 30 points.

They need another 15 points ahead of the Scuderia to complete the job in Qatar and ensure a 45-point lead before the final match in Abu Dhabi. With the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in fifth and seventh on the grid respectively, McLaren has a chance of a shutout. Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton was sixth.

Russell's opening lap performance in qualifying under the floodlights of Lusail was excellent. He set the pace on his first run with a lap of 1:20.575, but was pushed hard by Verstappen, who was half a second behind, and Norris aborted his fast lap after going off the track.

In the final run, Verstappen found a slight advantage and edged out Russell with a time of 1:20.520 (5/100ths faster). However, he is under investigation for interfering with Russell.

Norris previously admitted his team told him not to give up his place in the sprint, but he felt he had to. “It was probably a little closer than I wanted, but I've been meaning to do that since Brazil,” he said. “My team told me not to do it, but I thought I could do it. I'm not here to win sprint races. I want to win championships, but I haven't done it yet. ”

McLaren had the advantage as Sainz and Leclerc only finished fourth and fifth in the sprint, a pace difference that would have given McLaren the lead in the championship if the same had happened at the Grand Prix.

Russell was third, with teammate Hamilton sixth. Haas' Nico Hulkenberg was seventh.

Norris dominated the race from start to finish, leading from pole position, with Piastri taking second from Russell. Hamilton also passed Verstappen and Leclerc to move into fifth place.

McLaren showed good pace from the start but was unable to shake off Russell, who stayed tight on Piastri and the Briton attacked in DRS. The two went wheel to wheel, Piastri refusing to give way and the scrap continued for 19 laps.

Leclerc and Hamilton, who will be team-mates at Ferrari next year, also had a great battle going into the opening turn on lap 13, but their wheels almost locked up and the Monaco narrowly edged the Briton.

As the final lap approached, McLaren told Norris that he was happy to maintain his position, but he was determined to reward Piastri, albeit a risky maneuver. He relaxed as he approached the line, allowing the Australian to take over the position. Flag.

In qualifying, Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was eighth, Red Bull's Sergio Perez was ninth and Haas' Kevin Magnussen was 10th.

Alpine's Pierre Gasly was 11th, Sauber's Guanyu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas were 12th and 13th, RB's Yuki Tsunoda was 14th and Aston Martin's Lance Stroll was 15th.

Williams' Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto were 16th and 19th, running back Liam Lawson was 17th, Haas's Hulkenberg was 18th and Alpine's Esteban Ocon was 20th.