F1 rookie Piastri upstages Norris and Verstappen in Qatar GP Sprint shootout
Max Verstappen is on the verge of Formula 1 history – but it was rookie Oscar Piastri who secured pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint.
The Red Bull racer didn't need to take any unnecessary risks and didn't going third quickest with a slightly more conservative run than usual. That opened the door for the McLarens, who were looking quick throughout the session.
Both Piastri and Lando Norris had laps deleted in qualifying for Sunday's Grand Prix, but put that disappointment behind them in the Shootout. With Verstappen third after his final run, it became clear that they were going to lock out the front row.
Norris was on provisional pole but was then leapfrogged by Piastri who nailed his final run. The Brit might have wrestled top spot back but made a mistake on the final corner and went wide.
"This, for a Sprint race, it doesn't quite have the same feeling as a pole for a main race," said the understated rookie after the session. "But, definitely, I'll take it. For me, I'm more just happy that we've managed to deliver."
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Norris was beating himself up in his interview despite securing session. "I should have been on pole yesterday and I should have been on pole today, but I'm not," he lamented. "I did another bad job today. I'm just not happy and not doing a very good job."
The session took place just a couple of hours after major changes were made to the circuit amid safety worries. Turns 12 and 13 were narrowed by around 80cm after concerns raised by Pirelli over the condition of tyres used in FP1 on Friday.
Max Verstappen is primed to secure the F1 title today (HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)The FIA has identified the sharp 'pyramid' kerbs in use at this track as the likely cause of the excess damage being caused to the tyres, which is raising the risk of blowout. By narrowing those corners, drivers are less likely to go over the more abrasive parts of those kerbs.
But drivers were annoyed to find out about the changes with such short notice, and at only being given a 10-minute session to acclimatise to the new layout. And FIA single seater director Nikolas Tombazis has some sympathy for them.
"It is understandable," he toldSky Sportsprior to that short practice session. "They drive the cars and they want to make sure they're safe and safety is absolutely our number one priority.
"We did consider modifying the kerbs but from the time we had last night, very late at night, to today, it would not have been possible. There were not one or two single kerbs, it was quite an extent – they would have had to have been filed-off and that's very hard concrete, that would not have been possible.
"So, on that basis, the next thing we got was to actually get the cars to stay a bit further away from the kerbs, which is what we've done by changing the white line.
"The track has done a good job of putting together everything, so we have got no complaints against the track, they have used all the guidelines. These interactions between tyres and kerbs can be very complicated and can depend on a lot of relatively subtle details, which obviously, indicate that we need to do more research there to improve the situation further, both from a tyre and kerb point of view."
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