Piastri, who had set the pace in the only practice session earlier in the day, looked strong throughout all three qualifying sessions, topping the timesheets on his final lap with a new track record of 1m20.055s.

The 24-year-old had held provisional pole by just 0.044s over Norris halfway through SQ3, only to seemingly be beaten by George Russell, who put in a stellar effort as the chequered flag fell.

However, Piastri wasn’t done, finding the critical time when it mattered despite admitting to a mistake on his final lap, securing pole for tomorrow’s Sprint Race.

A delighted Piastri called it “nice to be back” over team radio at the session’s conclusion and later reflected on his performance.

“It’s been just a day where things clicked from the start, and the Sprint quali session went really well,” he said.

“Pretty big moment on my lap, but it was just enough in the end.”

Norris also admitted to making a mistake on his final lap in SQ3, finishing two tenths behind Piastri to line up on the second row.

Championship rival Max Verstappen struggled, only managing sixth after complaining about porpoising throughout the session.

The Dutchman had his banker lap deleted for exceeding track limits, angrily telling his team over the radio that his Red Bull R21 was “bouncing like an idiot.”

The session also saw some earlier gamesmanship between Norris and Verstappen, with both drivers lodging complaints about impeding each other in the opening stages of Sprint Qualifying. The incidents were investigated, but no further action was taken.

Yuki Tsunoda impressed by outqualifying Verstappen for the first time as Red Bull teammates in either sprint or grand prix qualifying, lining up fifth, just behind Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin.

Kimi Antonelli finished seventh, narrowly ahead of Carlos Sainz, with Charles Leclerc and Alex Albon completing the top 10.

Isack Hadjar was unfortunate to miss out on the final stage of qualifying. The Frenchman initially looked safe but had his final lap deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 8, dropping him to 11th and allowing Antonelli to sneak into SQ3.

Oliver Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, Nico Hulkenberg, and Esteban Ocon were also eliminated in SQ2.

Lewis Hamilton’s difficult 2025 season with Ferrari continued as the seven-time world champion failed to make it out of SQ1.

Hamilton reported “no pace” over team radio and ultimately finished 18th, behind Lance Stroll and Liam Lawson — the latter narrowly missing out on SQ2 by just seven hundredths of a second.

Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto were the other drivers eliminated in the opening phase, joining the trio on the sidelines.

The Sprint Race for the Qatar Grand Prix gets underway at 5pm local time on Saturday (1am AEDT Sunday).