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Oscar Piastri delivered another superb sprint shootout performance to secure pole position for the Qatar sprint event.
Piastri qualfied second for the Belgian sprint behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in August but managed to go one better around the Lusail International Circuit.
After the first laps in Q3, Piastri was lying second behind team-mate Lando Norris but on his final flying run managed to post a time of one minute 24.454s, almost a tenth quicker than the Briton.
Behind the Australian, Norris had the opportunity to steal back pole position but ran wide at the final corner.
Despite obvious disappointment for Norris, McLaren still managed to lock out the front row, with Verstappen having to settle for the third-quickest time.
It now appears certain, however, Verstappen will be crowned champion following the sprint, providing he avoids any incident.
The Dutchman will clinch the title as long as he does not lose six points or more to Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, who starts from eighth. The winner scores eight points down to a point for eighth.
Verstappen’s only error of another exemplary session arose in the top-10 session when he exceeded track limits after setting a superb lap of 1:24.543s.
Behind Verstappen will be George Russell in his Mercedes, followed by Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, with Nico Hulkenberg a stunning seventh in his Haas ahead of Perez, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon in his Alpine.
As in qualifying on Friday, track limits again proved to be a major issue, with 31 laps deleted overall across the three sessions, and with Lewis Hamilton one of the major casualties to suffer at the hands of the issue.
Hamilton had two laps deleted in Q2 and will start 12th, although remarkably his best time before being expunged would not have been good enough to get him into Q3 anyway.
For the shootout, the drivers had to become accustomed to a tighter line through Turns 12 and 13.
Earlier in the day, the FIA announced measures to avoid potential blowouts after Pirelli discovered issues with its tyres following the sole practice session on Friday.
It was suggested the kerbs at T12 and 13 were the cause, leading to the track being narrowed by 80 centimetres through the two high-speed right-handers.
The drivers were allowed a 10-minute familiarisation session ahead of the shootout to appreciate the new line, with many going beyond the new limits imposed.
The session was also run in startlingly different circumstances to the night-time qualifying hour on Friday evening, notably with the air temperature on a late Saturday afternoon in Doha hitting 36 degrees Celsius, leading to a track temperature of 44.
The wind was also an issue, particularly through Turn 5 as 11 laps were deleted through that corner, with 12 through T13.
Either side of Hamilton in 12th will be Pierre Gasly in his Alpine, with the Frenchman nearly two-tenths of a second behind team-mate Esteban Ocon who was 10th in Q2 in which Norris was quickest, and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas.
Liam Lawson performed superbly to reach the second session and will start 14th, although he, too. had a lap deleted, albeit in the unusual spot of Turn 15 compared to all the others in Turns 5 and 13.
The second Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu had three laps deleted in Q2 and will start 15th.
For the fifth consecutive qualifying outing – four for a grand prix and now one for the sprint, Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll exited Q1.
Stroll came under fire following qualifying on Friday for his petulant behaviour after again missing out on a Q2 slot, initially throwing his steering wheel out of the car after being pushed back into the garage, and then shoving his trainer aside as he exited out of the back.
The Canadian will line up 16th after finishing almost nine-tenths of a second behind team-mate Fernando Alonso, who set the sixth quickest Q1 time behind Mercedes’ George Russell.
Williams duo Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant will start 17th and last respectively, the latter failing to post a representative time as he was the main culprit for exceeding track limits as he had three laps deleted overall.
Sandwiched in between the pair will be AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Haas driver Kevin Magnussen.
Tsunoda’s best lap, which was ultimately deleted, was more than four-tenths of a second slower than team-mate Lawson.
A footnote to the shootout is that Russell, Hamilton, Gasly, Lawson, Sargent, Tsunoda, Stroll and Albon are all under investigation for failing to follow the race director’s instruction regarding a maximum delta time.
The stewards ultimately took no further action against the drivers concerned, with the exception of Gasly who was given a warning.
