F1 Qatar GP: Verstappen takes pole position
F1 Qatar GP, Verstappen clinched a convincing pole position at the weekend he is likely to claim his third F1 world title.
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| (Photo: autosport.com) |
The Dutchman was 0.441s clear of George Russell's Mercedes as he comfortably took his 10th pole of the season and 30th of his F1 career.
Chaos behind Verstappen and Russell
It was a strong Friday cap for Verstappen at the weekend in which he has a chance of sealing a third successive title if he scores three points from Saturday's Sprint Race.
Behind Verstappen and Russell, there was chaos after many drivers lost their best laps after breaking track limits.
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton will take third on the grid after both McLaren drivers saw their fastest lap times erased due to track limit violations.
Also, read: F1 Dutch GP: Max Verstappen wins.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was promoted to fourth, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc also moved up one place to fifth.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri dropped from third to sixth, ahead of Alpine pair Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon.
Valtteri Bottas moved up to eighth in his Alfa Romeo, while Lando Norris dropped to 10th after initially recording a fairly good lap time for the front row of the grid.
Not only the McLaren duo, another Red Bull driver Sergio Perez also endured another disappointing qualifying and will only take 13th place for Sunday's Grand Prix after crashing out in Q2.
Singapore Grand Prix winner Carlos Sainz also faced poor qualifying and will start just ahead of Perez in Sunday's main race.
As this is Sprint weekend, a Sprint Shootout qualifying session will be held to determine the starting grid for Saturday's Sprint Race.