The Qatari Grand Prix program continued with the sprint qualifying, where not much news was produced under the sun: a loose Lando Norris took pole in the sprint quali!
During SQ1, after the first timed laps, Lando Norris and George Russell, followed by the Scuderia Ferrari duo, Charles Leclerc, took turns at the front. After the last quick laps of the session, Norris's lead remained, so he finished on top, while the eliminated drivers - in the case of the first name, we can safely say without any doubt that it was not a surprise - were Sergio Perez, Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, Guanyu Zhou, and Franco Colapinto.
After the first attempts in SQ2, the previous trend remained, meaning McLaren was under heavy pressure. The only difference was that Oscar Piastri was leading, just ahead of Leclerc and Norris. Ultimately, this dominant role remained, with only George Russell able to interfere, thus forming the trio of Norris, Russell, and Piastri. However, there was no continuation for Liam Lawson, Fernando Alonso, Alexander Albon, Valtteri Bottas, and Lance Stroll, who could start preparing for the main event on Saturday early.
In SQ3, there were not many unanswered questions left: Lando Norris and McLaren quickly wrapped up this stage of the weekend, easily securing pole position ahead of George Russell and Oscar Piastri.
