'Nice to be back' on top, Piastri says as he claims Qatar sprint pole

[ad_1] Oscar Piastri is completely positioned to chop into McLaren teammate Lando Norris's 24-point Formulation 1 championship lead after qualifying in pole place for the Qatar dash race.

Norris is third on the grid behind Piastri and Mercedes's George Russell, whereas Crimson Bull four-time world champion Max Verstappen, degree with Piastri within the standings, will begin Saturday's race in sixth place.

"Good to be again. Thanks everyone," a cheerful Piastri mentioned over the crew radio as he returned to kind after a gradual decline.

There are 58 factors remaining to be received, eight of them within the 100km dash, from the ultimate two rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The dash race begins at 1am AEDT on Sunday.

If the three championship contenders stay of their qualifying positions, the Australian will transfer two factors nearer to Norris within the standings and pull 5 factors away from Verstappen.

Piastri — who has received the final two sprints in Qatar — set a finest time of 1 minute and 20.055 seconds, 0.032 faster than Russell, who knocked Norris down to 3rd.

"I am fairly blissful. It has been some time since I have been on P1," the Australian mentioned.

"It virtually went horribly improper at flip 4. Turning left in a right-hand nook is rarely a superb factor. I misplaced two-tenths. At that time I assumed that lap was over, however I stored pushing and was capable of finding some extra time."

Norris mentioned he made a mistake within the last nook and was roughly resigned to his destiny within the dash.

"I'd be silly to not try to win but it surely's inconceivable to overhaul so I feel I'll in all probability end P3," he mentioned.

"Getting previous George Russell on the road might be the very best I can hope for."

<img alt="Oscar Piastri climbs out of his McLaren, parked in front of a sign showing the number one after Qatar sprint qualifying." class="Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq" sizes="100vw" src="https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/93983b282a59f00ab2c5361fdc0ddd1a?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&cropH=2878&cropW=4317&xPos=0&yPos=0&width=862&height=575" loading="lazy" data-component="Image" data-lazy="true"/> Qatar is the penultimate race weekend of the season, which ends in Abu Dhabi. ( Getty Photos: Mark Sutton/Formulation 1 )

Verstappen complained his automotive was "bouncing like loopy", an remark that echoes of the earlier race in Las Vegas the place each McLarens suffered the 'porpoising' phenomenon and had been disqualified for extreme skid put on.

"Simply actually unhealthy bouncing and really aggressive understeer that will shift into oversteer at high-speed," the Dutch driver mentioned.

"We tried to vary a number of issues on the wheel but it surely by no means actually labored, so it made it fairly tough. With this steadiness, it is not going to be lots of enjoyable. Will probably be extra about making an attempt to outlive I suppose and make some adjustments going into qualifying."