SQ1

Going from only free practice session during sunset into the night sprint qualifying under the lights, the drivers rushed to get out on track early to avoid traffic, about which they complained during FP1. All drivers also had to put medium tyres on as the F1 rules require.

The leaderboard kept changing as drivers improved their times around Lusail under the lights in Qatar. Norris set a fast lap of 1:21.356, going quickest with a six-tenth gap on his final run.

Another shocking Q1 exit suffered Sergio Perez, who briefly reached P13 before falling back into the drop zone. His final run seemed affected by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, though it's unclear how much it impacted him.

Yuki Tsunoda was aiming high but instead left frustrated, placing his RB in only 16th place and later on blaming his team over the radio for “rushing into the qualifying”.

Esteban Ocon, Zhou Guanyu and Franco Colapinto also didn’t find the pace to get in SQ2 and will line up in 18th, 19th, and 20th for the sprint race tomorrow.

SQ2

Similarly as in SQ1, in the second part of the sprint qualifying medium compound tyres were mandatory again and drivers only had 10 minutes to set the fastest time.

As the session went on, the times at the top continued to change. Oscar Piastri had his lap deleted for going off track, dropping him into the elimination zone, but he soon climbed back to third.

Alex Albon was briefly in the top 10 but was pushed out by Liam Lawson. Right after, Pierre Gasly moved up to P9, which knocked Fernando Alonso down to 11th and Albon to 12th, just ahead of Valtteri Bottas.

The second Aston Martin of Lance Stroll finished in fourteenth, while Kevin Magnussen, was also eliminated after setting the slowest time in SQ2.

SQ3

The 10 fastest drivers then headed to the last eight-minute part of the sprint qualifying, where soft compound tyres are required.

Some, like Sainz and Verstappen, took an extra lap to warm their tyres, while others, like Norris and Leclerc, went straight for it.

In the end, it was once again Lando Norris, who continued his strong form SQ1 and SQ2 through to SQ3, posting a lap of 1m 21.012s, which no one could beat, leaving him in the top spot.

Oscar Piastri was looking set to start next to his teammate, but couldn’t improve in the final sector. George Russell then jumped ahead of him by just 0.063s, pushing the Australian down to third.

Carlos Sainz took fourth for Ferrari, while his teammate Charles Leclerc followed in fifth. Freshly-crowned world champion Max Verstappen finished only sixth for Red Bull, ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in seventh.

Pierre Gasly showed an impressive performance again, putting his Alpine right behind all top teams to eighth. Nico Hulkenberg finished ninth for Haas, with Liam Lawson completing the top 10.