McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took advantage of a late Q3 mistake from teammate Lando Norris and won the all-important pole for the Sunday’s (Nov. 30) Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix. The pole maintained the momentum Piastri built in the sprint race win earlier in the day and applied the pressure to Norris, who leads the drivers standings by 22 points.
“We left it pretty much the same with some minor tweaks here and there,” said Piastri. “Everything felt great all weekend so, yeah, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
“It was really good, the team did a great job. We had a little bit of a question mark on which tyres we wanted to use because I did a quick lap on the used set in Q2 – that threw a little bit of a spanner in the works because we didn’t expect it to be so good. Q3 was really good on the new set so I’m very happy.”
OSCAR PIASTRI TAKES POLE IN QATAR!!! 🤩
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 29, 2025
What a final lap from the Aussie 💪#F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/KatpdbT0td
Max Verstappen‘s final run in Q3 lodged him third on the grid ahead of the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, who will start fourth and fifth, respectively.
Norris’ first run in Q3 gave him provisional pole before the session was momentarily red flagged for debris on the track. After a snap of understeer going into turn 2, Norris was forced to back out of his lap, and Piastri took full advantage.
Q3
Verstappen bailed out on his first run, with Norris first to post a time, a sizzling 1:19.495. Piastri’s first effort was .035 behind Norris.
Norris goes quickest after the first runs 💪
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 29, 2025
Piastri is just 0.035s behind 😮#F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/sRygYU1GN7
Verstappen couldn’t touch the McLarens and was .454 seconds behind Norris’ time in third, and was bumped to fourth by Russell.
Charles Leclerc’s back end snapped around and the Ferrari went for a wild spin midway through the session, which was a snapshot of Ferrari’s season, because you never know which way they are headed.
⏪ Rewind to that Leclerc spin
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 29, 2025
It was a big one! 😵#F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/hhfGj8VO0N
Williams’ Carlos Sainz left the pits with a piece of plastic debris stuck to his tire, and it flew off onto the track. The session was briefly red flagged as marshals cleared the debris.
Norris had to back out of his second run and was not able to attempt another flying lap.
With the door open, Piastri jumped through it and took advantage of Norris’ error and topped his teammate by .108 seconds to snatch pole. Verstappen improved to third, and Russell couldn’t top the Dutchman and finished Q4.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Leader |
| 1. | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:19.387m |
| 2. | 4 | Lando Norris | Mercedes | +0.108s |
| 3. | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.264s |
| 4. | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.275s |
| 5. | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +0.459s |
| 6. | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | +0.727s |
| 7. | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | +0.900s |
| 8. | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +1.031s |
| 9. | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +1.090s |
| 10. | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +1.174s |
Q2
Piastri was the first to post a time in the 1:19’s with a 1:19.650, almost half a second faster than Verstappen.
Norris’ first effort was deleted for a track limits violation, adding a bit of anxiety to the Brit’s Q2.
Piastri’s time remained unchallenged with five minutes left in the session, with Verstappen improving with a time three-tenths behind Piastri.
Norris calmly laid down a 1:19.861 to move to P2 and secure his advance.
As he set out on his final run, Leclerc stood in 15th and needed a hot lap to advance to Q3. Leclerc’s time put him in ninth, and neither Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg nor Gabriel Bortoleto could knock Leclerc out of the top 10.
Q2 CLASSIFICATION
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 29, 2025
Piastri, Norris, Verstappen…#F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/Wmi6jtMryM
Joining the two McLaren’s and Verstappen in Q3 were Russell, Hadjar, Antonelli, Alonso, Sainz, Gasly and Leclerc.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 11. | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | +0.003s |
| 12. | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +0.083s |
| 13. | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | +0.088s |
| 14. | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Haas | +0.184s |
| 15. | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | +0.279s |
Q1
Piatri’s first effort of 1:20.739 put him on top of the time sheets after the first Q1 runs, while the Ferrari’s struggled.
Verstappen’s final run briefly placed him in first, but Norris crushed sectors 2 and 3 to take the lead with five minutes left in the session, with Piastri less than a tenth behind.
Lewis Hamilton completed his final run 13th fastest, but was knocked down to the elimination zone as the session came to an end.
Russell surged on his final run and nipped Norris for the top spot with a 1:20.074 late in the session. Piastri was third with Verstappen fourth.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Advancing | |||
| 16. | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | +0.076s | |||
| 17. | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | +0.179s | |||
| 18. | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +0.222s | |||
| 19. | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +0.373s | |||
| 20. | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | +0.452s |
2025 F1 Qatar Grand Prix Qualifying Results
The 2025 Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix will kick off on Sunday (Nov. 30) at 11 a.m. ET with coverage on ESPN.
