An exciting day of racing action culminated with the British driver setting the fastest lap time at the Lusail International Circuit.
Team McLaren loves Lusail, and it shows.
It was here in 2023 that Oscar Piastri secured his maiden Formula 1 victory and the team picked right where they left off as the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix 2024 set sail on Friday.
Despite being beaten by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the weekend’s only practice session, Lando Norris rose to the occasion at the Qualifying. He will start at the front of the grid on Saturday’s Sprint race after taking pole by clocking the fastest lap time ever recorded at the Lusail International Circuit. His compatriot in McLaren, Piastri, came third.
“It felt like the fastest circuit of the year,” Norris said immediately after finishing his lap timing of 1:21.012. That is an improvement by more than two seconds from the previous best timing of 1:23.196 set by Max Verstappen at the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix in 2021.
When we told you to keep an eye out for speed in our preview, after the new track adjustments, we meant it!
That sets the tone well for McLaren’s goal of winning the first-ever Constructors’ Championship since 1998. Beat Ferrari over the weekend and it will be theirs before the ultimate race in Abu Dhabi.
Friday’s qualifying has set the tone well and Norris — who lost the Drivers’ Championship to Red Bull’s Verstappen just last week in Las Vegas — made his feelings known.
“It’s a great qualifying today, especially to bounce back from where we were last time out in Vegas, it’s a nice thing to do,” the British driver added.
Things, however, are not done yet and it is Verstappen’s record again that should concern McLaren in the Sprint. Ever since its introduction in 2021, 17 F1 Sprint races have taken place and Verstappen has won 11 of them. The McLaren duo have won twice between them.
McLaren will go to Saturday with a 24-point lead over Ferrari and a 53-point lead over Red Bull. That could change, however, if there is more drama to unfold on Saturday. While McLaren are on track to get 15 points on the Sprint, they have the pace to do well at the qualifying later on Saturday.
A perfect weekend of action from here on for either Ferrari or Red Bull will take the Constructors’ Championship to the wire in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It will be more difficult to pull off for champion Verstappen’s team as Sergio Perez’s performance dip has been concerning.
The Mexican has been without a win this season and his last second-place finish came back in July at the Belgian Grand Prix. He had an evening to forget on Friday, crashing out of Q1 in the Sprint Qualifying.
For Ferrari, the solitary practice session brought some hope, but it ended in a major blow. Leclerc, the quickest in the grid earlier on, will start fifth on Saturday, behind teammate Carlos Sainz.
With so much to play for and the equation for the championship more intense than ever, Saturday promises to be a high-stakes encounter at Formula 1. Add to the mix F2, F1 Academy and Carrera Cup races, Super Saturday is set to be, well and truly, superb.
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