Oscar Piastri took pole position for the sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix. The McLaren driver beat the Mercedes of George Russell into second and, with Lando Norris in third, it was the result the Australian required for his world championship ambitions and allows a chance to narrow the gap to the leader Norris. The other title contender, Max Verstappen, was furious with his Red Bull’s erratic performance and will start in sixth.
Drivers' championship standings
1 Lando Norris (McLaren) 390pts
2 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 366
3 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 366
Despite being level on points, Piastri (7 wins) holds second place due to more GP victories than Verstappen (6 wins) this season
Points still available
GP 1st 25pts, 2nd 18, 3rd 15, 4th 12, 5th 10, 6th 8, 7th 6, 8th 4, 9th 2, 10th 1
Sprint race 1st 8pt, 2nd 7, 3rd 6, 4th 5, 5th 4, 6th 3, 7th 2, 8th 1
Remaining race weekends
29-30 Nov Qatar (sprint race and GP)
6-7 Dec Abu Dhabi (GP only)
What Norris needs
• He needs to emerge from the weekend having scored two points more than Piastri and Verstappen to be sure.
• There are a maximum of 58 points left for each driver to win: eight in today’s sprint, 25 in tomorrow’s race and 25 in Abu Dhabi next Sunday.
• If two drivers are level on points in the standings the driver with most race wins would be champion. If they still cannot be split it goes to most second-place finishes, and so on until a point of difference is reached. The McLaren drivers are level 7-7 on wins, with Verstappen on six, but Norris is 8-3 ahead of Piastri on second places.
• Norris is aiming to become the 11th British champion after Mike Hawthorn, Graham Hill (2), Jim Clark (2), John Surtees, Jackie Stewart (3), James Hunt, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Lewis Hamilton (7) and Jenson Button.
McLaren sealed the constructors' title with in October, with six races remaining
