2025 Qatar Grand Prix Qualifying Review

Linus O'Howell
1 day ago
2 min read

After two important sessions already, everyone was fully focused on the penultimate Qualifying session of the season around the Lusail International Circuit!

Q1

In Qualifying 1, Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, Lewis Hamilton, Lance Stroll, and Franco Colapinto were the five slowest drivers! Yuki Tsunoda’s positive weekend came to a halt with a disappointing Q1 exit, with Esteban Ocon only managing P17, whilst Lewis Hamilton was once again eliminated early after another torrid time in his Ferrari! Lance Stroll simply wasn’t quick enough today, nearly 5 tenths slower than his Aston Martin teammate, whilst Franco Colapinto was nowhere and last! George Russell managed to top Q1 for Mercedes, just under a tenth ahead of Lando Norris!

Q2

In Qualifying 2, Nico Hulkenberg, Liam Lawson, Oliver Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Alex Albon all failed to make it into the Top 10 shootout! Nico Hulkenberg was incredibly unlucky to miss out on the Top 10 by just 3 thousandths of a second, whilst Liam Lawson will start 12th for Racing Bulls! Oliver Bearman could only manage P13 for Haas, ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto, who will drop 5 places due to his incident in the previous weekend, whilst Alex Albon ended up slowest in Q2, nearly 4 tenths off his teammate’s pace! Oscar Piastri showed his hand in Q2, putting a good 2 tenths over his teammate Norris in a McLaren 1-2!

Q3

In Qualifying 3, a sensational 1:19.387 was enough for Oscar Piastri to take a critical Pole Position in Qatar! Oscar was superb throughout this Qualifying session, but that final lap in particular was massive! Whilst he did make a mistake on his final run, Lando Norris is still where he needs to be in second, whilst Max Verstappen and George Russell will start from the second row after a brilliant effort from the pair of them (Max beat George to third by just 11 thousandths of a second)! Andrea Kimi Antonelli will start 5th in the other Mercedes, ahead of a brilliant Isack Hadjar, whilst Carlos Sainz continues his strong run of form with another quality performance! Fernando Alonso will start from 8th, with a brilliant Pierre Gasly behind him, whilst Charles Leclerc’s spin earlier in the session meant he ended up slowest in the final part of Qualifying!