DOHA: Lando Norris lifted the spirits of his title-chasing McLaren team on Friday when he powered to pole position ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell in qualifying for Saturday’s sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix.
After a disappointing outing in Las Vegas, where his drivers’ title hopes ended as Max Verstappen clinched his fourth championship with Red Bull, the British driver was back on top form under the lights at the Lusail International Circuit.
Norris clocked a best time in one minute and 21.012 seconds to outpace Russell, the winner in Nevada, by just 0.063 seconds at the end of a closely-fought session. Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren was third.
“It’s tough,” said Norris of his laps and the speed of the track.
“It is so quick around here. It feels like the quickest of the year and in the final sector you feel like you are just hanging on.
“I want to win and I want to win every session as a driver. Our target tomorrow is a one-two so we maximize the points for our constructors’ but we know Mercedes and Ferrari will be quick.”
The Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc qualified fourth and fifth ahead of Verstappen and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes, an outcome that was not enough to buoy hopes that the Italian team can stop McLaren claiming their first constructors’ title in 26 years.
Pierre Gasly took an impressive eighth for Alpine ahead of Nico Hulkenberg of Haas and RB’s Liam Lawson.
McLaren hold a 24 points lead in the teams’ title race with 608 to Ferrari on 584.
With two Grands Prix remaining, including one sprint, McLaren can clinch the title with a dominant weekend ahead of Ferrari in both the sprint and Sunday’s Grand Prix.
In cooling conditions with temperatures of 19 (air) and 22 (track) falling as darkness descended, Kevin Magnussen set the early benchmark time for Haas in 1:23.750 before the ‘big boys’ joined the fray, Sainz soon going top.
Norris then gave notice of his intentions with a lap in 1:22.785, but it was not enough as speeds increased with the drop in temperature and Ferrari took advantage with Leclerc and Sainz on top.
With three minutes remaining in SQ1, Norris bounced back in 1:22.021, a time Russell equalled exactly with the same lap time. Piastri, last year’s winner, went fourth, six-tenths off his team-mate’s best time.
Norris trimmed his time to 1:21.356 in the final seconds to finish four-tenths clear of Sainz, six-tenths ahead of Russell and Verstappen with Hamilton fifth.
But it was another painful session for Sergio Perez of Red Bull who exited in Q1 along with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Zhou Guanyu of Sauber and Williams’ Franco Colapinto.
As prescribed, all of the cars ran on medium compound tires and nearly all of them were under investigation by the stewards for driving too slowly, at times, in SQ1 as they ‘backed up’ to seek a ‘tow’.
The SQ2 segment began with Verstappen on top before Leclerc took over in 1:22.130 and then Piastri in 1:22.050, the leading teams all very clothed matched.
With two minutes to go, Norris was back in control in 1:22.231 ahead of Russell and Piastri with Verstappen fourth until Hamilton knocked him down to fifth ahead of the two Ferraris.
Out this time went two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, Williams’ Alex Albon, Valtteri Bottas of Sauber, Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin and Magnussen.
The top ten shootout began with Leclerc in a hurry to clock 1:21.706, as they all switched to softs, Norris lapping in 1:21.012 for top spot with Piastri a tenth down in second. McLaren looked imperious.
Norris boosts McLaren title hopes with sprint pole
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Norris boosts McLaren title hopes with sprint pole
- Norris clocked a best time in one minute and 21.012 seconds to outpace Russell, the winner in Nevada, by just 0.063 seconds at the end of a closely-fought session
- Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren was third
Jones leads after blemish-free 65 at Address Marassi
- Englishman holds 1-shot advantage as 3 players share second at Egypt Golf Series
AL-ALAMEIN, Egypt: England’s Ben Jones carded a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 to take the first-round lead at the Egypt Golf Series Address Marassi Golf Resort 2, the third event of the MENA Golf Tour’s four-tournament Egypt swing.
Jones holds a one-shot advantage over three players at six under — Italy’s Giovanni Manzoni, Scotland’s Michael Stewart and Spain’s Juan Salama — as players returned to the resort course for the second consecutive week.
Jones said: “It was a bit fortunate the first day by getting the right side of the wind and that’s when you have to take advantage of the course.”
“I hit it really solid all day, stayed out of trouble and had no dropped shots, so I’m really happy with that. It’s probably my best round of the year so far and hopefully I can keep that going.
“I nearly holed one on eight and for a second I thought it was in, and then on the final putt of the day I nearly grabbed another birdie. It hit the back of the hole but just didn’t drop. I maybe hit it a little firm because I misjudged the wind down there.”
Scotland’s Stewart said: “I played really nicely today. I felt like I had good control of my ball in the wind, which was really important out there. The preparation over the last few days definitely helped, and last week’s final round was very breezy as well, so that experience carried over.
“I would not say it is getting easier, because it is not, but you do start putting yourself in better positions because you understand the course and the misses a bit more.
“Overall, it just felt like one of those days where I played really solid golf, gave myself plenty of chances, and managed to take a few of them.”
Salama enjoyed a tale of two halves having teed off on the 10th, with six birdies on his back nine, the course’s front nine, transforming his round.
“Six under is obviously very pleasing, but it really felt like two completely different nines out there,” said the Spaniard.
“The front nine was quite tough and I started a little cold with the putter. On the back nine everything clicked, the putter got hot and I was able to make six birdies, which made a huge difference.
“Finishing the round by holing that putt on my final hole was a great feeling and gives me a lot of confidence going into tomorrow.”
Italy’s Ludovico Addabbo, second in the MENA Golf Tour Rankings and alone in fifth at five under, went blemish-free on the card, which included an eagle on the fourth hole and three birdies on the back nine.
Rankings leader Chris Wood, who won last week’s Marassi 1 event in a dramatic playoff, is among a large group at one-over par following an opening 73 as he looks for a repeat win at the venue.
The Egypt Golf Series has $100,000 in prize money and Official World Golf Ranking points on offer. Following this week’s event, the Tour concludes its Egypt Swing at Madinaty Golf Club in Cairo from Feb. 3 to 5.
