F1 Sprint Qualifying Results: Red Bull MISERY continues as championship battle takes huge twist

Lando Norris drove a brilliant Friday evening session at the Qatar Grand Prix, putting his McLaren on pole for Saturday's sprint race after setting the fastest times in all three parts of the session.

Sergio Perez was the first big name eliminated from sprint qualifying, failing to make it out of SQ1 on pace alone.

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The Mexican had struggled in practice earlier in the day, and those pace struggles continued into the Friday evening session in a poor hour for Red Bull – with Max Verstappen only capable of sixth.

Perez was joined on the sidelines by former world champion Fernando Alonso after SQ2, the Spaniard getting edged out at the last moment by Pierre Gasly.

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F1 Sprint Qualifying Results: Qatar Grand Prix 2024

1. Lando Norris [McLaren] - 1:21.012sec
2. George Russell [Mercedes] - +0.063sec
3. Oscar Piastri [McLaren] - +0.159sec
4. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] - +0.269sec
5. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] - +0.296sec
6. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] - +0.303sec
7. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] - +0.462sec
8. Pierre Gasly [Alpine] +0.966sec
9. Nico Hulkenberg [Haas] - +1.076sec
10. Liam Lawson [VCARB] - +1.565sec

ELIMINATED IN Q2

11. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin]
12. Alex Albon [Williams]
13. Valtteri Bottas [Kick Sauber]
14. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin]
15. Kevin Magnussen [Haas]

ELIMINATED IN Q1

16. Sergio Perez [Red Bull]
17. Yuki Tsunoda [VCARB]
18. Esteban Ocon [Alpine]
19. Zhou Guanyu [Kick Sauber]
20. Franco Colapinto [Williams]

How does F1 Sprint Qualifying work?

The qualifying session is split into three finite windows, which provide a dramatic prelude to Sunday's race.

The bottom five drivers are eliminated at the end of Q1, with a further five eliminated after Q2.

Then, Q3 gives us a shootout between the remaining 10 drivers in the battle for positions at the front of the grid.

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