Piastri takes pole position for Qatar GP ahead of teammate Norris and Verstappen

A victory for Norris on Sunday guarantees a first F1 title.

He needs to finish four points ahead of Piastri and one point ahead of Verstappen, who is chasing a fifth straight F1 crown.

"The car has been feeling good,” Norris said. “I was much happier today than yesterday.”

Norris set the fastest time on his first go, with Piastri .035 seconds behind and Verstappen almost half a second back. But Norris botched his second run and Piastri took advantage to beat him by .108 seconds after a faultless lap.

“Good session everyone,” Piastri said. “That was mega.”

Verstappen was ahead of Norris on the first time split but faded in the night-time session and qualified in third.

Mercedes driver George Russell was fourth and his teammate Kimi Antonelli fifth, with Charles Leclerc qualifying 10th on another disappointing day for Ferrari.

Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari woes continued when he was knocked out of Q1 — the first part of qualifying — for the second straight race after qualifying last at the Las Vegas GP.

Piastri gains ground

Earlier Saturday, Piastri won the sprint race from pole.

Piastri's sprint win gave him eight points with seven going to Russell in second place. Norris took six points for his third-place finish, and Verstappen got five for finishing fourth.

Norris started the sprint from third on the grid and Verstappen from sixth. The Dutchman was let through by his Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda on the first lap but could not get close enough to pressure Norris.

Verstappen complained of bouncing and understeer on his Red Bull on Friday, and the problems persisted.

“The bouncing's still very bad,” Verstappen said four laps into Saturday's sprint.

Tsunoda was fifth ahead of Antonelli, with both getting five-second time penalties for going off track limits more than the maximum three times.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso got two points in seventh and Williams driver Carlos Sainz collected one point in eighth.

Hamilton’s slide continued when he placed 17th.

Last race ahead

The F1 season concludes on Dec. 7 in Abu Dhabi.

Verstappen has won the last two races in Qatar and four of the last five in Abu Dhabi.

Piastri has not won since the final day of August at the Dutch GP and the Australian has no podiums in the past six F1 races, excluding Saturday's sprint.

Verstappen’s title chances increased after the disqualification of both McLaren drivers following last Sunday's Las Vegas GP, which Verstappen won.

Race strategy in Qatar will be harder to impose given that teams have two mandatory pit stops, a measure imposed on safety grounds due to a high risk of tire degradation at the 5.4-kilometer (3.3-mile) Lusail International Circuit.

Pirelli tires are restricted to a maximum of 25 laps in the 57-lap race, which features high-speed corners.

"It will be pretty tough," Piastri said. “With the two stops we're going to be pushing pretty hard the whole time.”

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing