Max Verstappen has set the sixth fastest time during sprint qualifying in Qatar. Lando Norris topped all three sessions to claim pole position for the sprint race. George Russell set the second fastest time, followed by Oscar Piastri in third. The Ferrari drivers completed the top five: Carlos Sainz set the fourth time and teammate Charles Leclerc clocked the fifth time. While earlier today, the Ferraris seemed quicker during the first and only free practice session, the McLarens proved to have the upper hand in the session.

“We just had no pace, to be honest,” Max says after the session. “We were slow, I didn’t really have the balance to attack. The very high speed is OK, but everything else is not. That makes it difficult to push.” According to the four-time World Champion, sixth place is where they should start. “Maybe even P7,” he continues. “But it is of course not where we want to be.”

When asked about his expectations for tomorrow, Max answers: “In the sprint race, it will be tough to fight the cars around me with the balance that I have in the car. For qualifying, let’s see if we can improve the situation a bit. But I don’t expect the situation to completely turn around. So yeah, it has not been amazing.”