Watch out, Lando: Oscar Piastri is back in the game

Analysis: How Oscar Piastri secured Qatar Grand Prix pole position

The last time we saw Oscar Piastri on pole was back in the Netherlands at the end of August.

That was also the weekend when he took his most recent grand prix victory.

And just when everything suggested that Norris was cruising towards the title, Piastri managed to climb back to the top with a phenomenal lap.

The start of the race weekend and FP1 already hinted that this might be his weekend – besides setting the fastest lap in FP1, Piastri topped every other session as well, cutting his deficit in the championship by two points.

More importantly, he regained his confidence and finally looked like the old Piastri from the first half of the season.

So, how did he pull it off?

The Qatar circuit is a proper racing circuit, with high grip levels and a large number of very fast corners.

This kind of layout definitely suits the Australian, whereas this and last season have shown that Norris generally prefers slower tracks.

Oscar Piastri vs Lando Norris: McLaren head-to-head scores for F1 2025

???? F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

???? F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

If we examine the data from their Q3 laps, we can identify two key parts of the circuit.

At the very start of the lap, both McLaren drivers were extremely close with only a tiny, practically irrelevant advantage for Norris after Turn 3.

The first critical area comes right after that at Turns 4 and 5.

From the graph below, you can see the sharp rise of the white delta line on Piastri’s side.

He found better grip on the exit of Turn 4 and was able to get on the throttle earlier, giving him the edge through Turn 5.

The gap of nearly two tenths at that moment shrank noticeably into Turn 10, where Norris was faster, especially through the apex of T10 itself.

Then we arrive at the third sector, where Piastri has been shining since the start of the weekend.

The graph shows a slightly higher minimum speed through Turn 14, where he is completely flat on the throttle – unlike his teammate.

A remarkable level of commitment, reflecting both Piastri’s confidence in the car and his determination to extract every last bit of performance in this part of the track.

Through T12-T13-T14 he rebuilt a stable advantage, which he then confirmed in the final corner of the lap.

It must be noted that these are the data from Norris’s first Q3 push lap, since he abandoned his second attempt due to an early error.

At that moment he was already fastest on the timing screens and, unfortunately for him, could not exploit the extra grip provided by track evolution.

What is especially interesting is that their duel looked almost identical in the sprint shootout as well.

Just like here, Piastri was faster in the fast T4–T5 sequence and in the high-speed sector from T12 to T15, while Norris attempted to recover time in the slower Turn 10.

Just like here, he couldn’t quite make it work.

Another driver who failed to join the fight for pole was Max Verstappen, who carried heavy expectations after his brilliant win in Las Vegas.

Unlike last weekend, the RB21 simply did not look competitive, with the main word being ‘bouncing’.

Red Bull could not find a solution for the aerodynamic issue that caused bouncing and inconsistent grip through the corners.

Telemetry of his best lap shows that Max was certainly competitive in the first sector, but his pace fell away across the rest of the lap.

He lost the most time in the fast corners – particularly T4, T5, T13 and T14 – while his performance in the slower corners was actually quite strong.

The clearest conclusion is Verstappen’s lack of confidence in the car and the reduction in grip most likely caused by porpoising.

Together with his team, he could not identify a setup capable of minimising the issue. His P3 in qualifying was therefore very much the absolute maximum he could achieve in Qatar.

But the main question is how these starting positions will influence the race itself.

A very interesting statistic is that in Qatar, victory has only been taken by the driver who qualified on pole (Verstappen’s penalty after qualifying here last year saw George Russell start in P1 instead).

Overtaking here is extremely difficult – almost impossible, apart from the single realistic chance on the main straight.

This means the opening corners of the race will be absolutely critical.

With the new rule limiting any stint to a maximum of 25 laps, extra pressure falls on the mechanics as well, who must deliver flawless pit stops throughout.

One driver who has had remarkably poor pit-stop luck this season is Norris – so the question is whether this weekend will be any different, and even more importantly for him, whether he can keep Verstappen behind.

Norris has never won a grand prix from second on the grid.