F1
Max to start in P3 at Qatar Grand Prix
Read the full qualifying report and reaction from Max.
Max Verstappen will start the Qatar Grand Prix from P3 on the grid, behind polesitter Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, but crucially with the advantage of the clean side of track compared to the championship leader. Yuki, meanwhile, is set to start the race at Lusail from P15.
1 min
Max gives us his thoughts after qualifying at Qatar
After easing through the opening two phases of qualifying, Max went for broke in the top-10 shoot-out, but while the defending champion was able to see off the challenge of the competitive Mercedes pair of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, there was no way past the McLarens.
“Qualifying was a little bit better, even though of course we were still quite far off,” said Max afterwards. “But at least I felt a little bit happier. Still some limitations that don’t allow us to push harder around the lap but at least we’re P3 and starting on the second row, and it creates better opportunities, because we know that it’s quite hard to pass around here. So yeah, we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
Qatar Grand Prix 2025 - Qualifying
© 2025 Getty Images
01
Sprint
Max battled from sixth on the grid to fourth at the flag in the Sprint, despite once again battling the bouncing that had dented his Sprint Qualifying hopes. Yuki, meanwhile, survived a five-second time penalty to take a well worked P5, as Oscar took victory ahead of George and Lando.
At lights out, Oscar got away well from pole and he quickly built a small gap back to George. Yuki made a superb start from P5 and powered past Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso on the run to Turn 1. Max also made a good getaway and as they went through Turns 2 and 3 the champion muscled past Fernando before a late-braking move down the inside on Yuki earned him P4.
At the front, Oscar began to pull away from the pack and within a few laps the Australian had comfortably shaken off George. Max now began to put pressure on Lando and with the McLaren driver slipping in and out of DRS range of George it looked like Max might have a chance at passing Lando.
However, Max was again suffering with porpoising and in the end he had to back out of the fight. He dropped to more than two seconds adrift of the championship leader and after 19 laps he crossed the line in fourth.
Yuki was also struggling and after going beyond track limits three times he was shown the black and white flag. Unfortunately, he then slid over the white lines again in Turn 10 and this time he was handed a five-second time penalty.
He looked set to drop behind Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, but at the last moment the Italian rookie also transgressed for a fourth time and he too was handed a penalty, keeping Yuki in an excellent fifth place at the flag.
Qatar Grand Prix 2025 - Qualifying
© 2025 Getty Images
02
Q1
Max kicked off his Qualifying session with a lap of 1:20.984 on used softs, while Yuki slotted into P3 just over three tenths off his team-mate. The Bulls dropped to fourth and sixth while they pitted but with just under nine minutes remaining the pair headed out on track again.
With the track rapidly improving, Max’s next lap, a 1:20.534, vaulted him to top spot. Yuki’s second attempt left him 10th, half a second off his team-mate.
On the final runs it was Mercedes’ George who took top spot, ahead of the McLarens of Lando and Oscar. Max put in a third flyer and though he improved he ended up just over two tenths off Piastri.
Yuki’s final flyer of 1:20.761 initially lifted him out of the drop zone but as better final times came, he drifted to P15 and then in the final seconds Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto put in a lap of 1:20.653 to push Yuki towards the exit. However, Bortoleto is carrying a five-place penalty into the race from the last event and Yuki will start the race in P15.
Qatar Grand Prix 2025 - Qualifying
© 2025 Getty Images
03
Q2
Max opened his Q2 account with a lap of 1:20.142 that took him to the top of the timesheet. His stay was brief, however, and Oscar moved almost half a second clear of the Dutchman with a lap of 1:19.650. Behind them Lando, on used tyres, could only claim P3 with a lap of 1:20.146, but that was then deleted for a track limits infringement at the entry of Turn 10.
Max, meanwhile, started another rapid-fire flyer, his sixth lap on the set, and with reduced fuel on board, he dropped his personal benchmark to 1:19.985.
As the Dutchman completed his lap, Lando emerged on fresh tyres and put in a last-ditch lap of 1:19.861 to carry him from P15 to P2 and into Q3 ahead of Max.
Ruled out at the end of the middle segment were Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg in P11, followed by VCARB’s Liam Lawson, Haas’ Ollie Bearman, Gabriel and Williams’ Alex Albon.
Qatar Grand Prix 2025 - Qualifying
© 2025 Getty Images
04
Q3
Max was first out of the pit lane for the top 10 shootout, but was embarking on two prep laps and it was Lando who took provisional pole with a lap of 1:19.495. Oscar couldn’t match that and he crossed the line 0.035s off his team-mate. Max then jumped to P3 behind the McLarens with an opening time of 1:19.949. However, George was finding more time and he squeezed ahead of Max by just over a tenth of a second.
The session was then briefly halted. Carlos Sainz was released from the Williams garage with a floor sticker wrapped around his rear left tyre and when the plastic worked free it came to rest on the track and the red flags were briefly displayed.
In the final flyers, it was Lando who seized the initiative but though the provisional pole sitter headed out early his build lap wasn’t perfect and then after going wide in Turn 2 he was forced to back out of his flying lap.
That opened the door and it was Oscar who capitalised, with the Australian posting a lap of 1:19.387 to take pole position.
Max threw everything at his final, but there was no matching the McLarens. However, he was able to power past George with a lap of 1:19.651 that put him third.
With George in P4, fifth place went to Kimi in the other Mercedes, with VCARB’s Isack in P6 ahead of Carlos. Fernando was eighth ahead of Pierre and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
05
Solve the riddle and earn 50 points for My Paddock!
Can you work out the answer to the riddle below?
Log in or sign up to My Paddock, enter your answer to the riddle and earn 50 points to redeem against prizes and rewards!