Qatar GP: Piastri lays down a marker ahead of Norris in FP1

On a weekend when Oscar Piastri has to beat Lando Norris to keep his championship hopes alive, the Australian racer pipped his teammate in FP1, the sole practice session of the Qatar Grand Prix weekend.

Norris arrived at the Lusail circuit with a 24-point lead in the Drivers’ standings, meaning he only needs to outscore Piastri and Max Verstappen by two points to seal the title.

First blood to Oscar Piastri in Qatar

George Russell got Formula 1’s penultimate grand prix weekend underway as he led the field out of the pits at the start of FP1, the sole practice session for the season’s final Sprint weekend.

The Briton was quickly into his programme, laying down a 1:24.7 as the opening gambit while a snap of oversteer left Lando Norris a full second down and outside the top ten in the early running.

Aston Martin was the final team to leave the garage, doing so on the hard tyres as was the rest of the field.

Norris’ title rivals went 1-2 with Max Verstappen ahead of Oscar Piastri by two-tenths in a busy opening 10 minutes to the session.

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Russell was on the radio to complain to Mercedes that his “cockpit is hot” but still went P1 with a 1:22.9.

The Mercedes driver wasn’t the only one having issues as Verstappen reported, “The steering feels really weird all of a sudden”, while Charles Leclerc told Ferrari, “I don’t feel a thing with this power steering.”

Both Verstappen and Leclerc’s woes continued as the Red Bull driver encountered traffic in Pierre Gasly, “Oh my God, who’s this blind idiot?” and Leclerc went flying off the circuit at Turn 4, potentially caught out by a gust of wind.

McLaren pitted for setup changes with Piastri P12 on the timesheet and Norris last, 1.967s off the pace. Nico Hulkenberg also pulled into the pits for a setup change, unhappy with his Sauber.

Norris was left to ask his race engineer Will Joseph, “Where do I find 1.6 seconds?” Joseph told him which corners he was losing time and Norris improved, but only to 11th.

The drivers struggles to stay on track continued with Oliver Bearman and Lewis Hamilton adding their names to the list of those running wide. Russell, meanwhile, hinted at some plank wear: “I’m smelling a lot of wood.”

Heading into the final 15 minutes, Russell was P1 by two-tenths ahead of Verstappen with Isack Hadjar. Norris, Fernando Alonso and Alex Albon made up the top six. Verstappen complained there was “no pace” in his Red Bull.

Oliver Bearman was the first driver to swap to the soft Pirellis and he jumped up from last to third, improving by 1.5s. Hadjar improved to first and Liam Lawson complained about a lack of “stability”.

Norris hit the front ahead of Piastri and Verstappen only for the Australian driver, on a must-win weekend, to fight back. He clocked a 1:20.9 to sit 0.05s ahead of Norris with three minutes to go. Norris’ bid to overhaul his teammate was undone by a small off-track moment. Russell also had a late off.

FP1 ended with Piastri quickest of all ahead of Norris and Alonso.

Qatar Grand Prix FP1 times

1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:20.924
2 Lando Norris McLaren +0.058
3 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.386
4 Carlos Sainz Williams +0.480
5 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.579
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.580
7 Alexander Albon Williams +0.685
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.744
9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.745
10 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.774
11 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +0.859
12 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.870
13 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing +0.872
14 George Russell Mercedes +0.900
15 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +1.002
16 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber +1.002
17 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +1.172
18 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.500
19 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +1.638
20 Franco Colapinto Alpine +2.605

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