Lusail, Qatar, 30 November 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Oscar Piastri mounted the pressure on McLaren team-mate Lando Norris in the Formula One title race when he continued a perfect Qatar weekend on Saturday with victory in the sprint race and pole position for the grand prix proper.

Piastri won the sprint race in Lusail for the third time in a row ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell, Norris and title holder Max Verstappen of Red Bull who is also still in contention.

A few hours later he claimed what could be a crucial first place on the grid for the Qatar GP in track record time ahead of Norris and Verstappen.

The promises at least an exciting start on the Lusail International Circuit where the sprint confirmed that overtaking is notoriously difficult and winning the battle into turn one could have a big influence on the championship race.

Norris can clinch title

Norris dropped two points on Piastri in the sprint while gaining one on Verstappen. He is 22 points ahead of Piastri and 25 in front of Verstappen.

There are still 50 points up for grabs from Sunday's race and the season-ender in Abu Dhabi where there is no sprint.

With 25 points for a victory and 18 for second, Norris will clinch the title on Sunday without the help of others if he wins. If he doesn't he would need four points more than Piastri and not finish behind Verstappen to succeed with one race to spare.

Piastri eyes turnaround

But Piastri has been impeccable all weekend after some difficult months during which he lost the championship lead to Norris again. He has topped every session in Lusail and will hope to take the title race to the wire.

The sprint showed how crucial qualifying would be as the top three had started in the same order while Verstappen rose two spots from sixth on the grid to fourth right after at the start.

“It’s been a good weekend so far. Everything went smoothly in the sprint there, so I’m happy with how it’s been so far and just need to keep it rolling," Piastri said after the sprint.

Piastri delivers in qualifying

That's what he did when it mattered in qualifying where Norris led the way in the final session but a small mistake did not allow any improvement on last flying lap.

Piastri seized the moment to post 1 minute 19.387 seconds for the third track record of the night, beating Norris by .108 of a second and Verstappen by .264.

"We left the car pretty much the same. Everything felt great all weekend. If it ain't broke, don't fix it," Piastri said.

Looking ahead at Sunday and the title race, he added: "I will try my best, starting from the best spot so I will try and do some more of what I did today in the sprint and see what we can do."

Norris remains hopeful 

Norris lamented some understeer which led to the costly mistake and said he has not yet thought about how to attack Piastri at the start.

"We will review some things and then see if I can do better than I did this morning," he said.

"Otherwise, I think we are in good position. The car has been feeling good, I was much happier today than yesterday so progress but it is a long race tomorrow."

Bouncing back from Vegas DQ

McLaren were also happy to be back on track after Norris and Piastri were disqualified at last weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix for a technical infringement concerning the cars' skid blocks.

"It was a strong reaction in terms of the result on track," team principal Andrea Stella told Sky.

"We understood why we found ourselves in that unfortunate circumstance. I'm very proud. Our culture was tested by a hard situation. We emerged even stronger and aware that we have more work to do to not face those situations."

Ferrari struggle again

It was another difficult day for Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc coming 13th in the sprint and placing 10th in qualifying where he also overcame a scary high-speed spin in Q3. Lewis Hamilton came third last 18th in the sprint and in qualifying.

"It's frustrating to see that even maximum risk, a good lap is still bringing us P10 and nothing better," Leclerc told Sky TV.

he agreed with Hamilton that the car was feeling better, "but when you look at the timings we are very, very, very far."

Other results

In the sprint, Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda originally finished fifth but was hit with a track limits five-second penalty which dropped him to sixth.

Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli inherited fifth, and Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Carlos Sainz of Williams were also in the points.

In qualifying, Russell was fourth ahead of Antonelli, Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar, Sainz, Alonso and Alpine's Pierre Gasly.