Max Verstappen stormed to pole position in qualifying for the Qatar GP as the Dutchman put in another dominant performance at the Losail International Circuit.
The signs were ominous after the only practice session of this Sprint Race weekend ahead of qualifying for Sunday’s race after Verstappen was comfortably on top of the timing sheets, and that came to pass despite hopes McLaren could challenge Red Bull.
Elsewhere there were a number of surprise early exits, including Sergio Perez who went out in Q2 after having a lap time deleted, and Carlos Sainz, who also went out before the top 10 shootout as Ferrari struggled with stability around the high-speed corners.
F1 2023 Qatar GP – Qualifying Results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Q3 Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:23.778 |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.441 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.459 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +0.527 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.591 |
| 6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +0.646 |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +0.775 |
| 8 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +0.985 |
| 9 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | +1.280 |
| 10 | Lando Norris | McLaren | No Time |
| 11 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | Eliminated in Q2 |
| 12 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | Eliminated in Q2 |
| 13 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | Eliminated in Q2 |
| 14 | Alex Albon | Williams | Eliminated in Q2 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | Eliminated in Q2 |
| 16 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | Eliminated in Q3 |
| 17 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | Eliminated in Q3 |
| 18 | Liam Lawson | AlphaTauri | Eliminated in Q3 |
| 19 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | Eliminated in Q3 |
| 20 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | Eliminated in Q3 |
