Lando Norris grabbed pole position for the Formula 1 Sprint Race at the Qatar Grand Prix, the final F1 Sprint Race of the 2024 season.
In doing so, Norris moved McLaren one step closer to capturing the Constructors’ Championship.
Norris took pole in dominant fashion, and will have teammate Oscar Piastri right behind him in third when the lights go out to start the F1 Sprint Race on Saturday. That gives McLaren a tremendous chance at bringing home a big haul of points in the F1 Sprint Race, as they look to capture their first Constructors’ Championship since 1998.
“It’s so quick around here,” said Norris to James Hinchcliffe after qualifying. “Great qualifying today, especially to bounce back from where we were last time out.
“We’re coming here to get pole and we did that, so job done for today.”
Norris made it clear that his, and McLaren’s target is a front-row lockout on Saturday.
“I mean, I want to win. We want to win every session as drivers,” said Norris. “Our target is a one-two, we want to maximize points for our Constructors’ today, so we want to go for it.”
George Russell will start alongside Norris in second, while Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jr. will start fourth next to Piastri.
Here are the full results from qualifying for the F1 Sprint Race at the Qatar Grand Prix:
McLaren arrived the Qatar Grand Prix with a 24-point lead over Ferrari and a 53-point lead over Red Bull. That gives the Woking-based team a chance to clinch the F1 Constructors’ Championship this weekend at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Simply put, McLaren needs to be leading both Ferrari and Red Bull by at least 45 points going into the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Should their lead over either Ferrari and/or Red Bull be just 44 points, tiebreakers would potentially be on the table, meaning McLaren would not have mathematically clinched the title.
Right now McLaren leads Red Bull by 53 points, which is above the 45-point mark. Red Bull needs to get their deficit to McLaren down to 44 or less, meaning they need to outscore McLaren by nine points or more in Qatar to stay alive. Anything less than that — or if McLaren outscores Red Bull in Qatar — and Red Bull is eliminated.
Now for Ferrari, which is a bit tougher for McLaren. With McLaren holding a lead of 24 points over Ferrari at the moment, they need to push that gap to 45, outscoring Ferrari by a total of 21 points over the weekend in Qatar. Should they accomplish that task, Ferrari would be eliminated.
But if they outscore Ferrari by less than 21 — or if Ferrari outscores McLaren — the Constructors’ title would come down to the final race weekend, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
