Aston Martin have slipped to eighth in the constructors' championship and are a long way off the top four teams in the standings. If they want to challenge for the biggest prize in Formula 1 then they're going to have to make some bold decisions, starting with who leads the team into the new era of 2026 changes...

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1. George Russell (Mercedes) - 1:22.165

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.207

3. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) +0.367

4. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +0.423

5. Alex Albon (Williams) +0.457

Max Verstappen is minding his own business on a slow lap when he encounters the Alpine of Pierre Gasly. Should be no problem to pass in theory but Frenchman Gasly drifts across the path of the Red Bull and Verstappen has to react.

"Oh my god, who is this?! Blind idiot!" Verstappen tells his pit wall.

Over at Ferrari, Charles Leclerc is back on the radio to highlight further problems. "I don't know where the balance of the car is with this power steering," says the Monegasque driver.

The times are tumbling as the track starts to evolve in this one and only practice session. Isack Hadjar and Yuki Tsunoda are sitting in the top five along with two-time world champion Fernando Alonso.

Dutchman Max Verstappen is two tenths off being the fastest car, as the Mercedes of George Russell improves on his previous time to hit a 1:22.165.

Hard tyres still bolted on across the field with only a few cars out on track now.

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Penny for the inner thoughts of Lewis Hamilton this year. The blockbuster move to Ferrari has not been the fairytale start maybe we were all expecting but the seven-time world champion, who was downcast once again after his Las Vegas outing last week, said yesterday his comments he was "not looking forward to" next season were made " in the heat of frustration".

He added: "Often there's a lot of frustration at the end of races when they haven't gone well. So, no, I'm excited to see what the team build next year and continue to build on with them."

The 40-year-old has only two weekends to grab his first proper podium with the Italian team in his first season. He's out on the hards like everyone else at the moment, sitting in 11th position on the timesheets.

Never mind Max Verstappen throwing a spanner in the title fight, what about George Russell ruffling some feathers in the Mercedes? The Briton went well in Qatar last year but just missed out on a podium place in the main race, finishing fourth. Russell is quickest now, above Carlos Sainz by 0.032 seconds, with a 1:22.962.

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc have both flagged steering issues with 43 minutes left on the clock.

Max Verstappen seems to be the early favourite to take victory in Qatar this weekend in Qatar and he's just placed his Red Bull top of the timesheets with a 1:23.343 on the hard tyre from the Williams of Spaniard Carlos Sainz. Can he unsettle the McLarens and make it a grandstand finish in Abi Dhabi next weekend? That would be a safe bet with the form the Dutchman is in at the moment.

As a Lando fan I'm nervous of a DNF for him in the Grand Prix this weekend. I don't see Lando winning it this weekend. I think it will go to wire.

Stephen Taylor

The tyre of choice for these opening moments of first practice in Qatar is the C1 hard compound. The Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg, who has climbed back into the top 10 on 49 points after Vegas, has just jumped to the top of the board with a 1:24.225 from the Williams of Carlos Sainz.

Over with the Williams car, Alex Albon needs to change his race helmet, as he tells his pit wall he has some "weird double vision" thing going on with his visor.

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Drivers will need to make at least two pit-stops at the Qatar Grand Prix.

The mandatory two-stop has been imposed after tyre suppliers Pirelli held talks with the teams and governing body FIA regarding driver safety.

Tyres have been restricted to a maximum length of 25 laps of the Lusail International Circuit.

As the race is 57 laps, it means that one pit-stop must be made, either on or before the 25th lap.

The 19-lap sprint race will be unaffected by the tyre restriction.

Laps to the grid, formation laps, and laps after the chequered flag are not counted in the 25-lap stint regulation, but laps behind the safety car or virtual safety car will.

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The tyres chosen by Pirelli to tackle the high-speed corners and harsh kerbs of the Lusail International Circuit are the C1 (white) as the hard, C2 (yellow) as the medium and the C3 (red) as the soft compound.

With the sprint race on the schedule in Doha, drivers will be given 12 sets of tyres rather than the usual 13: two hard, four medium and six soft. Green intermediates and the blue full wets are also here.

After analysing the tyres used at the 2024 Qatar race, the Italian tyre manufacturer has made a tweak to this weekend's proceedings...

One dress rehearsal and then it's full steam ahead for track action in Doha.

Charles Leclerc has struggled all season with his pass to enter the paddock and Qatar, it seems, is no different.

Here he is squeezing his way through before first practice earlier. Someone sort the poor lad out with a new one.

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BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Harry Benjamin, former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley and BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson are ready to take us through this sole practice session of the Qatar weekend, so click the 'listen live' tab at the top of the page to tune in.

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Max Verstappen was 104 points off the top of the standings after his home race at Zandvoort three months ago but he's walking into the Qatar paddock this weekend still third in the championship, granted, but now level on points with that day's race winner Oscar Piastri and only 24 behind the other McLaren of Lando Norris. So, is there a chance of a fifth title this year?

"It's closer. Ideally, I would love to have it a bit closer. We will try our best, go all in, and hopefully we can make it exciting the end," said the Dutchman on Thursday.

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For Piastri, it's been a trying few months since that controlled victory in the Netherlands at the end of the summer. The Australian has been absent from the podium since Monza but the dream of his own maiden title hasn't been put to bed just yet.

"There's still a chance," he said, "and it's played out that way a couple of times before. So, I know it's not impossible.

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Lando Norris is in a Zen-like state before his potential date with destiny this weekend. "I feel as relaxed as I was before when I was 35 points behind the lead and I feel the same when I'm 24 points ahead," he said on Thursday. "That's my strength for now."

Five podiums (would've been six but for Vegas) including back-to-back wins in Brazil and Mexico since his disappointment at Zandvoort has lifted Norris above McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri at the crucial stage in the campaign. But the form of Max Verstappen has also caught the eye and now the Dutchman is less than a race win behind Norris after being way off the pace earlier in the season.

"How I am now feels the same as before Mexico when I wasn't leading. It feels the same as Austin when I still felt good in the car, but Max still won the race," Norris added.

"I really don't feel any different in the car from before I was leading to now when I'm leading."

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

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McLaren say the problem that caused the disqualification of both their cars from the Las Vegas Grand Prix was a concern from the beginning of the race.

Team principal Andrea Stella said McLaren did "not believe we took excessive risk with the ride-height" and that the team had "added a safety margin" intended to limit skid wear in qualifying and race.

He said the team noticed an aerodynamic phenomenon known as "porpoising", where a car bounces up and down into the ground, "from the early laps of the race".

"It was clear from the data that the level of unexpected porpoising would be a concern," Stella said.

"We realised relatively soon that this level of porpoising was causing a high level of skid-wear energy and this is the reason why both drivers started to take remedial actions in various parts of the circuit."

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Yes he can. What he can't do, however, is win it during Saturday's sprint race.

There are a maximum of 58 points available in the final two grands prix, 33 of them in Qatar.

Even if Lando Norris won the sprint (eight points) and Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen failed to score, his title lead would be 32 points with 50 points left to play for.

To seal his maiden crown during Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix, he would need to score two more points than both drivers over the course of the weekend.

A double podium for second-placed Mercedes in Vegas following McLaren's disqualification moves them 40 points clear of Red Bull in third in the constructors' championship, while Ferrari are now 13 points adrift of Red Bull after Max Verstappen's sixth win of the season.

In the midfield fight, Racing Bulls and Haas were both in the points last weekend and have added to their championship tally, with Haas jumping above Aston Martin to take seventh place.

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The disqualification in Sin City has probably jangled the nerves of Lando Norris slightly but he still occupies the best seat in the house in the drivers' championship.

With McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri now level on points with four-time title winner Max Verstappen, Norris is 24 points clear of the pair heading into this weekend's sprint and main race.

The 26-year-old took maximum points at the fifth sprint in Sao Paulo earlier this month, so a repeat of that performance would crown him champion on Sunday.

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Lorraine McKenna
BBC Sport Journalist

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Hello, folks. Is this the weekend a new world champion is crowned? Or will the fight go down to the wire next week in Abu Dhabi? There are a maximum of 33 points available at the penultimate race - and final sprint event - at this weekend's Qatar Grand Prix and Lando Norris is in the best spot to secure his maiden F1 title on Sunday.

First (and only) practice gets under way at 13:30 GMT.

After that, it's straight into sprint qualifying at 17:30 GMT.

We left off in Las Vegas with both Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri disqualified from second and fourth place respectively after the grand prix for excessive skid-block wear. Winner Max Verstappen is firmly in the fight for his fifth consecutive championship but it's Briton Norris who holds a 24-point advatnage in the standings with two race weekends to go.