Summary

  • Norris on sprint pole; Russell 2nd; Piastri 3rd

  • Perez out in first session

  • Alonso out in second session

  • Leclerc tops practice ahead of Norris

  • McLaren could win constructors' title in Qatar

  • Verstappen wrapped up fourth title in Las Vegas

  • Get involved #bbcf1

Live Reporting

Gary Rose

  1. Max Verstappen has to put on the brakes in the pit lane as Pierre Gasly whizzes past as he prepares to make his exit from the Red Bull garage.

  2. Final qualifying starts

    Here we go!

    The final part of sprint qualifying is under way as the timer starts from eight minutes.

  3. 'Mercedes in the picture'

    Marc Priestley
    Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Live

    Temperatures are down to 18C and that I think has brought Mercedes into play here. They can bring the tyres alive in these cooler temperatures but others struggle.

    This has brought Mercedes into a picture they probably didn't think they would be a part of here.

  4. A strong showing from Mercedes in that session to suggest they could potentially be a part of the battle towards the top in the top 10 shootout.

  5. IN

    1) Norris

    2) Russell

    3) Piastri

    4) Hamilton

    5) Verstappen

    6) Sainz

    7) Leclerc

    8) Hulkenberg

    9) Gasly

    10) Lawson

  6. OUT

    11) Alonso

    12) Albon

    13) Bottas

    14) Stroll

    15) Magnussen

  7. Second qualifying ends

    Lando Norris finishes quickest in the second part of qualifying for the sprint race.

  8. Fernando Alonso is on the bubble here and Pierre Gasly is improving...

  9. Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon have both dropped into trouble.

  10. Oscar Piastri gets the job done now as he leaps up to third with his latest lap, three tenths off Lando Norris' time.

  11. Lando Norris goes quickest with 1:21.231. That comes after George Russell had briefly gone top of the order with a time that was two tenths slower than Norris' latest effort.

  12. Into the final two minutes and the drivers in trouble are:

    11) Alonso

    12) Stroll

    13) Bottas

    14) Piastri

    15) Magnussen

  13. Incredibly, for the second time in this session we have two drivers setting exact same times, Max Verstappen matching Oscar Piastri's lap, but wait, Piastri's time is deleted for exceeding track limits and he is down to 14th. He will have to improve again.

  14. Slow first laps from both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton and they remain in the elimination zone. They'll need some improves in these final three minutes.

  15. There's no times yet from both Mercedes but they are on fast laps now.

  16. Five minutes to go and it is a good lap by Oscar Piastri as he goes a tenth quicker than Charles Leclerc.

  17. Lando Norris slots into P2 but he's just 0.043s off Charles Leclerc's time.

  18. But Charles Leclerc goes 0.058s quicker with a 1:22.130.

  19. Max Verstappen is up and running with a 1:22.188 to go top of the pile for now.

  20. Second qualifying starts

    Off we go with 10 minutes of the second part of qualifying.

    Max Verstappen gets straight out on the track.