Verstappen on pole in Qatar for possible championship parade

Max Verstappen took pole position in Qatar Grand Prix Qualifying for what could be a title parade on Sunday if the Red Bull driver secures his third consecutive Formula One championship the day before.

The 26-year-old Dutchman only needs three points to win the championship, and he can get them if he finishes sixth or higher in a standalone sprint on Saturday.

The Dutchman was so relaxed and confident in his time that he only did one lap in the final phase and still finished 0.441 seconds faster than Mercedes' George Russell, who will start alongside him on the front row.

If the qualifying session lacked some of the usual tension due to the sprint format, it added an element of chaos with a string of laps deleted for exceeding track limits and drivers reporting to the stewards for other potential violations.

Sergio Perez, Verstappen's Mexican teammate and the only other driver still mathematically in contention for the title but 177 points behind, was one casualty. He will start 13th on the grid after his fastest effort in the second phase of the evening session under floodlights was deleted.

Lando Norris qualified on the front row for McLaren but had his best lap deleted for exceeding track limits, dropping him to 10th. Russell moved up to second, with Lewis Hamilton moving up to third after McLaren's Oscar Piastri dropped to sixth after exceeding track limits as well.

The only non-Red Bull winner of the season, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, went out with Perez in the second stage qualifying 12th, with Hamilton quickest in the second stage of qualifying. Sainz had nearly collided with Verstappen earlier in the race as the two battled for track position, with the Dutch driver complaining on the team radio and stewards investigating the incident.

Verstappen had taken the lead in the first phase, with Norris close behind.

Williams' Logan Sargeant's hopes of advancing to stage two were dashed in the final seconds when teammate Alex Albon went faster to maintain his perfect qualifying record against the American. Lance Stroll also failed at the first hurdle, with a time that was more than a second slower than teammate Fernando Alonso's.

After the demotions, Alonso qualified fourth, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc fifth.

SportsLigue