2025 Qatar Grand Prix – McLAREN Sprint Qualifying Report "A great start to the weekend"

Lusail International Circuit, Friday, 28 November

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Team Principal Andrea Stella, after Sprint Qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix.

Oscar quote banner
FP1 1m20.924s 29 laps 1st
SQ1 1m21.286s (Medium)   3rd
SQ2 1m21.005s (Medium)   2nd
SQ3 1m20.055s (Soft)   1st

"A great start to the weekend. The car felt very good throughout all of Sprint Qualifying, so thank you to the team. The pace has been there all day, so it was good to be able to put it together. We’ll review overnight to see what we can do to make sure we finish at the front in the Sprint tomorrow and set ourselves up properly for Qualifying."

Lando quote banner
FP1 1m20.982s (+0.058s) 28 laps 2nd
SQ1 1m21.398s (Medium)   5th
SQ2 1m20.956s (Medium)   1st
SQ3 1m20.285s (Soft)   3rd

“A frustrating Sprint Qualifying session. The pace was there, but I didn’t get a proper chance to show it. I made a mistake on the first lap, and my second lap was compromised when Alex [Albon] got ahead. We’ll see what we can do from P3 tomorrow, as always, we’ll go out and fight for the win. It can be tricky to pass here, but that’s exactly what I’ll try to do."

Andrea Stella

"The weekend got off to a good start, with Oscar starting from Pole position in the Sprint and Lando in third position. The most important thing is that the car has proven to be fast on this track, and we know where we can still improve performance. This is only the first step and there is still a long way to go, starting with tomorrow afternoon's Sprint."