The Formula One Qatar Grand Prix got underway on Friday at the Lusail International Circuit outside of Doha, Qatar. The race on the 5.419km circuit is the second for F1 at Qatar with the inaugural Grand Prix occurring in 2021.

This weekend F1 will use the Sprint format for the fourth time this season. In the format, Friday consists of a practice session and then the qualifying session for Sunday's Grand Prix. Saturday's format includes qualifying for a Saturday night Sprint race (the Shootout) and then the Sprint race itself in which teams can gain points.

There are two more sprint events to come before the end of the season: the United States Grand Prix in Austin and the São Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen qualified on the pole for Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix, completing the circuit almost a half second quicker than the Silver Arrow of Mercedes Racing's George Russell and over a half-second faster than Russell's teammate, Lewis Hamilton.

"We're very pleased with P2 and P3 on the grid for Sunday. Especially after a tough weekend in Japan. Of course we benefited from McLaren's misfortune," said Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director. "However, neither George or Lewis lost a lap to track limits throughout the entire qualifying session and that is important. We have to give them credit for keeping it clean."

McLaren's Lando Norris had the second quickest lap time of the session deleted for exceeding track limits.

Fernando Alonzo will start his Aston Martin behind Russell on the outside of Row Two. Row Three is comprised of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in P5 and McLaren's red-hot rookie driver, Oscar Piastri, in P6.

The Alpine's of Pierre Gasly (P7) and Esteban Ocon (P8) make Row Four.

"I am very happy to be back in Q3. Right from the start of the day, I have had a good feeling with the car and felt in a good place where I feel I could push the car to the limit straight away," said Gasly. "I put in a strong lap in Q2, same in Q3 and in the end it's put us in a solid spot on the grid for Sunday."

For the 7th time this season, Red Bull's Sergio Perez, who is second in points, failed to get out of Q2 due to a deleted lap time which would have put the Mexican native into the final qualifying session. Perez will start 13th on Sunday which makes it that much easier for his Red Bull teammate to clinch the World Championship at Qatar this weekend. There is a possibility Verstappen could, in fact, clinch the title on Saturday.

For the Qatar Grand Prix, teams will have C1 as P Zero White hard, C2 as P Zero Yellow medium, and C3 as P Zero Red soft; the hardest compounds Pirelli offers.

"In terms of severity, Losail is a very challenging circuit for tyres, similar to Silverstone and Suzuka. So it's no coincidence that the compounds chosen are the same: C1, C2, and C3," said Pirelli's Mario Isola.

Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Verstappen	Red Bull	1:23.778	144.695 mph
2	Russell		Mercedes	1:24.219	0.441
3	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:24.305	0.527
4	Alonso		Aston Martin	1:24.369	0.591
5	Leclerc		Ferrari		1:24.424	0.646
6	Piastri		McLaren		1:24.540	0.762
7	Gasly		Alpine		1:24.553	0.775
8	Ocon		Alpine		1:24.763	0.985
9	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	1:25.058	1.280
10	Norris		McLaren		No Time		-
11	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1:25.301	-
12	Sainz		Ferrari		1:25.328	-
13	Perez		Red Bull	1:25.462	-
14	Albon		Williams	1:25.707	-
15	Hulkenberg	Haas		1:25.783	-
16	Sargeant	Williams	1:26.210	-
17	Stroll		Aston Martin	1:26.345	-
18	Lawson		AlphaTauri	1:26.635	-
19	Magnussen	Haas		1:27.046	-
20	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	1:27.432	-

Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Verstappen	Red Bull	1:27.428	138.654 mph
2	Sainz		Ferrari		1:27.762	0.334
3	Leclerc		Ferrari		1:27.909	0.481
4	Alonso		Aston Martin	1:27.919	0.491
5	Perez		Red Bull	1:28.016	0.588
6	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1:28.027	0.599
7	Hulkenberg	Haas		1:28.171	0.743
8	Russell		Mercedes	1:28.336	0.908
9	Piastri		McLaren		1:28.380	0.952
10	Norris		McLaren		1:28.441	1.013
11	Sargeant	Williams	1:28.550	1.122
12	Albon		Williams	1:28.590	1.162
13	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:28.679	1.251
14	Stroll		Aston Martin	1:28.690	1.262
15	Ocon		Alpine		1:28.732	1.304
16	Gasly		Alpine		1:28.821	1.393
17	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	1:29.041	1.613
18	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	1:29.106	1.678
19	Lawson		AlphaTauri	1:29.238	1.810
20	Magnussen	Haas		1:29.502	2.074

(image provided by Alfa Romeo F1 Team KICK)