Qatar Grand Prix: Piastri leads in practice

      Clear. Dry. Air +26...25°C, track +34...33°C

      The round in Qatar was the second in a series of three consecutive races and the penultimate event on the 2025 calendar. The fierce fight for the title continued — everyone wanted to improve their position at the end of the season, especially since a weekend with a Saturday sprint gives two opportunities to score points. There was only one Friday practice, so the track was not empty.

      Teams had long since finished developing their cars, adjusting the configuration for the desert circuit, but the stiffest compounds C1, C2 and C3 were used rarely, especially C1 — everyone put it on at the start of the session.

      The Qatar circuit is used rarely; at the start of the weekend the asphalt was covered in sand and the Hard tyres lacked grip — almost everyone ran off the track. The wide run-off areas prevented consequences, but in the sprint qualifying, which will take place in a few hours, such laps will be deleted.

      Verstappen complained about problems with the front-left wheel, Leclerc about the steering and poor balance, Russell about high cockpit temperatures.

      Midway through the session an engineer suddenly told Tsunoda that Bottas was catching him, repeating the Finn’s surname twice. “I didn’t even know he’s racing now,” Yuki replied. The director immediately showed a surprised Valtteri watching the action in the Mercedes garages. It was amusing.

      For most of the session teams worked on the Hard tyres; only in the final 15 minutes did the drivers start switching to the Soft to prepare for qualifying.

      On Hards Russell was fastest — 1:22.165; on Softs speeds rose and the track got a bit cleaner — Piastri set the best time — 1:20.924.

      Practice results

      Driver

      Team

      Time

      Gap

      Laps

      1. O. Piastri

      McLaren

      1:20.924

      -

      29

      2. L. Norris

      McLaren

      1:20.982

      +0.058

      28

      3. F. Alonso

      Aston Martin

      1:21.310

      +0.386

      26

      4. C. Sainz

      Williams

      1:21.404

      +0.480

      20

      5. A. Hadjar

      Racing Bulls

      1:21.503

      +0.579

      30

      6. M. Verstappen

      Red Bull

      1:21.504

      +0.580

      27

      7. A. Albon

      Williams

      1:21.609

      +0.685

      29

      8. C. Leclerc

      Ferrari

      1:21.668

      +0.744

      31

      9. L. Stroll

      Aston Martin

      1:21.669

      +0.745

      26

      10. K. Antonelli

      Mercedes

      1:21.698

      +0.774

      32

      11. N. Hülkenberg

      Sauber

      1:21.783

      +0.859

      23

      12. L. Hamilton

      Ferrari

      1:21.794

      +0.870

      28

      13. Y. Tsunoda

      Red Bull

      1:21.796

      +0.872

      28

      14. D. Russell

      Mercedes

      1:21.824

      +0.900

      33

      15. O. Berman

      Haas

      1:21.926

      +1.002

      26

      16. G. Bortoleto

      Sauber

      1:21.926

      +1.002

      29

      17. E. Ocon

      Haas

      1:22.096

      +1.172

      30

      18. P. Gasly

      Alpine

      1:22.424

      +1.500

      25

      19. L. Lawson

      Racing Bulls

      1:22.562

      +1.638

      30

      20. F. Colapinto

      Alpine

      1:23.529

      +2.605

      26