Piastri keeps pressure on Norris by taking pole in Qatar

McLaren's Oscar Piastri will start from P1 for Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix after posting the quickest time during Saturday's qualifying session at the Lusail International Circuit.

Piastri, who went almost three months without a pole position, also won the sprint race earlier Saturday to cut teammate and championship rival Lando Norris' lead to 22 points in the battle for the drivers' title with two races left.

"I think I've gained ... a lot of confidence back that when things are in the right place and when I'm in the rhythm that things can happen without needing to do anything special," Piastri said, according to Andrew Benson of BBC. "So, I'm confident we can try and do the same tomorrow, and ready for the fight."

Norris can secure his first Formula 1 title by winning Sunday's main event or by outscoring Piastri by at least four points.

"I was confident today that I could have been on pole, but I'm not," Norris said. "That of course makes it a worse feeling. But Oscar did a good job, so I can't take anything away from the fact that he's driven well all weekend."

Meanwhile, Red Bull's Max Verstappen has to beat Norris in Qatar to keep his hopes of winning a fifth straight championship alive.

The driver with the most race wins will earn the title if there is a tie for the points lead. The second tiebreaker is runner-up finishes.

Norris and Piastri have each won seven races this season, while Verstappen has won six.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton had another tough qualifying session and will start 18th.

Hamilton now has more Q1 eliminations (three) than Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso (two) this season.