A massive F1 Sprint Shootout for McLaren at the Qatar Grand Prix

McLaren locks out the front row for the F1 Sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix

Friday was a bitter day for McLaren during qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix.

Saturday’s F1 Sprint Shootout was a much different story.

A day after both drivers saw lap times get deleted for exceeding track limits — dropping Lando Norris out of second place and Oscar Piastri out of third — the two took to the track for the F1 Sprint Shootout to set the grid for the F1 Sprint race later in the day.

And topped the field.

Piastri took pole position for the F1 Sprint race, followed by Norris. The qualifying session came down to the final corner, as Piastri had just posted the provisional pole. but Norris was finishing his final lap. Norris was already locked into second place, but was pushing hard for pole.

But when his McLaren slid off the track at the final corner, it guaranteed pole position for Piastri. Norris will still start beside him, as McLaren managed to lock out the front row.

Max Verstappen, who just needs three points from the F1 Sprint race — or at any point over the final six races of the season — to clinch the Drivers’ Championship will start third.

Piastri’s trackside interview with Naomi Schiff was much different than yesterday, as it was Schiff who informed him that his lap time had been deleted on Friday, dropping him from third to sixth. “Very very happy ... was a pretty good lap,” said the driver.

“We’ll see ... Max is starting third, he’s not a million miles away,” said Piastri when asked if McLaren can deliver a win in the Sprint race.

Norris, however, was rather frustrated for the second-straight day.

“Should have been pole yesterday, should have been pole today, but I’m not,” lamented Norris in an interview with Lawrence Barretto following Saturday’s qualifying session.

The front row lockout for McLaren was not the only surprise from the F1 Sprint Shootout. Lance Stroll suffered another difficult qualifying session, as he failed to advance to SQ2, the second time in two days he was eliminated in the first qualifying session.

Then there was Lewis Hamilton, who failed to advance to SQ3 after his best time in SQ2 was deleted for exceeding track limits. The Mercedes driver will start the F1 Sprint in P12.

“Balance was completely off,” admitted Hamilton in an interview with Barretto following qualifying Saturday.

In a way, the finish might be bittersweet for McLaren, who showed Friday they had a result like this in them, but both Norris and Piastri had lap times deleted. They were not the only drivers to see lap times deleted, and that led to race officials making a number of changes to the track overnight, including expanding track limits at Turns 12 and 13.

Still, with the front row lockout McLaren has a chance to bank a solid amount of points, which would be critical in their fight to catch Aston Martin in the fight for fourth in the Constructors’ Championship. This is a team that scored just 17 points over the first six races of the season. Since then the team has added 155 points in the 16 points since then to join the fight at the top of the table.

A one-two finish later today would give them another 15 points in that fight.