00:02Magnussen goes to P7. HĂĽlkenberg is 19th. Let's see for how much longer he goes to 8th.
00:08Perez 15th and he's barely improving. He's having a difficult lap, Checo.
00:12Alonso knocks out Perez as it stands. Lawson's down there. So are the Williams pair of Albon,
00:19Colopinto and then there's Joe Guanyu in 19th place.
00:23Chequered flag is out. Perez finds a lap to take him into 13th.
00:28Lawson immediately goes ahead though. Checo's going to be in trouble.
00:33Ocon now into the drop zone because Valtteri Bottas has gone to 7th. Bottas has come alive.
00:39The Williams of Alexander Albon still attacking the racetrack at the final corner.
00:44Tsunoda's in the drop zone but he's got time up at the moment compared to Perez.
00:50Albon finds a time that knocks out Sergio Perez. Hamilton goes to 4th.
00:54Joe Guanyu, he's seen what his teammate can do. Can he find his way through? He can find his way
00:59to 19th.
01:00Right. Question is, will it be Yuki Tsunoda or Alex Albon? Let's find out across the line.
01:06Yuki Tsunoda falls short and it's Perez, Tsunoda, Ocon, Joe and Colopinto as Albon makes it through into the next
01:15part of sprint qualifying.
01:18Fernando Alonso trying to find his way into the top 10. Alonso has not had the easiest time in the
01:24last three sprint qualifying sessions.
01:26He hasn't been inside the top 10 shootout in SQ3. Trying to change that now with a lap time that's
01:31good enough for ninth position.
01:33Gasly, Albon, Lawson, Bottas and Magnussen are all on for personal bests.
01:38Magnussen's first sector is not great. He's not got a time on the board in this one and he's going
01:42to have to do something special at the end of the lap to get through.
01:45Here's the checkered flag for Alex Albon across the line and across the line to 10th position.
01:51He's done all he can to eliminate Lance Stroll. And then are we going to see any improvement further back?
01:57Lawson finds eighth position.
01:59What about Bottas? Only 12th for Bottas, but that's much better than the rest of the season.
02:03HĂĽlkenberg is in eighth. What does Magnussen do? No time on the board. He's changed that, but it's still 15th.
02:09And then we throw it over to Gasly as Hamilton goes to fourth. Can Gasly get on terms with Fernando
02:17Alonso?
02:18He can and he'll eliminate Alonso with a lap at the last. Gasly gets to ninth.
02:24Alonso still won't make Q3 for the fourth sprint in a row and he's missed out by four hundredths of
02:31a second. Tight margins again.
02:33Alonso, Albon, Bottas, Stroll and Magnussen are five to four.
02:40Here we go round the final corner of the racetrack. Lando Norris looking good.
02:45Hamilton's done the fastest first sector of anyone so far. Norris blitzes Charles Leclerc's time.
02:50Oscar Piastri trying to do what he did one year ago and start the sprint from the front.
02:55He's second at the moment. Tenth and a half back. Verstappen still pushing on.
02:59The sole remaining Red Bull in this sprint qualifying session currently down to eighth.
03:04Scrap that. He's back up to P3 with the fastest final sector of the entire session.
03:09George Russell takes third position. What can Hamilton do? We join him on board.
03:14He's super quick through the first part of the lap, Lewis Hamilton. The middle part's less good.
03:18And it's fifth when you add it all together. Two and a half minutes to go. McLaren won two.
03:23Russell in third. Then Verstappen. And Hamilton fourth and fifth.
03:29Norris is away from his own pace in the first sector and he's not finding a lot in the middle.
03:33It's Oscar Piastri that might think about sneaking this one away from him.
03:36Into the final 30 seconds we will go. Hulkenberg aiming for Gasly and Lawson and he gets the pair of
03:44them.
03:44Hulkenberg to seventh position. Still yet to see a competitive time when it comes to Sainz who's rooted down in
03:51tenth position.
03:52Norris is not improving in the first or second parts of the lap.
03:56Piastri had incredible pace through the first sector. But will he have the time when you add it all together?
04:02He's leaning on the car through the final corner. The man on sprint pole here last year goes over the
04:08line and just misses out.
04:10No improvement on that second run. The chequered flag is out. And can Verstappen get himself ahead of George Russell?
04:16It looks like the McLarens are too far away.
04:19Russell is on a belter of a lap though through two sectors. He's right there within a tenth of Norris.
04:23Personal best for George Russell sector one and sector two. Russell coming off the back of that career best victory
04:30in Vegas is still contending.
04:33Verstappen gave it everything with the fastest final sector of the entire session. What can Russell do?
04:38He brings the silver arrow across the line and he goes to second. He finds a brilliant improvement at the
04:44end to take his place on the front row.
04:46Here's Lewis Hamilton across the line. No improvement for him. Russell finds a lap at the very end.
04:53And you have a Ferrari in sixth. A Ferrari in tenth. And it is George Russell interrupting the McLaren party.
05:00He's put a Mercedes on the front row as Sainz goes to fourth. And Charles Leclerc goes to fifth.
05:06Max Verstappen dropping down to sixth place. Here's Gasly over the line to go ahead of Lawson and HĂĽlkenberg and
05:12take P8.
05:13But it's Lando Norris out front who's delivered. The driver in the pits will start the final sprint of the
05:20season from the front.
05:22He delivers P1 in Qatar. Norris, Russell, Piastri, then Sainz and Leclerc.
05:29Our top ten rounded out by Verstappen, Hamilton and then Gasly, HĂĽlkenberg and Lawson.
05:36Well, it's been an excellent performance for McLaren. First and third. But Lando Norris had the overall pace.
05:43And he will lead the field away for our final sprint race of the year.
05:48At?
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