Hamilton on pole in Qatar as threat of penalty looms over Verstappen
Lewis Hamilton will start the Qatar Grand Prix on pole next to rival Max Verstappen, as potential penalties hang over the championship battle.
Lewis Hamilton secures pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix. (LAT Images)
Hamilton set the fastest lap on his second run in Q3 with a time of 1:20.827s, just under half a second ahead of Verstappen.
"I'm very happy with that qualifying session," said Hamilton.
Yesterday was difficult for me, I wasn't feeling well on Thursday or Friday and then struggled in practice."
"So, I had to dig deep, I was here late last night working with the engineers and we found a lot of areas to improve."
"I felt fantastic today and slept very well last night, which made a big difference."
"We made some changes for FP3 and it seemed to work, and I was able to carry that into qualifying."
"That last lap was just beautiful, this track is amazing to drive and very fast, all medium and high-speed corners."
Lewis Hamilton celebrates pole position in Qatar. (LAT Images)
Verstappen leads the championship and will start the race next to Hamilton on the front row of the Losail International Circuit.
"It's been a bit of an up and down weekend so far," said Verstappen.
"I was happy in quali but just not quick enough."
"I thought I had quite a decent lap but then heard the gap difference and I was a bit shocked, it's been really difficult to match them."
"In a way I'm happy to be second but the gap to Lewis is very big."
"Qualifying has been more of a struggle for us over the past few races so we definitely need to have a look into it."
Max Verstappen and Red Bull team boss Christian Horner after qualifying in Qatar. (Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool)
Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas will play rear-gunner to Hamilton after qualifying in third, while Verstappen's Red Bull stablemate Sergio Perez will start down in eleventh.
The threat of penalties looms large over the starting order for Sunday's Grand Prix, with Verstappen, Bottas, and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz all called to the stewards.
Pierre Gasly damaged his front wing and punctured his front-right tyre on a hot lap during qualifying, slowing to a stop on the main straight.
Double-waved yellows were displayed on a light panel at the final corner, with Verstappen, Bottas, and Sainz all under investigation for failing to slow down.
Verstappen is alleged to have past the board without slowing while it displayed double-waved yellow flags, while Bottas and Sainz are accused of passing a single yellow flag.
