Lando Norris secured pole position for the Qatar Sprint race, edging out Mercedes' George Russell by just 0.063 seconds in a thrilling qualifying session at Lusail.

Norris clinched his second Sprint pole of the season despite having only one valid flying lap, after a mistake-laden second attempt in the first sector. The McLaren driver's performance marks a strong comeback following a challenging weekend in Las Vegas.

Russell will start alongside Norris on the front row, matching his best Sprint qualifying result of the year. Oscar Piastri, last year's Qatar Sprint winner, qualified third, 0.159s behind his McLaren teammate.

Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc locked out the third row, followed by Max Verstappen in sixth and Lewis Hamilton in seventh. Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg, and Liam Lawson rounded out the top 10.

Notable performances:

• Fernando Alonso qualified 11th
• Sergio Perez struggled to 16th after a controversial moment with Leclerc
• Williams rookie Franco Colapinto will start from 20th

Full qualifying results:

"It's tough because it's so quick around here," Norris said post-qualifying. "It feels like the quickest circuit of the year — the finals sector feels like you're just hanging on. Great qualifying today, especially to bounce back from where we were last time out in Vegas."

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