Oscar Piastri has emerged as a major challenger to Lando Norris's Formula One championship hopes after claiming pole position in practice for the Qatar Grand Prix.
Norris leads the standings by 24 points from his team-mate and fellow title contender, Oscar Piastri. However, if he can maintain this lead, he will seal the world championship at the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday with a minimum of 26 points to spare.
The Red Bull team is under pressure as their driver Max Verstappen struggled in practice, citing issues with the car's drivability and stating it was "jumping" when changing gears. The Dutchman needs to turn things around if he hopes to mount a late challenge for the title.
Piastri, meanwhile, showed impressive speed on both soft and hard tyres during the session, beating Norris by just 0.058 seconds. His second-fastest lap put him ahead of Norris and even Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.
The McLaren team's struggles with their car are evident in the practice timesheet, which has them in third place overall. Williams' Carlos Sainz was fourth, while Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar took fifth.
Mercedes were off the pace, with Kimi Antonelli in 10th and George Russell in 14th, as Ferrari struggled to find their feet, with Charles Leclerc eighth and Lewis Hamilton 12th.
Norris leads the standings by 24 points from his team-mate and fellow title contender, Oscar Piastri. However, if he can maintain this lead, he will seal the world championship at the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday with a minimum of 26 points to spare.
The Red Bull team is under pressure as their driver Max Verstappen struggled in practice, citing issues with the car's drivability and stating it was "jumping" when changing gears. The Dutchman needs to turn things around if he hopes to mount a late challenge for the title.
Piastri, meanwhile, showed impressive speed on both soft and hard tyres during the session, beating Norris by just 0.058 seconds. His second-fastest lap put him ahead of Norris and even Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.
The McLaren team's struggles with their car are evident in the practice timesheet, which has them in third place overall. Williams' Carlos Sainz was fourth, while Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar took fifth.
Mercedes were off the pace, with Kimi Antonelli in 10th and George Russell in 14th, as Ferrari struggled to find their feet, with Charles Leclerc eighth and Lewis Hamilton 12th.
and Lando Norris is getting a bit nervous lol Norris has that 24 point lead but if he falters Piastri is gonna snatch it away from him in an instant 
. Red Bull's got their work cut out for them with Max Verstappen struggling like crazy 
. I'm so hyped to see what Sunday brings tho 
... I mean, have you seen how Norris is struggling on that soft tyre? He needs to step up his game big time if he wants to win this thing. And Piastri is just making it look easy, like the ultimate dark horse 
... but can he keep it up? The car is all well and good, but practice doesn't make perfect in F1, you know? And then there's Verstappen's drama 
... if he doesn't turn things around, his whole title hopes are going down the drain. The pressure is on for Red Bull, that's for sure 
... and let's not forget about Mercedes and Ferrari, who are basically just trying to salvage what's left of their seasons 
... this one's gonna be a wild ride! 
The F1 championship is heating up! I think Norris needs to focus on maintaining his lead rather than worrying about Piastri's fast lap times. But at the same time, Piastri has shown some impressive skills - that .058 seconds gap is crazy!
Here's a quick diagram of how this could play out: 
but you gotta give it to the mclaren team for being so honest about their car issues, at least they're not sugarcoating things 
also gotta feel bad for mercedes, they were completely off the pace and it's gonna be tough for them to recover 
anyway, can't wait to see what sunday brings! 
. Still, there's always room for improvement and maybe they can get back on track come Sunday.
.
It's gonna be a close one on Sunday, but I think Oscar's got this! 
this is getting intense! so piastri's speed was crazy like he was 0.058 seconds faster than norris 
. And what's going on with Ferrari? They've been so inconsistent lately... 
he's struggling to keep up with piastri and norris, and now the whole red bull team is on edge 
And now Lando Norris has to deal with that extra pressure because of it 
. It's like, come on guys, get your stuff together before Sunday 
!
The competition is insane and it's all about who can adapt the fastest. I mean Oscar Piastri just pulled off that insane pole position at Qatar GP practice 
. Meanwhile, I'm loving the performances from Aston Martin and Williams, they're giving those top teams a run for their money 
. It's all about momentum now, who can keep the pressure on Norris? 
But then again, we all know how that usually goes... Piastri's speed is just too good to ignore, and he's been consistently fast all season. Norris needs a miracle for this one 
. I'm so confused, my head hurts from trying to decide who's gonna take the win