Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

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Lando Norris could qualify only third for the sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix on the weekend the McLaren driver could clinch the world title for the first time.

Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri, one of his two championship rivals, took pole, with Mercedes' George Russell second.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen, the other driver in title contention and tied on points 24 behind Norris, had a difficult session and will line up sixth for the sprint.

Norris cannot win the title after the sprint on Saturday, but can in the grand prix on Sunday if he can gain two points on both Piastri and Verstappen.

Piastri had a smooth qualifying for the sprint, fastest on both his flying laps.

Norris, just hundredths behind Piastri on his first lap, ran wide out of the final corner on his second lap and was pipped by Russell.

Read the full report here

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Is this the weekend Oscar Piastri gets his title ambitions back on track? Lando Norris leads his team-mate by 24 points in the championship but the Australian is starting two places higher on the grid - on pole position no less - with George Russell's Mercedes the piggy in the middle of the pair.

Saturday is going to be a big day, so let's all get a good night's sleep and regroup for tomorrow's full schedule.

Who will land the first blow of the weekend? We'll fire up the page at 13:30 GMT for build-up then it's lights out at 14:00.

Qualifying for the main race is at 18:00.

See you on Saturday!

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For the first time in what feels like forever, Max verstappen has been outqualified by a Red Bull team-mate, as Yuki Tsunoda will be starting one place higher than the Dutchman in fifth for the sprint. The gap between the two was just 0.009 seconds.

"Not good," was Verstappen's opening line to Sky Sports after sprint qualifying. "From the first lap, it was really bad bouncing and agressive understeer, which would shift into oversteer in high speeds. Just not what you want. We were locked in and of course we tried to change a few things on the wheel but it never really worked and made it tricky."

He confirmed the team changed his set-up from first practice but added: "Clearly, it wasn't working well in qualifying, so that's something we need to understand.

So, what can he do in the 19-lap race tomorrow? "With this balance, in the sprint at least, it will not be a lot of fun," said Verstappen. "So it will be more about trying to survive, I guess, and then make some changes going into qualifying."

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Lando Norris couldn't grab pole like he did at the previous sprint event in Sao Paulo and Sky Sports asks did he think his lap was comprised because of the tussle with Alex Albon for track position? "Yeah, but that's life," he says.

"I think the pace was there, I just made a mistake in the last corner on my first lap and didn't put it together. Pace was there, just didn't put it together."

On what he can do in tomorrow's race, he adds: "Stupid to not try and win. I'm here to try and win, so I'll see what I can find overnight and see what we can do for tomorrow. It's impossible to overtake, so I think I'm probably going to finish P3. But if I can at least get George [Russell] off the line or something then that's probably the most I can hope for."

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Oscar Piastri has a smile on his face as he chats to Jamie Chadwick after his sprint pole in Qatar. "It's been a good day, which is nice for a change," says the Australian.

"It's been just a day where things have clicked from the start and I think the sprint [qualifying] session went really well. Pretty big moment on my lap but it was just enough on the end. Thanks to the team, great car and we've looked really good this weekend so far, so I'm pretty happy with that.

"At the moment I'm just happy with the result. There are a feew things to try and target but it's nice to be able to say that when you're starting on pole. Looking forward to tomorrow, obviously it's only sprint pole and a few points but I'll take whatever I can get."

"Nice to be back!" said Oscar Piastri after taking pole position for Saturday's 19-lap sprint race. He'll pick up eight points if he can win it tomorrow, which isn't enough to leapfrog team-mate Lando Norris in the standings but it'll certainly give the Australian a boost after a difficult couple of weeks.

11. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)

12. Oliver Bearman (Haas)

13. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)

14. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)

15. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

16. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

17. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)

18. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

19. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

20. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 1:20.055

2. George Russell (Mercedes)

3. Lando Norris (McLaren)

4. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

5. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)

6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

7. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

8. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

10. Alex Albon (Williams)

Yes he can! Oscar Piastri beats George Russell's time by 0.032 seconds.

George Russell sweeps through and takes pole away from Oscar Piastri but can the McLaren man steal it back?

Oscar Piastri is on provisional pole, as Lando Norris is a bit too close to the Williams of Alex Albon on his latest run. Yuki Tsunoda oes to P3, which is now P4, as Fernando Alonso jumps onto the second row.

Max Verstappen and his engineer GP are having a long discussion on the team radio. Red Bull don't want the Dutchman to give up track position for this run but Verstappen needs to get across his frustrations with his car, particularly around Turns Two and Four.

The McLarens are on the pace this weekend and it's first blood to Oscar Piastri, who banks a 1:20.241 to go top of the timesheets. Lando Norris slips into second, just 0.044 seconds behind.

Max Verstappen had his lap time deleted after an off at Turn Four. The Dutchman will need to reset and go again.

George Russell is purple in the first sector while his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli is quickest in the middle sector. The Italian rookie goes top first but is pushed down to second by Russell, who clocks a 1:20.528.

Max Verstappen is furious on the Red Bull radio, complaining his car is bouncing all over the place.

So, we've got two Mercedes, two Red Bulls, two McLarens, two Williams, one Ferrari and one Aston Martin. Who is taking sprint pole? Place your bets now.

Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen were the top three drivers in SQ2.

Time to ditch the mediums now and change onto a fresh set of soft tyres.

Eight minutes on the clock, please.

Fernando Alonso has been wagging his Spanish finger at the traffic situation down at Turn One. He's through to the sprint shootout, though, so it's all good.

Isack Hadjar was told he was through to SQ3 before his engineer quickly corrected himself to say he had been knocked out. The Frenchman was shocked and let out a little sweary word on the radio.