Max Verstappen will begin his quest to win the world championship from third for Saturday’s sprint race in Qatar as Oscar Piastri took a surprise pole position.
Piastri saw off team-mate Lando Norris as McLaren secured a front-row lockout.
Lewis Hamilton was knocked out of Q2 and qualified only 12th in his Mercedes for the 19-lap dash, which gets underway at 8:30pm local time (6:30pm BST).
Verstappen will wrap up his third consecutive title if he finishes sixth or better, or if Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez fails to finish inside the top three in the sprint at the Lusail International Circuit. Perez qualified only eighth on yet another scruffy outing for the struggling Mexican.
Here is everything you need to know.
What is the race schedule?
(All times BST) 2
Saturday 7 October
Sunday 8 October
How can I watch it online and on TV?
The entire race schedule from Qatar will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 and in the UK and Ireland. Sky’s coverage of the race on Sunday starts at 4:30pm (BST).
The weekend’s action will be broadcast on ESPN in the United States.
Free-to-air highlights in the UK will be aired on Channel 4; for the sprint at 9:35pm (BST) on Saturday evening and the grand prix on Sunday night at 11pm.
Sky Sports subscribers can watch all the action in Qatar on the Sky Go app. If you’re not a Sky customer you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass here to watch without a subscription.
F1 returns to Qatar for the first time since the inaugural race in 2021 at Lusail
(Getty Images)
Driver Standings
1) Max Verstappen – 400 points
2) Sergio Perez – 223 points
3) Lewis Hamilton – 190 points
4) Fernando Alonso – 174 points
5) Carlos Sainz – 150 points
6) Charles Leclerc – 135 points
7) Lando Norris – 115 points
8) George Russell – 115 points
9) Oscar Piastri – 57 points
10) Lance Stroll – 47 points
11) Pierre Gasly – 46 points
12) Esteban Ocon – 38 points
13) Alex Albon – 21 points
14) Nico Hulkenberg – 9 points
15) Valtteri Bottas – 6 points
16) Zhou Guanyu – 4 points
17) Yuki Tsunoda – 3 points
18) Kevin Magnussen – 3 points
19) Liam Lawson – 2 points
20) Logan Sargeant – 0 points
21) Nyck de Vries – 0 points
22) Daniel Ricciardo – 0 points
Constructors’ Championship
1) Red Bull – 623 points
2) Mercedes – 305 points
3) Ferrari – 285 points
4) Aston Martin – 221 points
5) McLaren – 172 points
6) Alpine – 84 points
7) Williams – 21 points
8) Haas – 12 points
9) Alfa Romeo – 10 points
10) AlphaTauri – 5 points
What is the 2023 F1 calendar?
ROUND 18 – QATAR (sprint weekend)
Lusail International Circuit, Lusail – 6-8 October
ROUND 19 – UNITED STATES (sprint weekend)
Circuit of the Americas, Austin – 20-22 October
ROUND 20 – MEXICO
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City – 27-29 October
ROUND 21 – BRAZIL (sprint weekend)
Interlagos Circuit, Sao Paulo – 3-5 November
ROUND 22 – LAS VEGAS
Las Vegas Street Circuit – 16-18 November
ROUND 23 – ABU DHABI
Yas Marina Circuit – 24-26 November