The newly-crowned four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen clinched his first pole position since the Austrian Grand Prix, but a one-place grid drop will see George Russell inherit the first starting position at today's Qatari F1 round. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo delivers teams' reactions after the nail-biting qualifying session at the Qatar Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen finished eighth in the sprint which has been his worst ever result in the short race format, but the Dutch driver bounced back with a sensational turnaround in qualifying to secure pole position for today's Qatar Grand Prix, beating Russell right at the end by, just 55 thousandths of a second.

However, the Red Bull driver was later given a one place grid penalty for having been deemed by the Stewards to have driven unnecessarily slowly on a cool down lap in Q3. Max therefore stays on the front row, but it’s Russell who will start from pole.

Red Bull

“I am very happy with how we turned it around today. The Sprint was quite shocking, we had a lot of oversteer and struggled with the balance throughout and couldn’t fight at all. We changed the car but we also surprised ourselves with the turnaround and the performance in Qualifying.

"It felt much better and the car felt more consistent, once we were in a better window I could drive more on the limit. I’m very pleased, it has been a while since we’ve been on Pole. I am very proud of everyone to make those changes and to be in this position. Tomorrow we are in the fight and hopefully will have a bit of fun on track as well."

“Looking ahead to the rest of the weekend and to understand what to do with both cars, we decided to take my car out of parc ferme for the Sprint. That was to prioritise trying some different set-ups and take learnings, it compromised our Sprint but ultimately was beneficial for Qualifying and hopefully the race.

"We made some good improvements, the main thing has been the tyre and the first sector was still on the difficult side, but it was a good step from where we were earlier. The pace was a lot better in Qualifying and the main thing is we found the balance. The main race is tomorrow, I am hopeful we will have good pace, we are looking better on the long runs, and I think it is coming to us.

"The target will be to go with the leaders and try to get through the field, I think we can be competitive. I think we have made some good progress today and that’s really positive.”

Mercedes

"It was a pretty straight forward session for us in qualifying, the car was feeling decent and we were able to fix the bouncing. The tyres and the grip of the track was feeling great, this track is amazing.

"My last lap in qualifying unfortunately wasn’t great, I had the car snapping away from me which meant I lost time and couldn’t improve higher than P6. I was giving it everything and was generally feeling good but didn’t improve when I crossed the line.

"Tomorrow I’m hoping for a good race, this track is great to drive so it should be an exciting race. I’m hoping the car will be in a better place tomorrow and we’ll be able to make some improvements.

"Unfortunately, today in the sprint all of the top Teams were really quick and it was hard to overtake but ’ll be giving it my all in the race tomorrow."

"Today has been a great day, it’s good to be in this groove at the moment with four front row starts. My first Q3 lap was really strong and I was pleased with it but unfortunately I wasn’t able to improve on my final lap. This was mainly due to the scrappy out lap I had with the near miss with Max that meant I ended up in the gravel so that didn’t help prep wise ahead of my final push lap. I’m still really pleased with P2, I’m taking all the positives and I’m feeling great in the car.

"It’s going to be exciting tomorrow as the top four teams are very close. Starting on the right side of the track does seem to have a slight disadvantage, which we saw earlier on in the Sprint Race for the majority starting on this side of the track, which meant I couldn’t fight with Lando.

"I’m hoping tomorrow we’ll be able to fight with Max and stay ahead of those behind us, our race pace this morning looked good and the tyres seem resilient so I’m hoping we don’t end up in another DRS train and we can have some fun. There’s a lot of possibilities to do something different, I’m looking forward to it."

McLaren

Lando Norris – Sprint: 2nd, Qualifying: 3rd, 1:20.772
"Third isn’t the position we were hoping for after yesterday’s Sprint Quali, but it was the maximum we could do today. I’m happy with the lap but not happy with the result, we just weren’t quick enough compared to the competition.

“There’s not a lot in it between all of us, which gives me hope we can go forward tomorrow. But at the same time, there are some quick cars behind. My race pace looked good in the Sprint, but I expect a tougher race tomorrow. We’ll work hard overnight to put ourselves in the best position to challenge at the front.”

Oscar Piastri – Sprint: 1st, Qualifying: 4th, 1:20.829
"After a really strong Sprint, we maximised what we could do this afternoon. I was happy with my lap, it felt good, we just didn’t have the pace. We’re still in a good spot, and being ahead of the Ferraris is helpful in our Championship run. Thank you to the team for their work today, it’s going to be a long race tomorrow, so let’s see what we can do.”

Ferrari

Charles Leclerc – Sprint: 5th, Qualifying: 5th, 1:20.852
"The Sprint Race confirmed that qualifying is crucial here. We had one opportunity to pass Lewis (Hamilton), but it was on the limit and one really has to take a risk to overtake on this track, especially as the DRS zone is short.

"P5 was the best we could do in qualifying. I am happy with my lap and there was just nothing more to extract from our car today. The two McLarens are right in front of us, so we will need a good race start and a solid few laps to try and pass one of them and then put pressure on the other.

"I am quite confident that the car will be stronger in the race, at the same time, I expect a difficult race. If we have the opportunity to show our pace in free air, we will do it."

"Today has proven again that this track is complicated for us. Milliseconds have separated us from a better result and a slipstream on the last run could have helped, but overall, it is what it is.

"However, I think our race pace is stronger and, even though overtaking here is far from easy, I’m confident we can fight for some solid points tomorrow! The weekend is not over, we need to stay fully focused during the race and be prepared to grab any opportunity."

Aston Martin

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the qualifying action from Qatar as Verstappen sensationally beats Russell and Norris to pole

"I am happy we made it into Q3 in tonight's Qualifying session and the car felt better than any other session of the weekend. We couldn't make any progress in the Sprint but we made some set-up changes after this and it all seems to be working as expected.

"The team did a good job with this and also managing all of the traffic during a busy Qualifying session. It's a good starting position tomorrow and it's hard to overtake here, so hopefully we can translate this performance into the race."

"I had a big snap at Turn 1 on my final Q2 lap and lost about half a second. I don't think the tyres were in quite the right window at the start of the lap because the grip just wasn't there for me, so that was the end of my hopes of progressing to Q3. In hindsight, we should have done a much harder out lap.

"The car was feeling more competitive in Qualifying after a few set-up changes after the Sprint, so although it was tight out there, I think more was possible. The race is usually tougher for us given our car is quite hard on tyres, but we'll see how we go tomorrow."

Haas

“It’s a nice feeling to get points already on a Saturday, which is not a normal, or a given for us, so we’ll definitely take them. It was a competitive race, the pace was strong and solid, and it was good to be able to keep that Red Bull behind. In qualifying there was a technical issue regarding energy management around the lap – we didn’t have full deployment.

"We didn’t have full energy on the push lap which is very costly around here, so that’s why we’re out in Q1. We’ll try to make progress and recover as much as possible but racing and overtaking here is very difficult. You’ve seen this morning racing is quite static, but we’ll give it our best shot tomorrow.”

“I think it was almost the best we could’ve done in the Sprint, I think we could’ve got Gasly but it was marginal. I got DRS but I think our starting position ruined any chance of scoring points, however P10 is close to that. It was good to get into Q3 in qualifying, I’m a little bit annoyed with my mistake into turn 10 as that was that, so there could have been one more position in it.

"I’m still pretty happy with the starting position, it’s a long way tomorrow, so hopefully we can have the pace again like we did in the Sprint and score some points. The important thing is we’ve qualified ahead of Alpine and RB – that’s the target – Gasly is right behind me starting on the clean side of the grid so it’s going to be a tight battle.”

Alpine

“It’s been another busy day here in Qatar. In the Sprint, we did all we could from seventeenth on the grid, making some overtakes to finish fourteenth at the chequered flag. In Qualifying, I felt like I did a clean lap in Q1 with no mistakes but we could not progress through the session.

"Of course, we will aim for a similar race start tomorrow as we did in today’s Sprint and target making up some places. We are sticking together and we will continue our hard work to be ready for the Race.”

“In the end, a day of mixed feelings for us with the Sprint Race and Qualifying. It was extremely tight out there in both sessions. We gave it our all in the Sprint and, finishing ninth, just outside the points, was probably the best we could achieve. Importantly, we learnt a few things ahead of Sunday’s Race. I was not too happy with Qualifying as we missed out on Q3 by just a hundredth of a second.

"We definitely had the pace for the top ten but it was very fine margins out there and we probably could have done a better job in maximising our overall performance. It’s a tough track, very tricky conditions but I think we are well prepared for tomorrow’s Race. We will aim to take the fight to our rivals tomorrow and target some valuable points.”

Kick Sauber

"I am quite satisfied with the team's performance today, both in the Sprint and in Qualifying. It has been some time since we have been in such a favourable position, so that is certainly positive and hopefully something we can turn into a good result. Earlier today, the Sprint itself was not particularly eventful: I made up a place at the start, but things then settled down quickly.

"At the very least, it gives us an indication that hanging on to the cars in front in the race should be possible. I entered Qualifying with quite some confidence: I was hoping to challenge for a place in the top ten, but I found myself less comfortable with the car's balance compared to yesterday, and this impacted my consistency throughout the session. Nevertheless, we are in a strong position as a team to fight for points tomorrow, which is the most important thing."

Zhou Guanyu – Sprint: 19th, Qualifying: 12th, 1:21.501
"Today was a very good day. In fact, I think it was my best qualifying session of the year, and I'm pleased to see once more this new floor is pushing in the right direction. Earlier in the day, we started the Sprint Race on softs to leave us more options in terms of tyre strategy for tomorrow’s race.

"It was obvious that the softs wouldn't work, but nevertheless, we were able to collect valuable data and information. In Qualifying, the team did a good job of providing me with a well-balanced car, which allowed me to deliver a good lap. We still have a job ahead of us: let's focus on tomorrow, give it all we have and do everything we can to score a good result."

RB

“There was a bit of traffic when I started my last lap, and when the margins are hundredths of a second, it’s frustrating. My tyres weren’t quite ready, which compromised the start of my lap. I couldn’t improve on my first lap time, which has put us out of position.

"Tomorrow’s going to be tough, and we struggled in the Sprint today. We’ll work as hard as we can as a Team for tomorrow, and find opportunities on track.”

“It wasn’t an easy day. In terms of performance, I think we were quite similar to yesterday. In Q1 we found traffic and we were on the edge with the lap time, but luckily we managed to get through, and after that, we had a clean Q2 where I felt I gave all with my lap.

"Unfortunately, it just seems we didn’t have enough pace and P14 was pretty much the maximum we could reach today. We’ll look at the data overnight from the Sprint and qualifying to try and understand where we can improve for the race. It won’t be easy tomorrow, but we’ll do as much as we can and will try to maximise everything.”

Williams

"We just weren’t quick enough today and we have been struggling with that all weekend. Teams like Alpine and Stake have been bringing upgrades, so we’ve just fallen a little behind.

"We made some good changes between the Sprint Race and Qualifying, but it wasn’t quite enough; we also got caught out a little bit with wind at the end of our Quali lap. Tomorrow we’ll try to learn and do the best job that we can but it’s not easy to overtake here so we’ll have to see what we can do."

"It didn’t feel very comfortable to drive today and we struggled with the balance in Qualifying which made it very tricky for us. We changed the suspension in Parc Fermé which meant that we hadn’t had the chance to do a low fuel run in this set-up and we paid the price a little bit.

"We also made some changes after the Sprint Race, but maybe it wasn’t quite in the right direction. It’s a pity because the gaps were very tight, but our long run pace yesterday was strong, so we will focus on pushing tomorrow and see how it goes."