Leclerc Leads Qatar Practice Session Ahead of Norris

Coverage of the Qatar Grand Prix is available on 5 Live and the BBC Sport website. During practice at the Qatar Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc of Ferrari outpaced Lando Norris of McLaren. Leclerc finished 0.425 seconds faster than Norris. The two teams currently contending for the constructors’ championship secured the top four spots in this sole practice session, which precedes sprint qualifying scheduled for later on Friday. Oscar Piastri, also from McLaren, recorded the third-fastest time, trailing Leclerc by 0.472 seconds, while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz placed fourth. Max Verstappen, who recently secured his fourth world title last weekend in Las Vegas, managed only the 11th-fastest time. This was attributed to an error on his quickest lap, causing him to run wide. Yuki Tsunoda of RB and Valtteri Bottas of Sauber claimed fifth and sixth positions, respectively, ahead of Lance Stroll from Aston Martin. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, both driving for Mercedes, finished in eighth and 10th positions, with Williams’ Alex Albon separating them. Several drivers extended beyond the track limits over the kerbs, and traffic presented challenges throughout the active session; however, no crashes or other incidents occurred. In the constructors’ championship standings, McLaren holds a 24-point advantage over Ferrari, with 103 points yet to be awarded. Red Bull occupies third place, trailing the leader by 53 points. Sprint qualifying is scheduled to commence at 17:30 UK time. This session determines the starting positions for the shorter sprint race, which will be held at 14:00 UK time on Saturday, preceding the grand prix qualifying at 18:00.