Max Verstappen found some much needed speed to secure his first grand prix pole since Austria with a stunning lap in Qatar.

In a session that looked to be going the way of George Russell, Verstappen nipped in at the very end to put himself on pole by just 0.055 of a second.

Max Verstappen ends pole drought in Qatar

While qualifying for the sprint saw a wide range of times, Saturday’s session was a much closer affair with Verstappen, Russell, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri all on provisional pole at times.

But Russell’s early Q3 time of 1:20.575 appeared unlikely to be beaten as Norris and Piastri both fell short but Verstappen found the time when he needed it most to cross the line and take pole with a time of 1:20.520.

Remarkably considering he won the world title last race weekend, Verstappen has not been on pole for a grand prix in the last 11 races and he would have been an outside bet to do that in Qatar as Red Bull appeared a step off their competitors before qualifying began.

But if Verstappen was able to make it through to Q3 as usual, Sergio Perez doing the same may have suggested to Red Bull that they had more pace than initially thought even if the Mexican could only manage a P9 finish come the chequered flag.

In the Constructors’ battle, McLaren continued to press home their advantage over Ferrari with Norris starting third and Piastri in fourth while Charles Leclerc is in fifth and Carlos Sainz in seventh.

Lewis Hamilton, who earlier said he does not care about the final two races of the season, was unable to match the feat of his teammate and will start Sunday’s race from sixth on the grid.

Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin enjoyed a welcome return to Q3 as the Spaniard qualified eighth while Lance Stroll was in 15th.

Lower down the order, Stake produced their best qualifying performance for a number of races as Zhou Guanyu finished 12th and his team-mate Valtteri Bottas just one spot behind while Pierre Gasly was frustrated at missing out on a Q3 spot in 11th.

Having finished in the points in the sprint, Nico Hulkenberg followed up that performance with a Q1 exit, qualifying 18th and leading race engineer Gary Gannon to suggest the team had got the run plan wrong.

Franco Colapinto’s poor weekend continued as he qualified 19th with Esteban Ocon will start Sunday’s grand prix from last place as it stands.

Qatar Grand Prix 2024 qualifying results

1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:20.520

2 George Russell Mercedes +0.055

3 Lando Norris McLaren +0.252

4 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.309

5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.332

6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.491

7 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.521

8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.731

9 Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.905

10 Kevin Magnussen Haas +0.980

11 Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.917

12 Zhou Guanyu Sauber +0.981

13 Valtteri Bottas Sauber +1.211

14 Yuki Tsunoda VCARB +1.251

15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1.391

16 Alexander Albon Williams +1.870

17 Liam Lawson VCARB +1.891

18 Nico Hulkenberg Haas +1.922

19 Franco Colapinto Williams +2.074

20 Esteban Ocon Alpine +2.194