Oscar Piastri and George Russell were both left baffled during their interviews after qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix on Friday following a flurry of lap time deletions from the stewards.
When the chequered flag waved at the end of the session Max Verstappen was sitting pretty at the top of the standings, but below him, it was chaotic as both McLaren drivers saw their lap times deleted.
On the timing screens, it looked as though Lando Norris would line up in P2 ahead of Mercedes driver Russell, followed by Piastri in P4 and Lewis Hamilton in P5. This wasn’t, however, the way that things ended.
Norris knew immediately that his lap was set to be deleted, unleashing his frustrations over the team radio, although this fact escaped Russell during his post-race interview.
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Addressing his qualifying performance, Russell believed he was lining up in P3 for Sunday’s race. He said: “Really tricky day for everybody. New tarmac, really slippery, very windy here.
“We went out in qualifying and the lap times were just immense compared to this morning. I’m really happy with P3 (P2). I think we did a bit better than expected.
“The McLarens look quick. We know Red Bull and Max are in a league of their own. Our fight is with Ferrari and we need to be consistent.”
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It wasn’t just Russell who was left confused though. With Norris’ time deleted, Piastri was temporarily promoted to the top three of qualifying, only to find out midway through his interview with Naomi Schiff that he had been demoted to sixth place.
This demotion means that Hamilton will start the race on Sunday from third despite struggling on his final lap of the session. Norris, meanwhile, will be forced to roll off from tenth on the grid.
The McLaren star was audibly frustrated after the session, stating: “I had a correction of oversteer and went off. The team did a good job, I just messed it up. I just think of the job I’m meant to do today, which is put in good laps and don’t make mistakes, that’s what I did today, so not a good day for me.”
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