On the weekend where he could win his third consecutive drivers’ title, Max Verstappen made a fast start in Qatar, as he topped the timesheets in the lone practice session in Lusail, comfortably leading the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

With just one practice session under the Sprint format, the drivers had just 60 minutes to hone their setups under the Lusail heat – although temperatures will cool at night for qualifying later today, as well as the Sprint, and Sunday’s race.

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As the weekend’s action got underway, the drivers made their way out onto a newly resurfaced, yet dusty, Lusail track, with both Verstappen and Sainz coming on the radio to joke about the slippery nature of the circuit they met.

Multiple drivers topped the leaderboard early on but, after the first 40 minutes of running, it was Oscar Piastri who set the pace. The McLaren rookie continued his fine form with a time of 1m 28.380s good enough to lead his team mate, Norris, in second by just 0.061s.

With about 15 minutes remaining in the session, the drivers ducked into the pit lane to strap on a second set of tyres. And while many – including the Red Bull and Ferrari drivers – opted for some qualifying simulation runs on the softs, others – such as the McLaren and Mercedes drivers – chose the mediums.