00:00Nicholas Latifi, first driver to take the checkered flag and he's not going to be able to improve on that 15th position as Giovinazzi crosses the line 16th and out of qualifying.
00:12Leclerc is down in that bottom five. Pierre Gasly goes fifth fastest with his final flying lap with his Q1 session.
00:19Sebastian Vettel jumps up to sixth place as the track begins to ramp up.
00:22His teammate Lance Stroll has got two personal bests so far.
00:25Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari. We're looking at Charles Leclerc at the moment goes fourth fastest.
00:30Next to cross the line Mick Schumacher only 18th fastest for him.
00:34Daniel Ricciardo goes ninth fastest overall. Leclerc goes tenth fastest with a very good final sector.
00:42George Russell gets himself out of the bottom five and a bit ahead of any relegation zone.
00:48Lance Stroll goes eighth fastest pushes Esteban Ocon right down to be at risk.
00:52Yuki Tsunoda goes sixth fastest. Esteban Ocon crosses the line. He was 15th fastest. He goes 10th fastest, but that's certainly good enough for him.
01:01Raikkonen, Giovinazzi, Schumacher and Mazepin are getting knocked out.
01:07Sainz now crosses the line. Was eighth fastest stays only eighth fastest.
01:12Lando Norris next across the line to try and get into the top ten, and he does, and he pushes Sainz down into ninth.
01:18Stroll's in the bottom five. Fettles in the bottom five. They're trying to improve on their performance.
01:23Charles Leclerc crosses the line. He's out of qualifying. Didn't know where the pace was going to come.
01:27Big surprise there. The Ferrari of Charles Leclerc knocked out in Q2. Couldn't find the pace.
01:33Lance Stroll did find a bit more pace, but he's the wrong side of the line and he's out as well.
01:38Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon sending personal bets. Can Ricciardo put himself into that top ten?
01:45Here comes the line for the Australian. Only 13th fastest. The bottom five places have been decided.
01:52Sebastian Vettel reaches Q3 for the first time in eight races. It's at the expense of his teammate Lance Stroll,
01:59as Esteban Ocon can afford to back off if he wants. He doesn't. He goes fifth fastest overall.
02:04We look to see the Alfa Tauri. Sebastian Vettel, I should say, crosses the line eighth fastest.
02:10He did go a little bit quicker on that lap. Fernando Alonso goes third quickest in a very racy Alpine here this evening on the soft compound tyre.
02:19Oh, and here's Sergio Perez. Perez was still actually on a lap trying to get out of that bottom five. Hasn't done it.
02:26Do you think the Ferrari going out was one upset? They put soft tyres on Sergio Perez.
02:32That's an even bigger upset. Red Bull have a car knocked out in Q2.
02:38I have no idea what is going on. Really no idea. Yeah, no idea.
02:46We're knocked out, mate. A tenth.
02:50Well, we went in the world's possible window.
02:54So there's your five eliminated then. George Russell, Daniel Ricciardo, Charles Leclerc, Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez knocked out in Q2.
03:04Both Mercedes drivers within a couple of a hundredths of a second of each other. Bottas marginally the quicker.
03:11He was in that first set, but we did say we did see Lewis just fighting the car a little bit.
03:15Well, he gets something extra back now in the second and third sectors of the lap.
03:20He's got one corner to go. Slow car ahead of him, but that should be cleared out of the way.
03:2426.9 for Hamilton for the middle sector. Bottas puts in a 27.1.
03:30Meanwhile, Verstappen has put in a 26.5 for the first sector. Hamilton with a 1.21.2.
03:37That is the benchmark for the rest to all chase. And Verstappen's got a bit of a head start, as you can see on your screen.
03:43He's already a couple of tenths to the good. Valtteri Bottas, how has he fared then for the final sector?
03:49The line's coming his way. Can he beat his teammate? No, he can't. He's a two tenths down on Lewis Hamilton.
03:55Ocon crosses the line ahead of Sebastian Vettel. We now wait for Max Verstappen, who's lost a couple of tenths to Lewis Hamilton in the middle sector.
04:03It's even. Stephens going into the final bit. Absolutely is.
04:06So the final right-hander then. You don't need to run that wide through there. That's absolutely fine.
04:12Then the very, very long run. DRS open now to the finish line.
04:17And Verstappen crosses that line. And he is down on Lewis Hamilton. It's Hamilton from Verstappen.
04:24And there's not much in it. Tenth and a half. But Christian Horner looks at the timing screens.
04:28And for once, the man who's got the majority of polls this season is not sat on provisional poll now.
04:36Hamilton absolutely flying on this lap. 26.6 for Pierre Gasly. 26.8 for Yuki Tsunoda.
04:43Two tenths down. Gasly on Hamilton. It's a solid first sector from him too.
04:47As we come to the end of the middle part of the lap. And he matches Lewis Hamilton.
04:51His previous best effort from the flying lap before. So he's three tenths up.
04:55Which means Verstappen's got to find nearly half a second on his final flying lap.
04:59Yeah. And Lewis was flat out through twelve, thirteen and fourteen.
05:05Bit of understeer on turn in here for the final corner. But it's absolutely fine.
05:09He'll stay left, hang left, all the way down to the finish line. Will it be in the one minute twenties?
05:14It is a 1.20.8 for Lewis Hamilton. The target was a 1.21 for poll. He's gone better than that.
05:24Hamilton, with 101 previous poll positions, is on provisional poll now.
05:31They've cleared up whatever was going on in the final sector of the lap.
05:34That'll be good news for Bottas or for Verstappen, who are both on their flying laps
05:39and don't want to see too much getting in their way. Pierre Gasly has got a puncture.
05:45There it is. Pierre Gasly with a front right puncture as they start to cross the line now.
05:51Norris goes sixth fastest, but there'll be yellow flags waved down there.
05:55Drivers might just have to lift off a little bit. This is going to ruin the laps then,
05:59of those behind Lewis Hamilton who got out early. And by getting out early, it made all the difference.
06:06Bottas crosses the line, doesn't improve on his time. Verstappen's not going to improve on his time either.
06:11This is going to be a Lewis Hamilton pole position. The first ever pole position here in Qatar.
06:19Hamilton has taken it and has taken it by quite some margin. This is the incidence. Is it?
06:25A bit of debris at turn 15. Some stones maybe. Oh, and it was just on the curve.
06:31It was on that curve and basically the tyre has failed. The front wing broke the tyre.
06:36The front wing came off, that's how it looks to me, and tore a slice.
06:41Hamilton, for the second time this season, starts on the front row ahead of Max Verstappen.
06:47Not the first time they've started on the front row together, but it's Hamilton who's got the advantage.
