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Norris defies orders and gives Piastri the Qatar sprint while Verstappen takes pole

By JAMES ELLINGWORTH AP Sports Writer

LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) — Lando Norris ignored team orders as he handed McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri victory in the sprint race in Qatar on Saturday, while champion Max Verstappen secured pole for the great prize.

With McLaren aiming for their first Formula 1 constructors’ title in 26 years and George Russell close behind for Mercedes, the team told Norris over the radio to “finish in this order”, ahead of Piastri.

He decided to gift the victory to his teammate anyway, moving to the right at the exit of the final corner and then crossing back in front of Russell, who finished third.

“The team told me not to do it, but I thought I could get away with it and we did it,” Norris said. “Honestly, I don’t care. I’m not here to win sprint races. “I’m here to win races and the championship, but that didn’t go as planned.”

Norris was paying Piastri to do the same in the sprint race in Brazil when Norris was still fighting with Verstappen for the drivers’ title.

“I made a decision in Brazil when it happened,” Norris said. “I needed to do something to pay it forward.”

Piastri said he didn’t expect Norris to take the risk.

“I knew it could happen. I was a little surprised that with George half a second (away) that was the case,” Piastri said. “It just shows our teamwork and lack of egos within the team.”

It continues a season in which McLaren’s race tactics have often been a topic of conversation, such as when Norris and Piastri swapped the lead in Hungary after a long and often awkward radio exchange with the team.

On Saturday, Norris started from pole position and held the lead at the start as Piastri overtook Russell for second place. As Russell repeatedly attacked Piastri, Norris retreated rather than gaining an advantage. That put Piastri within a second of Norris, allowing the Australian to use DRS overtaking aid to gain speed.

Russell said he found McLaren’s teamwork “quite infuriating” while trapped behind Piastri and also objected to what he saw as Piastri’s late moves to defend the position.

“Hopefully we can have a proper race (Sunday) instead of this team ordering things,” Russell said.

Verstappen on pole

The F1 champion wasn’t a big factor in the sprint, but he returned to form in qualifying, taking pole position for Sunday’s race from Russell by just 0.055 seconds in his last race.

It is their first pole position since the Austrian GP in June, after McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes put pressure on the previously dominant Red Bull team in the second half of the season.

“Crazy. I mean, honestly, I didn’t expect that,” Verstappen said. “We changed a little bit on the car, but I never thought I would achieve such a change in performance.”

Norris was .252 off the pace and lines up third, with Piastri fourth, followed by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr..

builders race

McLaren increased its lead over Ferrari in the constructors’ championship to 30 points and has its two drivers ahead of the Ferraris on the grid.

Teams can earn a maximum of 88 more points at next week’s Qatar Grand Prix and Abu Dhabi GP.

Red Bull fell to 67 points behind McLaren in the standings as Verstappen, crowned drivers’ champion for the fourth time last week in Las Vegas, finished eighth and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was last after a stop at pits to change the nose of your car.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.