FACTS AND STATS: Alonso's Q3 record continues as he makes it into top four for the first time since June

Max Verstappen grabbed a scintillating pole position under the lights at the Lusail International Circuit, setting himself up perfectly for a strong tilt at victory come Sunday. But while it was relatively smooth sailing for the Dutchman, the same couldn’t be said for everyone. Here are the best facts and stats from qualifying in Qatar…

• Max Verstappen scored his 10th pole of the season to match his 2021 total. It was his 30th career pole, which puts him level with Nico Rosberg for eighth on the all-time list.

• George Russell starts on the front row for the third time this year, and second time in three races. It also means Russell is just ahead in the qualifying battle with his team mate, 9-8.

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• Lewis Hamilton grabbed third, his first top three start since the last Sprint weekend in Belgium.

• Fernando Alonso was fourth, his first top four start since Montreal. The Spaniard kept alive his record of making every Q3 this season.

• Charles Leclerc could only manage fifth, his lowest start since Zandvoort.

• Oscar Piastri wound up P6, but he did out-qualify Lando Norris for the fourth time in the last six races, albeit with both team mates losing their best lap times.

• The Alpine drivers start line astern with Pierre Gasly in seventh and Esteban Ocon in eighth, their finishing positions in Japan albeit in the other order.

• Alpine have only had one car into Q3 at the last six races, but managed to get both in tonight in Qatar.

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• Valtteri Bottas was ninth, his third Q3 of the year after Miami and Hungary.

• Norris wound up P10 having lost both his Q3 lap times, one of which would have been good enough for P2. It’s his lowest start since Monaco, 11 races ago.

• Yuki Tsunoda missed out on Q3 by just 0.004s.

• Carlos Sainz was out in Q2 for just the second time this year, having taken two of the last three pole positions.

• Sergio Perez was another to lose his lap time, and so was out in Q2 in Qatar for the second straight visit.

• Nico Hulkenberg clinched the season head-to-head with Kevin Magnussen by out-qualifying the Dane for the 12th time this year.

• Logan Sargeant missed out on both out-qualifying his team mate and making Q2 by 0.092s.

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• Lance Stroll failed to make it out of Q1 for the fourth straight event.

• Liam Lawson suffered his first Q1 elimination since his debut weekend in Zandvoort.

• Magnussen went out in Q1 for the 10th time this season.

• Zhou Guanyu suffered his sixth consecutive Q1 exit.