Verstappen and Red Bull knew way before the weekend that they would have their work cut-out in a Qatar track that looked set to favour Mercedes and Hamilton, and Hamilton confirmed that fear after he dominated Qualifying leaving Verstappen and Red Bull scratching their heads. Although Verstappen starts second alongside Hamilton, Red Bull like Brazil are way off the pace compared to title rivals Mercedes.

The reigning world champion had the momentum heading into Q3, having been fastest in each of the previous two segments, and put himself in supreme shape after the first runs with a clinical lap. He was then the first to head out for the second and final runs – and found even more time, smashing into the 1m20s (the only driver to do so) to take pole position by nearly half a second from Verstappen. The second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas slotted into third, ahead of Pierre Gasly, who had the shine taken off his stunning performance when he ran well wide at the penultimate corner. That dragged him onto a curb, which shattered his front wing and led to a puncture.

If Verstappen is to get a surprise victory tomorrow, he will have to do it all by himself after his teammate Checo Perez had an absolutely shambolic qualifying, failing to get past Q2, he will have his work cut-out for him starting at P11. As far as disappointments go, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc too had a horrific qualifying, he too failed to get out of Q2, he will be starting the race at P13, just ahead of Mclaren’s Daniel Ricciardo.