Oscar Piastri kept his title chances alive by beating McLaren teammate Lando Norris to pole position for Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix.

Championship leader Norris had a messy end to the session after a mistake at Turn 2 saw him abort his final attempt just as Piastri started lighting up the timing screens.

Max Verstappen, who is also still in contention for this year’s drivers’ championship, had to settle for third place on the grid after setting a time 0.264 seconds off Piastri’s 1:19.387 and 0.156 seconds off Norris.

Piastri is currently 22 points behind Norris following a victory in Saturday’s sprint race in Qatar, with 50 points left to play for across the next two Sundays of racing.

The points gap means Norris will be crowned champion if he wins Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix, but the title battle will continue until Abu Dhabi if Piastri finishes three points or less behind his teammate on Sunday.

Verstappen, who is 25 points behind Norris in the standings, must beat the championship leader in Sunday’s grand prix to stand a chance of taking his title challenge down to the final round.