F1 Qatar GP Live Commentary and Updates - Sprint qualifying

That brings us to the end of live text coverage for Friday's running. 

Keep across the biggest stories on the website in the meantime, until we return for the sprint race tomorrow.

Find the full SQ report below! Until the sprint, it's goodbye and thank you from me.

From the highs of SQ3 to the lows of SQ1 and, in particular, Sergio Perez...

That list of drivers that will need to wait for the stewards to decide if there are penalties needed for driving too slowly in SQ1, they may be safe...

Norris ran wide at Turn 2 on his second effort which is why he bailed, while Lawson has lost his time for crossing track limits. 

That means the RB will go tenth, with Hulkenberg moving up a spot.

That's it - Norris is on sprint pole!

Russell will go from second and Piastri third. That's handy for McLaren in the title fight.

Lawson gets ahead of Hulkenberg but Gasly trumps them both to go eighths, while Leclerc gets ahead of Verstappen and Hamilton to take fifth.

Verstappen sets a fastest final sector but he couldn't get out of fourth.

What a lap from Russell! He goes second now, while Sainz moves to fourth.

Hulkenberg gets his only effort in and goes seventh, likely to be eighth when Sainz sets a lap.

A minute to go and those on track have one last chance to get the better of Norris.

Verstappen is some three-tenths down and goes only fourth, with Russell slotting into third.

Hamilton was fastest in sector one but manages only fifth.

There's the Norris statement - a 1m21.012s.

Piastri is 0.159s down in second.

Gasly and Lawson have also set a time but are six and eight-tenths down on Leclerc.

Leclerc went for it out of the box but had some turbulence in the high-speed final sector. 

A 1m21.7 is the benchmark from the Ferrari driver but that won't do it.

Things can change now as well with all drivers now on soft tyres.

Some are building on a second warm-up lap, some are pushing straightaway.

If you're a Ferrari fan and worried about Leclerc's SQ2 time, the team has suggested traffic was the reason for two-tenths of the deficit.

That's an easy solves with another five less cars on track now.

Lawson's reaction to getting into SQ3? "No way!"

He deserved it after that lap though. Mind you, it was the smallest of margins that got him there.

Less pace on show from Ferrari in that session but knowing it has been there to this point, there could be a mighty battle for sprint pole here.

Unsurprisingly, Piastri has asked for a check of his floor after his wide moment across the kerbs that cost him his initial attempt in that segment.

Hopefully, for him, there will be no damage.

So Alonso, Albon, Bottas, Stroll and Magnussen bow out in SQ2, as Norris heads Russell, Piastri and Hamilton into the sprint pole shootout.

Lawson takes that away from Albon as he goes ninth. Make that month as Gasly improves to ninth. Hulkenberg is up to eighth as Alonso drops into the bottom five.

Mind you, Stroll and Alonso could only get 1m22.4s on the board with their last laps - Aston Martin 9-10 for now.

It's a good recovery by the Australian as he goes third.

The top five are all in the 1m21s, that should be enough to get through.

The rest may need an improvement.

Norris isn't content with that though and hits back with a 1m21.231s to go fastest.

Piastri's lap was taken away from him and that means he is down with Alonso, Stroll, Bottas and Magnussen in the drop zone.

Sainz gets us into the 1m21s, as does Leclerc as Ferrari fly to the top.

Until Russell blows them out the water with a 1m21.488s.

Albon's jumped into the top 10 with his effort, as has Alonso.

Verstappen's second effort is good enough to equal Piastri. That's twice it's happened now tonight.

Gasly is next... seventh for the Alpine driver as Piastri goes fastest, still nobody breaking the 1m22s mark this segment.

That was with a small slide in the McLaren so there's time to come.

Here comes Norris and it's a slower lap than his best in SQ1 - he's 0.043s down on Leclerc after run one.

The top three are just 0.058s apart.

Magnussen's lost his time for abusing track limits, so Stroll is now fifth and Lawson sixth.

Verstappen sets the time to beat by usurping Hulkenberg and Magnussen - Sainz splitting the duo.

But Leclerc goes fastest with a 1m22.130s. 

That will be sorted after the session but during the session, there's driving to be done.

Verstappen will set his lap before the Ferraris.

The stewards are looking at a whole host of drivers for driving too slowly in SQ1. 

When I say a whole host... most of the grid.