Max Verstappen claimed his first pole position since the Austrian GP with a superb lap in qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix, while behind him McLaren made a strong opening in their attempt to seal their first Formula One constructors’ world championship since 1998 by claiming a one-two finish in the sprint race and with both drivers qualifying in front of their Ferrari rivals.

The result was something of a surprise for Verstappen, who claimed his fourth consecutive title at the last round in Las Vegas but had struggled in Qatar during the sprint, finishing eighth, once more lacking balance. Red Bull found their setup for qualifying.

Mercedes’s George Russell was second and Lando Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri in third and fourth for Sunday’s race. Norris had dominated in the sprint before ceding victory to Piastri right at the end in acknowledgement of the Australian giving up his win to the Briton in the Brazil sprint.

With a car that looks in good form at the Lusail circuit, McLaren will still be optimistic they can finally end a title drought that stretches across over a quarter of a century. They went into the meeting at the Lusail circuit leading Ferrari by 24 points, which was extended to 30 by the sprint.

They now need to outscore the Scuderia by a further 15 points to complete the job in Qatar and ensure they are 45 ahead before the final round in Abu Dhabi. With the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in fifth and seventh on the grid, respectively, McLaren have a shot at closing it out. Lewis Hamilton was in sixth for Mercedes.

Under the floodlights of Lusail, Russell’s execution for qualifying was superb on his opening lap. He set the pace with his first run with a 1min 20.575sec lap but was pushed hard by Verstappen who was half a tenth back, while Norris aborted his quick lap after going wide.

For the final runs Verstappen found a tiny edge and pipped Russell with a time of 1:20.520, five hundredths up. He is under investigation for ­blocking Russell, however.

Earlier Norris had admitted that the team had told him not to give up the place in the sprint but he felt he had to do it. “It was probably a bit closer than I wanted but I had planned to do that since Brazil,” he said. “The team told me not to do it, but I thought we could do it. I am not here to win sprint races. I want to win the championship and I haven’t done that.”

With Sainz and Leclerc managing only fourth and fifth in the sprint it was advantage McLaren and with a pace differential that, if repeated in the grand prix, would put the British marque very much in the driving seat in terms of the championship.

Russell was third and his teammate Hamilton sixth. Nico Hülkenberg was seventh for Haas.

Norris had dominated the race throughout, leading from pole as Piastri took second from Russell. Hamilton also made up places to take fifth, passing Verstappen and Leclerc.

The McLarens were showing good pace from the off but could not throw off Russell, who remained tight on Piastri and with DRS the Briton attacked. The pair went wheel to wheel, with Piastri refusing to give way, a scrap that would continue across the 19 laps.

Leclerc and Hamilton, who will be teammates at Ferrari next year, also vied brilliantly through the opening turns on lap 13, their wheels all but locked together with the Monegasque just having the edge on the Briton.

As they approached the final lap, McLaren had told Norris they were happy to maintain the positions as they were but he was determined to repay Piastri and in what was a risky manoeuvre, eased up as they approached the line, allowing the Australian to take the flag.

In qualifying, Fernando Alonso was eighth for Aston Martin, Sergio Pérez ninth for Red Bull and Kevin Magnussen 10th for Haas.

Pierre Gasly was 11th for Alpine, Guanyu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas 12th and 13th for Sauber, Yuki Tsunoda 14th for RB and Lance Stroll in 15th for Aston Martin.

Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto were in 16th and 19th for Williams, Liam Lawson in 17th for RB, Hülkenberg in 18th for Haas and Esteban Ocon in 20th for Alpine.