DOHA, Qatar (AFP) — Newly-crowned four-time world champion Max Verstappen claimed his first pole position for five months on Saturday when he beat George Russell in a tense and tight qualifying at the Qatar Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver had forecast that he would continue to struggle for pace after a disappointing showing in the earlier sprint race, but late set-up changes enabled him to clock a fastest lap in one minute and 20.520 seconds.

Russell was second for Mercedes just 0.055 seconds adrift of pole ahead of Norris, who needed a late lap to grab third for McLaren, 0.252 off the pace, ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was sixth in the second Mercedes ahead of Carlos Sainz, in the second Ferrari, two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Sergio Perez, in the second Red Bull.

Kevin Magnussen was 10th for Haas.

It was Verstappen’s career 41st pole and his ninth of the season.

“I didn’t expect that,” Verstappen said.

“Honestly! But well done to the team to give me a car that feels a bit more connected — and once the car is a bit more together you feel you can push harder.”

The final seconds of the session saw Verstappen criticized by Russell for running too slowly in front of him.

“Super-dangerous by Verstappen,” said the Mercedes driver, whose thoughts prompted the stewards to investigate.

“I ended up going through the gravel and all over the floor it felt like it was scraping,” Russell said.

Norris admitted his disappointment at missing out on a front row start.

“It’s not what we hoped for, but it was the maximum we could do. My lap was pretty good, but not quick enough.”

Hamilton, set for Ferrari next year, finished sixth, admitting: “I don’t really care. I just want to get through these races, do my job, turn up and look forward to the winter break.”

After the early laps, Verstappen led before Russell went top in 1:21.519, a time that was seven-tenths quicker than Hamilton’s best as he struggled to extract matching pace on his way to ninth.

With four minutes to go, Russell offered Hamilton a tow which lifted him to sixth, 0.118 off the pace in a tight field before Russell trimmed two-tenths off his best lap in 1:21.241, beating Leclerc by 0.037 with Sainz third ahead of Norris.

Out went Alex Albon and his Williams team-mate Franco Colapinto along with Liam Lawson of RB, Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.

Russell began Q3 in the same style, clocking 1:21.161, but his top spot was quickly taken by Verstappen in 1:21.085, Red Bull’s set-up changes, following the sprint, paying dividends.

On his second run, Russell improved to go top again by 0.001 seconds, but it was not enough in improving conditions to resist a revitalized Verstappen, or Norris, who clocked 1:20.983.

It looked solid for McLaren, but in a final flurry of laps Verstappen went top in 1:20.687 with Hamilton rising to fifth, within 0.026 of Russell in fourth, and Alonso and Magnussen claiming top 10 spots.

The “top 10 shootout” began with Russell topping the pile in 1:20.575 ahead of Leclerc on their opening runs when Norris ran off at Turn Five and failed to clock a time before Verstappen slotted into second.

This left McLaren in need of a strong late lap in the final seconds as they all ran again and Verstappen, against his own forecasts, secured pole ahead of Russell and Norris — his first pole since the Austrian Grand Prix in June.