'Expecting it to be a pretty tough race' – Piastri reflects on Qatar GP chances after pivotal pole

Oscar Piastri is expecting the Qatar Grand Prix "to be a pretty tough race" despite claiming a crucial pole position, directly ahead of title rival Lando Norris.

The Australian claimed his first pole position for a Grand Prix since the Dutch GP back in August and at a critical time in the season, with just two races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi remaining.

Piastri sits 22 points behind Norris in the Drivers' Championship, the reduced margin courtesy of Piastri's win in the Saturday Sprint with Norris back in third.

It still means that Norris can claim a maiden Formula 1 title should he take victory in Sunday's 57-lap race, making Piastri's seventh pole of the campaign one of the most important.

"We left it pretty much the same with some minor tweaks here and there," said Piastri when asked if McLaren had changed anything after his Sprint success.

"Everything felt great all weekend so yeah, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! It was really good, the team did a great job.

"We had a little bit of a question mark on which tyres we wanted to use because I did a quick lap on the used set in Q2 – that threw a little bit of a spanner in the works because we didn’t expect it to be so good. Q3 was really good on the new set so I’m very happy."

The race in Qatar is one of the most physically demanding on the calendar for drivers, cars and tyres, with Pirelli limiting the stint of each set to just 25 laps.

The hot conditions and high G-force corners also put a strain on drivers, with Piastri expecting it to be a challenge.

"Pretty tough. I think with the two stops as well, we’re probably going to be pushing pretty hard the whole time," he said.

"I don’t think it’s going to be as hot as a couple of years ago so hopefully it’s not as bad as that.

"I’m expecting it to be a pretty tough race. You’re pulling an insane amount of G-force around here multiple times a lap so it’s hard work but incredible fun."

When asked if Sunday's race was win or bust for his title aspirations, Piastri added: "Pretty much! I’ll try my best. I’m starting from the best spot so I’ll try and do some more of what I did today in the Sprint and we’ll see what we can do."