The Brit overtook Russell on the start-finish straight before starting his final flying lap, but after making an error in the first sector, he backed off before failing to make it to the line in time to get another effort in. This gave Piastri a clean run at pole position, which he grasped with both hands.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the session, Russell was asked about his alleged plans to get ‘aggressive’ at the race start on Sunday. He stepped in and corrected presenter Lazenby before singling out another miscommunication during his media duties.

“I had one person in the TV pen told me that Lando said that I blocked him at Turn One, and that’s why he made a mistake, and that turns out it was a load of BS,” he ranted with a wry smile.

“I actually said that I’m not going to do more risk or less risk than any other race because I’m probably slightly more calculated this year than in the past. Honestly, I don’t really care about the three in front, I’m racing for myself, but if there is an opportunity, I go for it, and if not, then I don’t.”

Later, footage emerged from a TV interview with DAZN, during which Russell stopped a conversation to discuss the misunderstanding with Norris. The two joked about the situation, clearing the air before resuming their media duties.

For Norris, the situation is clear. If he overtakes Piastri and wins the Grand Prix with the rest of the field in their starting order, he will leave Qatar as the world champion. If not, his fight will go down to the wire in Abu Dhabi.

Dissecting his qualifying, the McLaren racer told Sky Sports F1: “So, I mean, I’m pretty disappointed because yesterday I didn’t really feel like I had the pace for pole. Today I felt a lot, lot, lot more comfortable and convinced I would have been on pole. But I’m not now.

“So, yeah, I’m pretty disappointed with myself because of that, especially because my qualis lately have been very strong, but I guess, you know, they can’t always be great and can’t always be on pole, but there was certainly opportunity there today. So, a missed one from my side, but that’s happened now, and [we’ll] focus on tomorrow.”