Series leader Lando Norris struggled to contain his disappointment after qualifying third for Saturday's sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix, where McLaren teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri took pole.
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The 26-year-old Briton, who leads Piastri and Red Bull's four-time champion Max Verstappen by 24 points in the title race, can clinch his first drivers' title if he out-scores them both by two points this weekend.
"It's impossible to overtake here, so I think I'm probably going to finish P3," said an unusually stony-faced Norris on Friday.
"But if I can at least get past George (Russell, of Mercedes) off the line, then that's probably the most I can hope for."
He said his lap had been compromised by a tussle with Williams' Alex Albon.
"Yeah, but that's life," he conceded before lamenting that his only mistakes had cost him a chance of pole in an effort to repeat his success in Sao Paulo where he took pole and won both the sprint race and the Grand Prix.
"I think the pace was there, I just made a mistake in the last corner on my first lap and didn't put it together for the second."
RETURN TO FORM
Asked by Sky Sports F1 how he viewed his prospects in the sprint race, which is worth eight points for the winner, he said: "I'd be stupid not to try and win.
"I'm here to win so we’ll see what we can find overnight and see what we can do for the race tomorrow.”
As Norris analysed his possibilities, Piastri smiled after finally feeling he had returned to form and could end a nightmare run of seven disappointing races without a win since the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August.
In that time, the 24-year-old Australian has seen his series lead of more than 30 points turned into a 24-point deficit.
"It's been a good day, which is nice for a change," said Piastri. "It's been just a day where things have clicked from the start and I think the sprint session went really well.
"I had a pretty big moment on my lap, but it was just enough at the end. Thanks to the team, for a great car and we've looked really good this weekend so far so I'm pretty happy with that.
"At the moment, I'm just happy with the result. There are a few things to try and target, but it's nice to be able to say that when you're starting on pole.
"I'm looking forward to tomorrow – obviously it's only sprint pole and a few points , but I'll take whatever I can get."