Max Verstappen has put in an impressive lap in the last moments of qualifying to snatch pole position away from both of the McLarens on Saturday. Lando Norris will be the papaya driver to line up alongside him on the front row, with Oscar Piastri behind in third, while Nico Hulkenberg starts from a surprising fourth.
Read more below for the full Sprint Qualifying report.
SQ1 Report:
Lando Norris, coming off of being quickest in FP1, was the fastest man in SQ1 ahead of Max Verstappen. The Red Bull driver’s teammate, however, could not make to out of the bottom five after he couldn’t make it to the line in time to start another lap. Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman also suffered this fate, the Haas drivers being eliminated in SQ1 at their team’s home race. Charles Leclerc also had a stressful time, as the Ferrari driver was sitting in the bottom five before improving only to P13. However, the result was enough for him to continue to SQ2.
The drivers who didn’t have the best time out and were eliminated are Ollie Bearman, Franco Colapinto, Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, and Gabriel Bortoleto.
SQ2 Report:
The McLaren man Lando Norris was still looking to be the favorite for pole after the Brit went fastest yet again. Ferrari, meanwhile, have not been having the most seamless session, as both Leclerc and Hamilton ended up just barely making it to SQ3. Multiple drivers decided to do one singular push lap in the closing stages of the session, which only worked out for some, as Hulkenberg flew up to P5 and Hadjar, Gasly, and Lawson couldn’t pull together the perfect lap to stay in for SQ3.
All the drivers eliminated are Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar, Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, and Liam Lawson.
SQ3 Report:
The top-ten shootout only lasted eight minutes, and the drivers made the most of it, with Verstappen surging across the line in the final moments to put his Red Bull car in P1. Norris will line up on the front row as well, only 0.071s off Verstappen’s time. Oscar Piastri will start P3, with Nico Hulkenberg continuing his impressive speed and putting his Sauber on the second row in fourth. George Russell claimed P5, and Fernando Alonso P6 for Aston Martin. Williams got both drivers into the top-ten this time out, with Sainz earned seventh and Albon ninth. Ferrari looks to be off the pace of their rivals this weekend, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc claiming P8 and P10 respectively.
