Q1 Report:
Both Liam Lawson and Jack Doohan came into qualifying for this Grand Prix wanting to prove something, however both have been knocked out in Q1. Doohan’s teammate, Pierre Gasly, was also eliminated, however, Lawson’s four-time world champion teammate was fifth fastest. One team that did surprisingly well was the Racing Bulls, whose drivers Isack Hadjar and Yuki Tsunoda were second and third quickest. We’ll see if they can make an impact during Q2. Lando Norris was first with fastest lap, after his session didn’t start the way he would’ve liked, with his time being deleted for track limits. Leclerc also wasn’t having the best Q1, where he sat in the bottom part of the timesheets before setting a quicker lap at the end of the session to help him escape elimination. The drivers who didn’t manage to do that are Gasly, Bearman, Doohan, Bortoleto, and Lawson.
Q2 Report:
The McLaren seems to be working for Lando again, as the Brit set an early fastest lap that couldn’t be beat as the session went on. Leclerc once again seemed to be having troubles, as he only went seventh fastest, with his teammate Hamilton behind. A team that is appearing to be on fire this qualifying is Racing Bulls, after second and third in Q1, now fourth and fifth with Hadjar and Tsunoda. We’ll see where they can place in Q3. The drivers who will not be continuing to the next and final session of qualifying are Ocon Hulkenberg, Alonso, Stroll, and Sainz.
Q3 Report:
Oscar Piastri has drove a lovely lap to earn the first pole position of his career, and it seemed like Lando would be right next to him on the front row until George Russell stormed to the line to go second fastest and demote Norris to third. Verstappen will be next to the third-placed McLaren driver come the race start, and the two Ferrari drivers will be side by side in the third row. The Racing Bulls ended the session with Hadjar seventh and Tsunoda ninth. Antonelli couldn’t find as much pace as his teammate Russell, and will be starting eighth. And to round out the top ten we have Alex Albon, who once again out-qualified his teammate. Now we can wait and see how it all shakes out tomorrow, as McLaren still look to be the ones to beat.
