Lando Norris was looking strong throughout the practice sessions he took part in, and did not disappoint during qualifying. The McLaren driver will be starting the Grand Prix from pole position, ahead of Charles Leclerc in P2, and Oscar Piastri third.
Q1 Report:
The session got started slightly later than usual due to a red flag from the F2 Sprint Race, however once things got underway, there was relatively no incidents for the Formula 1 drivers in the first part of the Qualifying. Norris put himself at the top of the timesheets early on in the session, and while his teammate and Championship leader Oscar Piastri put in a solid effort, he could only go second fastest. Among the other drivers who escaped to Q2, Gabriel Bortoleto was a surprise, though the rookie Kick Sauber driver had been looking quite fast over all three practice sessions. His teammate Hulkenberg does not seem to be at his best, however, and he won’t be continuing to Q2.
All the drivers eliminated in Q1 are Lance Stroll, after the Aston Martin driver was appearing quick in practice, Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda, Carlos Sainz, which will be a disappointment for him, and Nico Hulkenberg.
Q2 Report:
Lando Norris once again showed that he was the fastest of the 20 drivers by finishing Q2 at the top. There weren’t any accidents car-wise, however, with five minutes left to go, red flags were waved due to a small trackside fire. Once the session resumed, it was a flurry of fast laps all the drivers at risk attempted to escape to the final top-ten shootout. Gabriel Bortoleto really proved he could do miracles, as he managed to soar into the top ten to make Q3. Liam Lawson also had cemented his place in the final qualifying session.
The drivers eliminated in Q2 are Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, Isack Hadjar, Franco Colapinto, and Ollie Bearman.
Q3 Report:
McLaren driver Lando Norris established an early provisional pole lap time. Charles Leclerc was appearing to be looking in good form as well, as he split Norris and Piastri to go second fastest. Late into the session, most top-runners came out to try and beat Lando’s lap time, however, a spin from Gasly brought out yellow flags and forced drivers such as Piastri and Verstappen to abort their flying lap. When Qualifying was officially over, it was Lando Norris who beat Charles Leclerc to pole by 0.521s, the biggest pole margin of the season to date. Oscar Piastri was behind in third, with the yellow flags having interrupted his final flying lap. Hamilton was in decent form to finish fourth for Ferrari, while George Russell only managed fifth. Liam Lawson had an impressive drive in his Racing Bulls car to finish sixth and ahead of Max Verstappen in P7, who also had to abort his final run. Gabriel Bortoleto made it a starting position of P8 for Sauber, while Antonelli and Gasly completing the top ten.
We’ll find out tomorrow if Lando Norris can hold on to P1, what Oscar can do from third, and what Max Verstappen has on his agenda in order to earn a podium finish.
