Verstappen immediately set the tone on his first lap in Q1. He dived below 1.43, something that nobody had managed to do during the training sessions. He even improved a little and that was enough to stay ahead of Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc. Q1 was further held up by a red flag after Lance Stroll crashed into a corner too wide. Hamilton struggled for a long time in the first qualifying round, but eventually ‘just’ joined the drivers’ field for Q2 as number 11. For both Haas and Williams drivers, Q1 was the final station, just like for the stranded Stroll. Verstappen finished the first part of qualifying as number one, ahead of Leclerc and Perez.
Hamilton spent his qualifying in midfield
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Q2
Red Bull immediately sent Verstappen and Perez outside at the start of Q2 to give the tires the opportunity to warm up properly. Leclerc and Sainz, meanwhile, made every effort to counter Red Bull against Q1 in their Ferraris and they soon succeeded, when both drivers managed to set a lap 1.42. Further into Q2, Perez, meanwhile with tires warmed up, managed to score a 1.41 lap, making it another wildly exciting qualifying session between the two teams who have been close to each other all season.
In the meantime, there were problems for Sebasitan Vettel, who sent his Aston Martin into the wall but could barely continue. The German was not the only one who went outside the circuit, because Perez, Verstappen and Leclerc, among others, grazed the wall at some point. All in all, it was a somewhat messy Q2, with two yellow flags. It was the end of the exercise for both McLarens, while Verstappen finished fourth behind his teammate and the two Ferraris. At McLaren, people were particularly dissatisfied with the loss of Lando Norris, who appeared to be held up by Hamilton.
Battle for pole
While the temperature on the track plummeted as the sun set, Verstappen had to improve compared to Q2 to stay ahead of his three competitors for pole. However, the Dutchman, who complained about being upset, continued to give in to his competitors. The differences between Ferrari and Red Bull remained minimal, while the rest of the field in Q3 was already quickly driven to a second.
Keeping the cars under control was also not always easy in Q3, as the wall of the circuit came into focus again in several places.
Joy at Leclerc after achieving pole position
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In the decisive phase of qualifying, Verstappen tried to set the decisive lap one more time. He had little to fear from Sainz, because the Spaniard took too much risk and therefore lost time. However, Leclerc more than made up for that for the Italian team, as the Monegask recorded 1.41.359. Verstappen didn’t get there with 1.41.706, and Perez couldn’t top that either. However, the Mexican was ahead of Verstappen with 1.41.641, which means that the Dutchman will have to ensure a new grand prix win from the second row on Sunday.
World Cup standings: