Verstappen’s exceptional form continued with an impressive time of 1:12.272, firmly establishing himself at the top of the timesheet. Impressively, he even chose to abort his final flying lap, knowing that no other driver could beat his initial effort in Q3. This pole position further solidified his position as world championship leader.
Carlos Sainz delighted his fans by securing a front row seat for Ferrari, while Lando Norris put in a surprising performance, taking third place for McLaren. However, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly’s impressive fourth place was marred by the fact that he was demoted six positions for getting in the way of other cars during the session.
Lewis Hamilton, in his updated Mercedes, was relegated to fourth after Gasly’s penalty. The seven-time world champion had shown promise for a short time after leading Q1, but was unable to keep pace with the front-runners.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll achieved a remarkable milestone by beating his teammate Fernando Alonso for the first time, finishing in an impressive fifth place. Meanwhile, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon benefited from Gasly’s penalty, as did Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who moved up a position to seventh and ninth respectively.
The qualifying session began in challenging conditions, with rain affecting the track. As a result, several surprising exits occurred right from the start. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who had shown good form in the previous races, suffered an unexpected elimination in Q1. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez also faced disappointment, failing to make it beyond Q2, which further reduced his hopes of a strong championship challenge.
The session was temporarily interrupted due to incidents caused by wet and complicated weather conditions and riders on slick tires. Valtteri Bottas spun his Alfa Romeo into the gravel, Alex Albon (Williams) and Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri) spun on their own and Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin also went into the gravel.
Verstappen initially dictated the pace, but an offside investigation involving him and Pierre Gasly meant that Gasly was briefly at the top of the timesheet. However, Norris and Lewis Hamilton, who ended up fourth, managed to post faster times, with Hamilton setting the fastest lap of the session at 1:12.937.
Among the notable casualties during the early stages of the session were Bottas, Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Albon, Leclerc and Logan Sargeant (Williams). Meanwhile, in the final races, Verstappen’s previous lap proved to be unmatched, as Sainz secured a commendable second place, 0.462 seconds behind. Norris, Gasly (with imminent grid penalties), Hamilton, Stroll, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Alonso (whose car was damaged by a crash at the start) and Piastri completed the top ten.