Max Verstappen will start the Sprint Race later today in first place after topping the timing sheets in Sprint Qualifying, with only a tenth separating him and 4th place.
SQ1
Yuki Tsunoda was very unhappy with his elimination from this session, feeling done by after being overtaken by Hamilton as the two were close to starting their final hot laps, with a bit of contact taking place between the two as well.
Charles Leclerc was not impressed by George Russell, having been impeded by the Mercedes driver on the penultimate corner of his flying lap. Fortunately for Leclerc, it would ultimately have no impact as he was able to make it through to Q2.
ELIMINATED
16. Nico Hulkenberg – Haas +0.012
17. Kevin Magnussen – Haas +0.185
18. Valtteri Bottas – Alfa Romeo +0.185
19. Yuki Tsunoda – Alpha Tauri +0.208
20. Logan Sargeant – Williams +0.449
SQ2
Max Verstappen made a rare mistake having had a spin through turn 9. Fortunately for him, he didn’t damage the car in any way, and was able to continue as normal, perhaps only with a slightly bruised ego.
Given that Williams had both of their cars knocked out in Q1 yesterday, his ability to get through into SQ3 will surely have lifted hopes for the team that they could still get something out of this weekend.
Daniel Ricciardo squeezed through into SQ2 by just 0.012 seconds, though it would be a similarly tight margin that denied him slipping into SQ3. The Australian was only 0.031 seconds off Albon in 10th, and will start the Sprint later on in 11th.
ELIMINATED
11. Daniel Ricciardo – Alpha Tauri +0.031
12. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin +0.140
13. Esteban Ocon – Alpine +0.190
14. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin +0.234
15. Zhou Guanyu – Alfa Romeo +0.235
SQ3
With such little time to play with in this session, each driver only had one attempt to go for pole position. Verstappen would be the first to set a time, which Norris just behind would fail to beat by just a tenth of a second. Leclerc and then Hamilton then find themselves finishing just marginally behind Verstappen going second and third respectively, making it four different drivers from four different teams qualifying all within a tenth of each other, setting up what could potentially be a very interesting Sprint.
Elsewhere, Albon was able to bring himself ahead of Gasly to start 9th, putting himself in a good position to potentially snatch a point or two in the sprint race. Whilst the top 4 were in a league of their own, Piastri was the one who got closest to them in 5th, though was two and a half tenths slower than his teammmate in 4th. He starts ahead of Sainz, Perez and Russell.
Qualifying Results
1. Max Verstappen – Red Bull 1:34.538
2. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari +0.055
3. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes +0.069
4. Lando Norris – McLaren +0.101
5. Oscar Piastri– McLaren +0.356
6. Carlos Sainz – Ferrari +0.401
7. Sergio Perez – Red Bull +0.503
8. George Russell – Mercedes +0.661
9. Alex Albon – Williams +0.828
10. Pierre Gasly – Alpine +1.359
