Oscar Piastri beat his teammate by the finest of margins to take his first pole position since the Spanish Grand Prix.
Q1
Despite the speed shown by Aston Martin this week, Lance Stroll had been having a bad weekend up to this point, and it would continue in qualifying after spinning at the penultimate corner and crashing into the barrier. Although he was able to get back to the pitlane, he would not continue, and will start tomorrow’s race in last place.
Ferrari’s pace did not look particularly strong, and there was a potential risk that at least one of their drivers may once again get knocked out in Q1. While both were able to make it through, it would be unclear if they would each make it into Q3.
Yuki Tsunoda also managed to make it through to Q2, after having had a number of qualifying struggles this year. He would be in the bottom five close to the end of the session, but would pull himself up to 12th.
ELIMINATED
16.Franco Colapinto – Alpine +0.067
17. Nico Hulkenberg – Kick Sauber +0.158
18. Esteban Ocon Haas – F1 Team +0.160
19. Oliver Bearman – Haas F1 Team +0.225
20. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin NO TIME
Q2
Some wildlife had managed to make it’s way onto the track at the start of Q2, with Leclerc spotting a fox at turn 10 making it’s way through to the escape road.
Yuki Tsunoda had been hanging on to 10th place after the likes of Albon and Bortoleto failed to go faster than him, though improvements by Lawson and Alonso would eventually push him down to 12th.
Kimi Antonelli had been one of the five fastest drivers in Q1, however he was not able to replicate this form in Q2, and would finish the session in 11th place.
Ferrari showed a much better performance in Q2, with each driver appearing to now potentially be in the fight for the top 5 in Q3. Lol
ELIMINATED
11. Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes +0.021
12. Yuki Tsunoda – Red Bull Racing +0.150
13. Gabriel Bortoleto – Kick Sauber +0.150
14. Pierre Gasly – Alpine +0.165
15. Alex Albon – Williams +0.180
Q3
The fight for pole position was always going to be between the two McLarens given the strength of the car this weekend, but there was practically nothing separating the two drivers after their first runs, with Piastri taking provisional pole over Norris by just 12 thousandths of a second.
Despite both drivers setting purple sectors at different points in their final laps, neither Piastri nor Norris were able to go faster overall, giving Piastri his first pole position since the Spanish Grand Prix.
Elsewhere, the biggest shock result would be from Isack Hadjar, who managed to put his RB car into 4th place, ahead of Russell and both Ferrari cars.
Qualifying Results
1. Oscar Piastri – McLaren 1:08.662
2. Lando Norris – McLaren +0.012
3. Max Verstappen – Red Bull Racing +0.263
4. Isack Hadjar – Racing Bulls +0.546
5. George Russell – Mercedes +0.593
6. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari +0.678
7. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari +0.728
8. Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls +0.838
9. Carlos Sainz – Williams +0.843
10. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin +0.968
