Q1

After a 19-lap long Sprint earlier today drivers exited the pit lane to fight for the best starting position for tomorrow's race. And it started badly for Jack Doohan. He spun on his first fast lap but didn’t crash and was able to continue. He’s already under pressure after a crash in Australia and a penalty from Sprint.

Oscar Piastri was the first to go fastest, just a little quicker than Lewis Hamilton. But then Max Verstappen took the top spot with a lap that was over one-tenth faster. His Red Bull car didn’t look easy to drive, but it was clearly quick with Max behind the wheel.

Lando Norris had a difficult start. His first lap time was deleted because he went outside the track limits. Later on, he came back with a strong lap and even went fastest for a short while.

Kimi Antonelli surprised everyone by going third fastest for a bit, ahead of Hamilton. Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar also did a great job and both placed high up the standings, showing that the Racing Bulls car is working very well.

Charles Leclerc also had problems. He locked up in one of the corners and had a very slow first lap. Ferrari sent him out again late in the session on old soft tyres, which was risky, but Leclerc managed to drive a good lap and made it safely into Q2.

With only a few minutes left, some big names were still at risk of being knocked out, including Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. But in the end, the five drivers who didn’t make it through to the next part of qualifying were Pierre Gasly, Oliver Bearman, Jack Doohan, Gabriel Bortoleto and Liam Lawson. Lawson had another bad session, got eliminated in Q1 for the third race in a row, and sadly finished in last place again.

Q2

George Russell started off the second part of qualifying fast with a time of 1:31.307, nearly three-tenths quicker  his new teammate Kimi Antonelli. But it didn’t take long before Lando Norris raised the bar. He set a new lap record with a time of 1:30.787 and went to the top.

Ferrari looked a bit off the pace again, just like in the sprint qualifying. Charles Leclerc was only ninth and Lewis Hamilton was seventh. Both Ferrari drivers were over eight-tenths slower than Norris, which raised some concerns about their speed.

Kimi Antonelli had a small scare when he reported a brake issue over the team radio, saying that the “magic is stuck”, a problem usually related to the brake settings. Luckily, he managed to complete the session without any big problems.

Isack Hadjar saved himself with a fantastic lap that pushed him to fourth place.That dropped Hamilton and Leclerc further down the order, but both Ferrari cars still made it through safely to Q3 along with Antonelli.

In the end, the ten drivers who made it to Q3 to fight for pole position were Norris, Verstappen, Piastri, Hadjar, Tsunoda, Russell, Leclerc, Hamilton, Antonelli and Albon. The drivers who got knocked out were Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz.

Q3

The final part of qualifying began with everyone chasing pole position. Max Verstappen set the first fast lap with a 1:30.9, but that didn’t last long. Oscar Piastri responded with a lap two-tenths faster to take the lead. Lewis Hamilton moved into third, while Lando Norris made it a McLaren 1-2, just 0.09 seconds behind his teammate. Kimi Antonelli’s first lap didn’t count because he went over track limits.

Later on, during the second runs, things got tense. Isack Hadjar was released from the pit lane right in front of Verstappen, who had to slow down to avoid a crash. Verstappen went quickest in the first sector but couldn’t improve overall. Norris also started strong but ended up canceling his final lap, leaving Piastri in control.

In the end, Piastri slightly improved his time and secured the first pole position of his Formula 1 career. George Russell surprised everyone with a great lap at the very end to grab second place, pushing Norris down to third. Verstappen and Hamilton ended up fourth and fifth. Charles Leclerc followed in sixth, just a tenth behind.

The Racing Bulls showed strong pace, with Isack Hadjar finishing seventh, ahead of Antonelli and his teammate Yuki Tsunoda. Alex Albon completed the top ten with a solid resukt for Williams.