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The first qualifying session was marked by the development of the track and an amazing lap from Franco Colapinto, who secured a strong third position right from the initial phase. Sergio Perez also started the session in great form, initially topping the timesheets, but was soon displaced by Charles Leclerc and George Russell.
There were several yellow flags, mostly due to minor incidents, with only Carlos Sainz finding himself off-track. Near the end of the session, Esteban Ocon touched the barriers, causing damage to his rear tire.
The drivers eliminated at this stage were Bearman, Tsunoda, Gasly, Hulkenberg, and Stroll.
In the final qualifying session, drama unfolded once more. In the first attempt, the Ferraris were the quickest, with Leclerc ahead of Sainz by two-tenths of a second. Just behind them was Oscar Piastri, trailing by a mere 0.012 seconds. Max Verstappen had a solid performance in the first two sectors, but his Red Bull was misaligned in the final sector, though it was enough for sixth place. Perez was two-tenths ahead of him.
Red Bull fans were expecting a lot more from Max Verstappen, who’s clearly struggling with a huge car problems. It’s going to take some time to figure out what’s causing the issues. The Austrian team has been working hard to fix things week after week, but it’s clear that they haven’t made much headway.
Verstappen might be a bit concerned about his position, but he’s got a big lead from earlier in the season, so he has some room to have a few off days. The 26 years old Verstappen is the kind of driver who doesn’t handle setbacks well and is pushing his team to find a fix as quickly as possible.
Lewis Hamilton had another underwhelming lap, falling over half a second behind his teammate. Behind him, the only drivers left were the Williams duo on older tires and Fernando Alonso.
The session saw a dramatic twist when Williams almost sabotaged their own driver's session with an amateur mistake. They left a cooling component on Alex Albon’s car before sending him out. Fortunately, Albon managed to throw it to a marshal, and the session continued with minimal delay, giving the drivers another chance for a quick lap.
In the end, Charles Leclerc confirmed his pole position, with Piastri finishing second, three-tenths behind. Sainz and Perez took the second row, followed by Russell and Verstappen, with Hamilton and Alonso behind them. Colapinto was placed ahead of Albon.
Ferrari is driven to repeat their success from last week, hoping to achieve another major result. The Italian team had a great performance last season, and they're continuing in that strong form this year. Right now, Red Bull’s main rival is McLaren, but Ferrari is also keen to challenge Verstappen's dominance. The big question is whether they can actually manage to do so.
Despite hitting the barriers, Verstappen managed to secure sixth place, while Lando Norris remained in 17th due to a yellow flag in the final sector, although it appeared he had also gone wide off the track.
Continuation
By the end of the session, the two Williams drivers demonstrated that this track suits their car well. Those who did not make the cut were Ricciardo, Norris, Bottas, Zhou, and Ocon.
In the second qualifying round, Verstappen finally showed strong performance, being two-tenths ahead of Perez and half a second up on Piastri, thanks to a fresh set of soft tires compared to others on used sets.
In the second attempts, the Ferraris closed the gap, with Leclerc coming just 0.014 seconds behind Verstappen on new tires, and Sainz trailing by about four-tenths. George Russell managed to secure P4 with a three-tenths deficit, while Hamilton lagged far behind, seven-tenths off the lead.
Franco Colapinto ended the round in sixth place, while Alexander Albon took tenth, allowing both Williams drivers to advance to the final qualifying session.
It will be interesting to see what unfolds in the main race. Leclerc and Piastri have demonstrated their skills in the best possible way, while Sainz has also improved the team's average performance. Lando Norris, however, is seen by many as the biggest disappointment of this qualifying session. Fans had hoped he could close the gap to Verstappen, but these qualifications haven't provided much optimism. On the positive side, Franco Colapinto has been a pleasant surprise, eager to make a huge impact in Formula 1. He’s highly motivated to showcase his abilities and challenge the competition.
Formula 1 hasn’t been this exciting for a long time, and we hope this race will deliver exactly what the fans are looking for.
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