We saw a truly exciting, twisty qualifying, where there was a surprise result: Carlos Sainz can start from pole position tomorrow!
After the first fast laps of Q1, Max Verstappen jumped to the lead, but behind him the drivers changed frequently. Pierre Gasly, Nico Hülkenberg and later Verstappen also turned up, as Lando Norris took the lead from him. In the end, Norris won the first stage ahead of Carlos Sainz and Verstappen, while Oscar Piastri, Sergio Perez, Franco Collapinto, Esteban Ocon and Guanyu Zhou were among the surprise eliminations.
Q2 was also about the duo of Norris and Verstappen, but behind them the Mercedes also caught up. Scuderia Ferrari, however, was still seemingly suffering. However, during the second practice, the reds improved a lot, so Sainz managed to catch up with the Norris Verstappen duo who won Q2. Many were not so lucky, as those who started their second fast lap late were unable to finish it due to an accident and red flag. In this stage, the two Aston Martins, the two VISA Racing Bulls, and Valtteri Bottas were eliminated.
After the first attempts in Q3, we could surprisingly read the names of Sainz, Leclerc, Russell at the top, while Norris and Verstappen only took fifth and tenth places. Carlos Sainz, on the other hand, really sucked himself up and couldn't find a winner that night. The Spaniard took pole position ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, giving himself a serious chance to say goodbye to the Italian team with a victory.
