Front row fireworks? Mr. Saturday Russell takes P1 from Alien Verstappen
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A filmmaker with a soft spot for Ronnie Peterson, Gilles Villeneuve, Mika Hakkinen and above all, Tazio Nuvolari and Ayrton Senna, is also a diehard Formula One fan since the age of 4 (mid-90's). An avid researcher of the past of Grand Prix Racing since before it was even named F1, and with a thirst for knowledge of the ins and outs of the actuality of the sport, as well as for the technical aspects that define it, is a member of GPblog since 2023, where he has put his love of racing to good use.
As it happened
Q1
After the first round of push laps in Q1 it was Max Verstappen who topped the timing sheets ahead of Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton. Before Fernando Alonso took over from the Dutchman on a set of mediums. George Russell rounded off the top 5, with Charles Leclerc in P6, Yuki Tsunoda, penalised with a 10-place grid drop penalty. Isack Hadjar completed the top 10 with Liam Lawson in P11 and Lando Norris down in P12.
A red flag was triggered by Alexander Albon when his engine cover blew up as he made his way down the back straight at full speed. The Thai driver, was then announced, would be under investigation by the Stewards after failing to follow the race director’s instructions and skipping the corner instead of following the appropriate way out of the last corner run-off.
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In the last part of the session, it was Norris who topped the session, with Albon making it in the final moment as teammate Carlos Sainz failed to make it to Q2. Piastri, Hamilton, Leclerc and Verstappen completed the top 5.
Eliminated: Bortoleto, Sainz, Stroll, Lawson, Gasly.
Q2
Verstappen led the field as the first round of fast laps were being set. Norris and Piastri topped the session before Leclerc took over the top of the time sheets, albeit marginally so, leaving three drivers in the 1:11.6 mark. Lewis Hamilton was in P5 with George Russell behind him. Yuki Tsunoda was at risk in P10 and was demoted to the elimination zone by Franco Colapinto. Russell then took P1 by 0.56s, with Norris hot on his heels. Tsunoda was then pushed out of the top 10 by Racing Bulls rookie Hadjar.
Eliminated: Tsunoda, Colapinto, Hulkenberg, Bearman, Ocon.
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Q3
The final part of qualifying started to great excitement with Leclerc being pipped to the line by Piastri by half a second and teammate Norris went stright on and cut the final chicane thus aborting his lap. Behind them though came a blazing Verstappen who beat Piastri's time by 0.025s.Russell and Antonelli locked out the second row with Norri's second attempt placing him only P5.
In the second and final runs, Alonso went up to P4, before Hamilton demoted him to P5. This left Norris in P7. Leclerc suffered some oversteer into Turn 6 and slid around into Turn 7. Piastri took provisional pole as Norris failed to improve on his position
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