Red Bull's Marko fuming over Norris: 'He completely blocked Max!'

Despite securing second place in qualifying ahead of both McLarens, the four-time world champion appeared visibly frustrated with Lando Norris’s behaviour on the final run, claiming the Briton compromised his last lap - and with it, his chance to fight for pole.

“It was very, very close - as we expected. But Norris’s move was incomprehensible,” he told Sky Sports at the end of qualifying. “We were already one and a half tenths up on our previous lap.”

He then added: “He completely blocked Max in the final two corners. For Norris, there was nothing to gain, so I just don’t understand it. I hope he simply didn’t look in his mirrors. I can’t imagine it was intentional”

On his final attempt, at the last chicane, Verstappen might have potentially gotten caught in the dirty air of the car ahead - that of Norris - which could've caused him to lock up on entry into the corner and abandon the lap.

As the Briton headed back to the pits, Verstappen pulled up alongside him, giving a clear thumbs-down in disapproval, before reiterating his frustration in the post-qualifying interviews.

Red Bull's team boss Laurent Mekies also weighed in on Norris' suggested impact on Verstappen's late push lap saying: "It was a strong qualifying from Max and the team again. It's good to see some long faces when you're on the front row, and we would have been quite a lot closer to George without that traffic. But that's life.”

Speaking to Sky Sports while analysing the incident between the two title contenders, Jenson Button commented: "With these cars, you get affected by a car a couple seconds up the road which is a pain but that's why the move over immediately.