Why Hamilton and Verstappen did not commit to a flying lap in FP1?

The seven-time world champion, like his teammate Charles Leclerc, chose to save a set of tyres for this afternoon’s sprint qualifying, even if it means heading into qualifying completely in the dark and without any reference points.

The two Ferraris ended FP1 in third-last and second-last, only ahead of Yuki Tsunoda’s RB21, whose session was severely compromised after crashing into the barriers in the opening minutes.

Verstappen, on the other hand, had opted to run on soft tyres—the only one alongside his teammate—but ended up aborting his lap towards the end, returning to the pits after posting first and second sector times that were still slower than the two McLarens on mediums.

McLaren set the pace in FP1, with Norris snatching the top spot from teammate Oscar Piastri by a tiny 0.023 seconds after trailing for much of the session. The pair were the only drivers to dip below the 1:10 mark, signaling a strong start to the weekend.

Red Bull had a much tougher session. Verstappen struggled to get comfortable in the RB21 and had to abort his only soft-tyre attempt, while Tsunoda, as mentioned earlier, ran into trouble early. Despite the limited running time, the session still offered a clear glimpse of the pecking order, with the big question now being who will claim sprint pole in just under an hour.