It was a truly exciting and thrilling qualifying, where a surprise result also emerged: Carlos Sainz will start tomorrow from pole position!
After the first fast laps of Q1, Max Verstappen jumped into the lead, but behind him the drivers frequently swapped positions. Pierre Gasly, Nico Hülkenberg and then also Verstappen were passed by Lando Norris, who took the lead. In the end, Norris won the first phase ahead of Carlos Sainz and Verstappen, while among the retirees, to a great surprise, were Oscar Piastri, Sergio Perez, Franco Collapinto, Esteban Ocon and Guanyu Zhou.
Q2 was dominated by the Norris and Verstappen duo, but the Mercedes also got close. Scuderia Ferrari, however, still seemed to be struggling. In the second session of attempts, the reds made a big improvement, allowing Sainz to catch up with the Norris-Verstappen duo who had won Q2. Many were not so lucky, as those who started late could not complete their second fast lap due to an accident and the red flag. At this stage, the two Aston Martins, the two VISA Racing Bulls and Valtteri Bottas were eliminated.
After the first attempts in Q3, surprisingly we saw the names of Sainz, Leclerc and Russell in the lead, while Norris and Verstappen occupied only the fifth and tenth places. Carlos Sainz, however, charged very seriously and that evening he found no rivals. The Spaniard took a clear pole position ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, thus earning himself a serious chance to say goodbye to the Italian team with a victory.
