By Joe Murphy
Max Verstappen claimed yet another Pole Position, narrowly beating his teammate Sergio Perez who made sure Red Bull made it a 1-2 for tomorrow’s Grand Prix.
Lando Norris had threatened with a purple sector in Q3, but could only manage third and he lines up against former teammate and current man-in-form; Carlos Sainz.
Fernando Alonso finished fifth, but his teammate was a shock elimination in Q1 as Lance Stroll could only manage 15th position, ten places below the Spaniard. Piastri was then ahead of Hamilton’s Mercedes, who will start ahead of Charles Leclerc and George Russell, who could only manage 8th and 9th respectively.
It was hometown hero Yuki Tsunoda who managed to squeeze his way into Q3 to finish 10th, at the expense of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian has now been out-qualified by his teammate again and any hopes of a Red Bull seat, continue to fade.
Bottas, Albon and Hulkenberg also made it through to Q2 but couldn’t progress any further, with the final driver being Estaban Ocon who but his underperforming Alpine higher than anyone expected. Teammate Pierre Gasly couldn’t do the same as was out in Q1 with Sergeant, Magnussen and the aforementioned Stroll. Also out in Q1 was Zhou in the Sauber, after he took too much kerb on the final chicane on his final flying lap.
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