Verstappen Defeats Norris for Pole in Thrilling Qualifying

By Camille Lebez-Leroy

Ocon led the field out on soft tyres as the lights went green, and most of the other drivers followed him, except for Lewis Hamilton, who went out for his first run on medium tyres (C2) in order to save a pair of soft tyres for later.
Oliver Bearman, one of the rookies, surprised everyone at the start by getting the fastest lap and beating off other midfield competitors. But the pace increased as soon as the big names appeared. Leclerc grabbed an early lead, but Norris and Piastri rapidly overtook him. McLaren appeared strong with a one-two, and Russell and Verstappen followed close behind.
For Isack Hadjar, chaos was in the way. The rookie radioed in an existing issue from FP3—a physical problem in the cockpit—which was clearly affecting his ability to drive. As he struggled for speed and put a wheel in the grass, he said, “The car’s not driveable.
Hamilton moved to soft tyres and climbed up to P6. Gasly moved in the top 10, Hamilton improved once more to go up to fourth, and Antonelli stormed up to seventh in the last minutes.
Despite his problems, Isack Hadjar managed an amazing lap that placed him in 12th position and helped him secure his qualification in Q2. With the tiniest margins, Lawson grabbed the final Q2 spot while Bortoleto failed to qualify. 

Out in Q1
P16 : Nico Hulkenberg
P17 : Gabriel Bortoleto
P18 : Esteban Ocon
P19 : Jack Doohan
P20 : Lance Stroll

Verstappen led the way out of the second section, looking strong from the start. He set an impressive 1:27.502. The Rookie Ollie Bearman followed behind him, but his chances of survival seemed to be meagre due to his old tyres.
After saving a new set of tyres in Q1, the majority of the top teams were in a strong position. That gave them a considerable freedom. However, Ferrari tried to be wise by using old tyres early on, but it cost them as Hamilton and Leclerc were not able to compete with Verstappen’s time.
After that, Lando Norris finished the lap three and a half tenths quicker than Verstappen. Piastri only managed a fourth position due to a messy middle sector, while Russell quietly climbed into second.
Just as everyone was getting ready for another shot, a red flag was raised for a fire that was off track. With a bit more than eight minutes left, there was still time for one more attempt, even though everyone had already set a time.
Ferrari could have missed the perfect track conditions when they put Leclerc and Hamilton out early to avoid traffic when the session resumed.
Time was running out, and Tsunoda needed something special. But it simply didn’t work out—he crossed the finish line in P11.
Sainz fought as well, but he was only able to make it to P12.
Albon, on the other hand, managed to squeeze through P10 with a hard lap on old tyres.

Out in Q2
P11 : Pierre Gasly
P12 : Carlos Sainz
P13 : Fernando Alonso
P14 : Liam Lawson
P15 : Yuki Tsunoda

While most of the field waited to start with new tyres,  Bearman was the only one to start Q3 on a used set.
Russell’s clean 1:27.318 set the initial benchmark, but Piastri’s 1:27.052, two-tenths quicker than Verstappen, really blew it up. Russell and Leclerc followed closely behind, while Norris only finished fifth after suffering with a wide moment in Turn 7. Hamilton on the other hand squeezed in just behind.
After a slight mistake in Turn 1 in his final lap, Russell kept his 4th position. Norris pushed hard and managed to find time to take the provisional pole, only 0.052 seconds ahead of his teammate.
Verstappen then made an impact. He controlled his lap when it mattered most, beating Norris by just 0.012 seconds to steal the pole despite a difficult weekend and a car that appeared not to be easy to drive.
Piastri ended third, ahead of Leclerc and Russel, after missing to improve. Hamilton finished in eighth place, but Hadjar made a strong impression with P7.
Top 10
Pole : Max Verstappen
P2 : Lando Norris
P3 : Oscar Piastri
P4 : Charles Leclerc
P5 : George Russel
P6 : Kimi Antonelli
P7 : Isack Hadjar
P8 : Lewis Hamilton
P9 : Alex Albon
P10 : Ollie Bearman

Red Bull was shocked to see their driver catch the pole, but it acted as a reminder for Verstappen’s opponent. Norris and Piastri are both right behind the four-time world champion. That promises to be an explosive start on Sunday.