Qualifying Report - Second first

By Dan Knutson

Max Verstappen earned pole position for the second time this season in his Red Bull.

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas; Red Bull Honda – Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez; McLaren Mercedes – Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo; Aston Martin Mercedes – Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel; Alpine Renault – Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon; Ferrari – Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz; AlphaTauri Honda – Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly; Alfa Romeo Ferrari – Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi; Haas Ferrari – Nakita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher; Williams Mercedes – George Russell and Nicolas Latifi.

Fastest in FP3 was Verstappen, by 0.747 of a second over Bottas.

QUALIFYING 1

The ambient temperature at the start of the 18-minute session was 84 degrees Fahrenheit (29 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Centigrade).

The Alfa Romeo teammates were the first out. But it was a moot point as the session was red flagged after three minutes when Tsunoda spun backwards into the barriers exiting Turn 1. The restart came after a 10 minute delay.

This time it was the Ferrari drivers at the head of the queue at the end of pitlane. There was going to be a traffic jam out there.

At the front of the line was Leclerc who clocked a 1:33.187, but Sainz beat that at 1:32.289. Along came Bottas at 1:31.669.

As more cars flashed across the line it was Verstappen out front with his 1:31.001, ahead of Perez, Bottas, Hamilton, Gasly and Norris after the first runs.

A number of drivers stayed out for a second run. That included Hamilton who popped up to second.

When there were three minutes remaining in Q1, Russell was 15th and on the cutoff line. Schumacher was 14th and Latifi was 16th.

The top five stayed in the pits while the rest went back out. Schumacher crashed at Turn 6, bringing out the red flags and ruining the laps of the rest of the drivers.

The five drivers who were eliminated at the end of Q1 were: Latifi, Raikkonen, Mazepin, Stroll and Tsunoda.

The fastest 15 drivers who moved on to Q2 were: Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, Bottas, Norris, Gasly, Sainz, Vettel, Ocon, Alonso, Ricciardo, Leclerc, Giovinazzi, Schumacher and Russell.

QUALIFYING 2

The top 10 qualifiers would start the race using the same compound tires they used to clock their fastest lap time in Q2. So usually some of the quicker drivers could take a safe chance of running the medium compound Pirelli slicks in this session.

But with the very hot track temperatures at this circuit, and with the soft compound tires not lasting well, many more drivers than usual would try the more durable mediums in this session. In fact, only Russell tried the softs.

Bottas set a 1:31.306, which put him third behind Verstappen and Sainz. Then Perez swept into the lead.

Hamilton stayed out for another lap – a 1:30.959 – and the lead.

Tenth and on the bubble with three minutes to go was Leclerc, and Ricciardo was ninth while Ocon was 11th.

After those three minutes, it was Bottas in front ahead of Hamilton, Perez, Verstappen, Sainz, Gasly, Norris, Alonso, Leclerc and Ricciardo.

The five drivers who were eliminated at the end of Q2 were: Ocon, Vettel, Giovinazzi, Russell and Schumacher.

QUALIFYING 3

Q3 lasted 12 minutes, and all 10 drivers were soon in action.

Verstappen went ahead with a lap of 1:30.325. So that was the time to aim for. But nobody beat him.

Hamilton took second ahead Perez, Bottas, Sainz, Norris, Alonso, Leclerc, Ricciardo and Gasly after the first runs.

The drivers had one last chance in the final minute. Verstappen improved to a 1:29.990. Hamilton (1:30.248) wound up second, with Bottas third ahead of Perez, Sainz, Gasly, Leclerc, Norris, Alonso and Ricciardo.