On the first laps you could see the cars sliding even on the straights. Small sparks came from the floors as they bounced over bumps, and several drivers had to fight the steering wheel to keep their cars straight. Pierre Gasly and Gabriel Bortoleto both went straight on into the run-off at Turn 7 after finding no grip at all when turning in. Lewis Hamilton had a little slide at Turn 12, catching it just in time, while Ollie Bearman’s Haas snapped sideways so suddenly that it looked like he might spin, but he managed to save it.

Lando Norris had one of the scarier moments early on. Coming out of Turn 9, the rear of his McLaren stepped out on a bump, and he gently brushed the wall with his right rear tyre. He backed off straight away, checked everything on the radio, then went again. A few laps later he missed Turn 12 twice in a row, locking his front tyres and sliding straight down the escape road. His team told him, “Just bring the tyres in slowly,” which showed how tricky the conditions were

Traffic made things even more chaotic. At one stage, George Russell came around a corner and found four cars crawling along trying to make space, forcing him to slam on the brakes and abandon his lap. Fernando Alonso shouted on the radio after getting stuck behind a slow Aston Martin and then a hesitant McLaren. Drivers often crossed the start/finish line with angry gestures as they tried to weave through slower cars.

When soft tyres came out halfway through, the pace immediately went up, and so did the mistakes. Hamilton locked up his front right tyre into Turn 7 and slid wide before completing a fast lap. Leclerc pushed harder on his softs, and you could see him attacking the corners more confidently, especially at Turn 14 where he clipped the kerb just perfectly. Verstappen’s soft-tyre lap included a big slide out of Turn 11 that cost him a tenth or two, and he had to catch the car quickly to avoid spinning.

In the final 15 minutes the track finally started to gain grip, and drivers took more risks. Oscar Piastri flew into Turn 12 a little too fast and had to bail out twice in a row. Alonso ran wide again at Turn 7, bouncing over the bumps in the run-off. Tsunoda had a small wobble in the middle sector but held it together to set what would be one of the best laps of the session.

Then came Leclerc’s brilliant lap. He braked late for Turn 1, carried loads of speed through the fast kinks, and didn’t lock up once at the tricky Turn 12. His Ferrari looked planted, and it was clear even before he crossed the line that it would be the lap to beat. Albon then surprised everyone by going second, but his final attempt ended in a huge lock-up that sent him straight into the run-off, smoke pouring from his front tyre. Tsunoda pushed extremely hard on his last run, but a little twitch in Turn 9 stopped him from improving.

As the chequered flag came out, drivers still tried to push, but many ran into traffic or made small errors. Norris had another sideways moment and had to give up his final lap. Verstappen slid wide at Turn 5 and lost momentum. Hamilton locked up into Turn 12 again and simply backed off.