Q1

The opening part of qualifying was disrupted almost from the start. Alex Albon put in the first lap but soon clipped the Turn 1 wall with his front-left tyre, breaking the suspension on his Williams. That immediately brought out the red flags.

After the restart, Nico Hulkenberg made a mistake at Turn 4. He struck the wall with his Sauber, left debris on the track, and was forced to limp back to the pits, which caused a second stoppage.

When the session resumed again, several drivers were under pressure to set a time. In the final minutes Pierre Gasly went off at Turn 4, and moments later his Alpine teammate Franco Colapinto went nose-first into the barrier. That ended Q1 under a third red flag.

At the front, Lando Norris set the quickest time, just 0.009 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, with Charles Leclerc close behind in third.

Eliminated in Q1: Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon

Q2

Q2 began later than scheduled, and before any driver could complete a lap it was red-flagged again. Rookie Oliver Bearman hit the wall on the exit of Turn 2, breaking the suspension on his Haas and ending his session immediately.

Once the action restarted, Norris set the early pace with a 1:41.396, followed by Verstappen and the two Mercedes drivers. Oscar Piastri slid wide and brushed the wall but managed to continue, though he only managed fifth at that stage.

The Ferraris had a difficult time. Lewis Hamilton sat on the edge of the drop zone, improving slightly but not enough to stay inside the top ten. His teammate Charles Leclerc ran wide on his first attempt but later recovered to go fourth. In the end Hamilton was pushed down to 12th and was knocked out, while Leclerc scraped through. Norris again finished the segment fastest, ahead of Verstappen.

Eliminated in Q2: Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Gabriel Bortoleto, Lance Stroll, Oliver Bearman

Q3

The final session began with light rain in the air, which made the circuit slippery. George Russell had a moment at Turn 4, forcing him to reverse back onto the track as Lando Norris came past at high speed. Carlos Sainz set the first competitive lap and moved to provisional pole, followed by Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar.

Soon after, Leclerc lost control at Turn 15 and crashed into the wall, causing the fifth red flag of qualifying. Once running resumed, Verstappen and Sainz were first in line, with Verstappen choosing used medium tyres while the McLarens opted for new softs.

Not long after, Piastri became the next driver to crash, this time at Turn 3. That caused the sixth and final red flag of the session, and the McLaren driver failed to set a time. With only a few minutes left, the track went green again. Norris was first out but clipped the wall on his push lap and lost time, eventually finishing only seventh.

Verstappen, switching to softs, produced the best lap of all to secure pole position with a time of 1:41.117. Sainz qualified second, just under half a second behind, with Lawson taking an impressive third for Racing Bulls.