Q1

Qualifying began with traffic and tension at the end of the pit lane, where Esteban Ocon complained that he had been pushed aside by a Williams as the field queued to get out. Carlos Sainz was the first to set a representative time with a 1:22.3, but it was quickly beaten as the track evolved and the leading teams switched to fresh soft tyres.

Oscar Piastri left it late to post his first lap, but when he did, he jumped straight to the top with a 1:20.7. Lando Norris, meanwhile, was down in tenth after a mistake at Turn 7 left him seven-tenths off his teammate. McLaren soon recovered as the session developed, with Norris moving up and briefly leading Piastri before George Russell put his Mercedes on top by 0.083s.

Max Verstappen was among the early frontrunners, despite reporting “jumping” from his RB21. At the other end of the field, Ocon had a lap deleted for track limits, while Lewis Hamilton struggled once again. The seven-time world champion improved to 13th on his final effort, but it was not enough, and he dropped out of Q1 for the second day in a row. In the final moments Pierre Gasly's time got deleted, meaning he dropped from fifth place to 15th and narrowly avoided elimination.

Eliminated in Q1: Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, Lewis Hamilton, Lance Stroll, Franco Colapinto.

Q2

Q2 was delayed slightly while marshals cleared gravel from Turn 15, but once running resumed Oliver Bearman set the early pace. Verstappen soon moved ahead with a cleaner lap, but the McLarens again proved too strong. Piastri delivered an impressive lap to go fastest, while Norris slotted into third before having his time deleted for exceeding the limits at Turn 10.

With several drivers losing laps and Charles Leclerc running on used softs after a heavy Q1, the pressure rose in the final minutes. Norris rejoined on a new set of tyres with no time on the board and responded perfectly, going second fastest with a clean lap just two-tenths short of Piastri.

Ferrari were left sweating as Leclerc dropped into the drop zone, but his rivals failed to dislodge him. Albon, Bearman and Bortoleto fell short, while Nico Hulkenberg and Liam Lawson also exited. 

Eliminated in Q2: Nico Hulkenberg, Liam Lawson, Oliver Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, Alex Albon.

Q3

Verstappen opened Q3 with a double warm-up lap, giving Norris the chance to set the first proper benchmark: a 1:19.495. Piastri was close behind, just 0.035s slower, putting the McLarens first and second. Leclerc spun and returned to the pits without a time. Soon after red flag was waved as mshals had to clean a sticky tape from the track that had been wrapped around Sainz's tyre.

When the session resumed with just over five minutes remaining, Russell led the pack out followed by Norris. But Norris made a mistake at Turn 2 and immediately aborted his lap, leaving him under pressure with little time left. As he prepared to go again, he was forced to pit and could not complete another attempt.

With Norris out of contention, Piastri seized the moment. The Australian went purple in the first sector and improved across the lap, posting a 1:19.387 to take his second pole of the weekend. Verstappen improved too, but his time was only good enough for third behind the two McLarens. Russell settled for fourth, with Antonelli and Hadjar rounding out the top six. Sainz, Alonso, Gasly and a troubled Leclerc completed the top ten.