REPORT: Superb Verstappen takes pole in heavily affected qualifying
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It was Max Verstappen who took pole in a heavily affected qualifying session, with the track drying up, and then getting wet again after the rain came down during the second of five red flags. Verstappen was followed up with Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris completeing the top three. Mercesdes struggles only seem to get worst as neither driver makes it into Q3, as they finish 11th and 13th respectivly.
Albon, Sainz, K-Mag, Bottas and Norris provide stoppages
The first major event of qualifying was a flaming break for Alex Albon, which eventually caused his rear right tyre to explode. Bringing an end to Albon's qualifying as well as a red flag due to the debris coming off the Williams. It was then Carlos Sainz who brought up the second stoppage in Qualifying as he lost the rear and found the wall. Just like his road car, Sainz's rear end on his Ferrari will now need some repairs. It was Kevin Magnussen who also brough out a red flag despite driving away from the incident and returning to the pits. While Bottas pulled over in the final second with three minutes left causing a red flag. The final red flag of Qualifying was brought out by Norris as he did what K-Mag did but wasn't able to keep it out of the wall.
Super Max takes pole in the rain
Once again we saw rain play a huge part in this session as the rain had stopped between Q2 and Q3. And it was Verstappen who took full advantage as they secured the pole. With a decent gap to Leclerc and Norris that dutchman should be happy. It was not Magnussen's day as he spun and brought out a red flag before finishing the session in fourth. Before Bottas had to pull over for some reason, causing the second red flag of the session. The rest of the top 10 is as followed, Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz.
Leclerc tops halted the session
A session that didn't really get going till late because of the exploding rear of Albon gave the drying track a bit more time to remove any dampness and allow slick running. Before the stoppage, it was only Lance Stroll that managed to get a competitive time in. The changing conditions meant it was a mixed-up line up however it was still Charles Leclerc on top with Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz behind him. We saw the Williams struggle again, as Albon wasn't able to complete a lap, and Latifi didn't make it out of the session. Esteban Ocon joined Albon in noting being able to complete the first session which lead to his elimination. Both Alpha Tauris were the final two to be eliminated as their evolving track caught them out as both Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly finished 15th and 16th respectively.
Sainz crash outlines a strange session
With rain incoming, it was a race to get the first lap as fast as possible before the track slowed down with the water. However may be too fast for Sainz as he crashes and brings out the red flag. Once the session had resumed, the rain had arrived meaning no improvements could be made. Which meant it saw the end of Qualifying for George Russell, Mick Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Zhou Guangyu, and Lance Stroll, as we only saw a few sighting laps after the red flag.