Q2 – P1 again for Norris, while Tsunoda’s crash raises red flags

As the dust settled on an eventful Q1, the focus shifted to Q2 and Verstappen was the first to set a benchmark of 1:16.629 seconds on the soft tyre, while Leclerc suffered a slide on his first attempt and subsequently had his time stripped.

It wasn’t long before Norris took P1 from his title rival again, at a pace of three-tenths, with Mercedes duo Russell and Hamilton following Verstappen in third and fourth respectively.

Heading into the final five minutes, Leclerc had to set another timed lap, leaving him in P15, while the other drivers in the drop zone were Magnussen, Stroll, Hulkenberg and Bottas.

Albon reached an impressive fifth place before being pushed further down the order as Leclerc moved up to third. The Ferrari man was then demoted to fourth as teammate Sainz took P3.

Just as several drivers appeared to be improving, the session was ended prematurely when Tsunoda crashed at Turn 12 and the red flags activated. Fortunately, the Japanese driver was unhurt, but the downside was that both he and RB teammate Lawson were unable to progress afterwards, leaving them in P11 and P12 respectively.

Aston Martin duo Alonso and Stroll also failed to improve on their previous efforts in 13th and 14th, along with Kick Sauber’s Bottas in 15th.

Eliminated: Tsunoda, Lawson, Alonso, Stroll, Bottas