Q2 – P1 again for Norris as Tsunoda accident raises red flags

As the dust settled on an eventful Q1, the focus shifted to Q2 and Verstappen was first to set a record of 1:16.629 minutes on the soft tire, while Leclerc suffered a slip on his first attempt and subsequently had his time cancelled.

It wasn’t long before Norris once again snatched top spot from his title rival and was three tenths quicker, with the Mercedes duo Russell and Hamilton following Verstappen in third and fourth.

At the start of the final five minutes, Leclerc still hadn’t completed a timed lap, leaving him in 15th, while the other drivers in the drop zone were Magnussen, Stroll, Hülkenberg and Bottas.

Albon took an impressive fifth place before being pushed back even further when Leclerc moved up to third. The Ferrari driver was then demoted to fourth as teammate Sainz took P3.

Just as several drivers appeared to be improving, the session was ended early when Tsunoda suffered an accident at Turn 12, which brought out the red flags. Luckily the Japanese driver was uninjured, but the downside was that both he and his RB teammate Lawson were unable to progress and were in P11 and P12 respectively.

The Aston Martin duo Alonso and Stroll in 13th and 14th place and Kick Sauber’s Bottas in 15th place were also unable to improve on their previous performances.

Eliminated: Tsunoda, Lawson, Alonso, Stroll, Bottas