Q2 – Sainz goes top as Leclerc is eliminated and Bottas catches the eye
It was Verstappen who kicked off the action when Q2 began, the Dutchman briefly enjoying the track to himself before a flurry of cars joined the fray. Meanwhile the stewards confirmed that Hulkenberg would be investigated after the session for a pit exit incident.
Verstappen was the first to get a timed lap on the board, with his early effort of 1m 22.998s – set on a fresh set of tyres – keeping him ahead of his rivals. While the McLaren duo trailed the world champion, both had been running used tyres, suggesting that there could be more to come on their second runs with fresh rubber.
With five minutes remaining, Alonso, Stroll, Magnussen, Bottas and Gasly were the names in danger, hence another busy queue in the pit lane as everybody looked to put their final runs in. Verstappen, however, appeared to feel safe, having exited the car and taken off his helmet and balaclava.
Magnussen missed out on reaching Q3, having been unable to improve on P12, while team mate Hulkenberg went up to second. Leclerc, on the other hand, found himself at risk after being pushed down into the elimination zone.
Alonso bettered his effort to go sixth, while Ferrari could breathe a sigh of relief as Leclerc surged up into P1 – only for that lap to be deleted to put him P13, meaning he will start at the back tomorrow owing to that 10-place grid penalty.
Team mate Sainz took top honours in first, and Bottas sparked applause in the Kick Sauber garage by moving up into P9. And with Perez just making it through to Q3, this put Tsunoda, Lawson, Stroll, Leclerc and Magnussen out.
Knocked out: Tsunoda, Lawson, Stroll, Leclerc, Magnussen