Kimi Antonelli clinches pole position ahead of George Russell and Oscar Piastri

Q2 – Antonelli sets the pace and Verstappen misses out

After being the last to head out in Q1, the Mercedes duo were the first to hit the track when Q2 began, followed by the Ferrari cars – with all running used soft tyres. Antonelli was again looking quick, the Italian going fastest in the opening laps on a 1m 29.774s.

Russell’s effort was three-tenths adrift, the Silver Arrows machines separated by the Ferrari of Leclerc – before Piastri went quickest of all with his lap of 1m 29.451s, placing him ahead of Antonelli and Leclerc. Norris was fourth, in front of Bortoleto – catching the eye again in the Audi – and Russell.

Replays showed Russell experiencing a drift out of the final corner, the British driver’s struggles with the rear of the W17 continuing. As he returned to the track for another lap, the names at risk in the bottom six were Hulkenberg, Ocon, Lindblad, Colapinto, Lawson and Sainz.

Following his next lap, Russell – on a fresh set of soft tyres – remained three-tenths behind Piastri, before Leclerc pumped in a 1m 29.303s to go to the top. Verstappen, meanwhile, was at risk of elimination, the Red Bull driver sitting in 10th place as the segment headed towards its close.

While Hulkenberg could not improve on P12 to beat the Dutchman, Lindblad impressively shot up to P10, displacing Verstappen – who reported that his car was “completely undriveable” – and pushing the four-time World Champion down to P11.

As Antonelli ended Q2 with the fastest time in the final moments via a 1m 29.048s, the drivers joining Verstappen in making an early exit were Ocon, Hulkenberg, Lawson, Colapinto and Sainz.

Knocked out: Verstappen, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Lawson, Colapinto, Sainz