McLaren locked out the fight for pole position, and in the end it was Piastri who took the top spot, beating his teammate Norris by 0.2 seconds, while Verstappen emerged as the best of the rest.

The opening session was challenging for Argentine driver Franco Colapinto. The Alpine driver initially made it into the safe zone on his second run, placing 13th, but knowing that track conditions were improving, he needed to go out again on a third set of soft tyres.

However, Colapinto’s troubles began as soon as he exited the Alpine garage. His car stalled and came to a stop sideways. Although he managed to get the car going and headed down the pit lane, just a few meters later the car stopped again, forcing the South American to retire from the session and settle for 19th place.

At the top, the McLarens were doing their job, with Verstappen also delivering a solid run in his Red Bull—a stark contrast to his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who ended up in 20th place, just behind Colapinto.

McLaren continued to dominate in the opening runs of Q2, with Piastri clocking a 1m11.998s, just 0.058s ahead of Norris. Verstappen, Russell, and Hamilton completed the top five at that point.

Hadjar sat 10th after his first lap, less than a tenth ahead of Bortoleto, who, along with Lawson, Albon, Stroll, and Bearman, was in the elimination zone.

No one at the front improved their lap times, so the attention shifted to the fight to get into Q3. Hadjar jumped to sixth to secure safety, while Gasly snatched 10th to claim the final spot in the top shootout.

With a cloudy sky cooling the track, Norris went quickest by 0.017s over Piastri’s earlier benchmark, clocking a 1m11.819s. Russell slotted into third, followed by Leclerc in fourth and Verstappen in fifth. Hamilton, Antonelli, and Gasly completed the top eight after the initial runs.

Alonso opted for a solo run in the middle of the session and provisionally placed his Aston Martin fifth, ahead of Verstappen, before the rest of the field returned to the track for the final runs.

Leclerc, who was fourth at the time, stepped out of the car and chose not to take part in the final attempt.

On the final laps, Norris posted a 1m11.755s despite losing time in sector two, but Piastri went purple in every sector to take pole with a stunning 1m11.546s.

Verstappen climbed to third in his final lap, 0.302s off Piastri’s time, with Russell claiming fourth and Hamilton completing the top five.

Antonelli finished sixth, ahead of Leclerc, who did not run at the end. Gasly will start eighth, followed by Hadjar in ninth and Alonso in 10th after his single-lap effort.