The big news so far at the event, was that Red Bull were less competitive. I don't think anyone believed that this would result in them being very far down the grid.
In the first session, backmarker Sargeant impeded Stroll. Verstappen, not used to seeing cars ahead of him, radioed, swearing, back to the pits about how many cars were on the track in the last minute. The track was cooling so the tyres were improving and the best laps would be put in at the very end. Tsunoda went fastest and held this against Perez and several others, the Haas' also getting to the top of the chart. We were riding on board with Stroll as his car veered to the side of the track and went through a huge spin on the main straight. The director immediately replayed the incident, even though we didn't know whether Stroll was okay. This was a huge departure from usual protocol but as we had watched it happen it didn't seem to matter. Finally Stroll radioed in that he was okay. It took a while for him to get out though and the chassis was ruined. It didn't look in a state that it could be repaired for the race the next day. Who would spin on demand during the race for Alonso now?
The Red Flag was brought out which ended the session. Stroll went into the lap in last place and finished there. Also out were Bottas, Piastri, Sargeant and Zhou. A couple of these were casualties of the accident. Verstappen was also investigated for impeding drivers in the pit lane.
The second session was delayed so the TV director played some team radio. Firstly, Verstappen was swearing about the poor balance of the car. Then Norris was enquiring about Stroll. Hamilton said the car was very hot. Everything continued very topsy-turvy. Lawson, in the sister team, knocked Verstappen out of the top 10, so he qualifies 11th. Followed by Gasly, Perez, Albon and Tsunoda, who didn't set a time. This is what we've waited for all season.
Lawson is driving so well, Alpha Tauri won't need to bring Ricciardo back when his broken hand has mended. Though he finished tenth in the final Qualifying session behind Sainz on pole, Russell, LeClerc (who will surely be very disappointed but didn't radio his team to tell them what they did wrong), Norris, Hamilton, Magnussen, Alonso, Ocon and Hulkenberg. It was a very strong showing for the Haas.
Everyone hopes this will be the race that Verstappen and Red Bull don't win. They'll probably win the Constructors' Championship though.
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