Piastri swept through some gravel in the first session. Sainz also struggled in his Williams to keep it on the tarmac. The five slowest and out drivers were Stroll, Ocon, Tsunoda (another poor showing, just how bad is that Red Bull?), Sainz and Hulkenberg. One driver each from five different teams...this says a lot about the current state of competition in the sport. Sainz complained that the car was undrivable but his driving also looked pretty shoddy.
Verstappen also thought his car was undrivable in the second session. The McLarens and Ferraris were looking strong. Then Hamilton ran wide and set the grass on fire so the session was red flagged. This led to a sprint to the end, with time for one fast lap only. Bortoleto crossed the line first in his Sauber and was very quick, third for a moment. He did get through to the final shoot out for the first time. Out went Alonso, Albon, Hadjar, Colapinto and Bearman. The McLarens were a dominant first and second with LeClerc behind them and Hamilton dropping back.
After the first set of laps in Q3, Norris was on pole, then LeClerc then Piastri. Russell was noted for an unsafe release in the pit lane. But Russell couldn't improve his place in the end. There was a half second gap between Norris on pole and LeClerc behind him. Then it was Piastri, Hamilton, Russell, Lawson (doing better in the junior team than the lead driver of the main outfit), Verstappen, Bortoleto, Antontelli and Gasly. The Alpine driver did two full rotations as he went off through the gravel at the end of the session.
I think Norris will be quick in the race and Ferrari likely to give a McLaren the win through choosing a poor strategy. The question is whether McLaren will give a fair and equitable strategy call to both drivers and whether they will end up hot on each others' heels? I don't put it passed Norris to make a hot-headed driver error again and LeClerc will be there to pick up the spills.
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