The weekend had got off to a better start for some than others. Norris, Piastri and Verstappen had fielded many, many questions about their championship hopes. Also under scrutiny was Hamilton, who then spun out of nowhere in Free Practice 3 and smashed his Ferrari nose-first into the tyre wall.
It was a fairly boring first Qualifying session until after the Chequered Flag was waved and Albon was knocked out followed by Hamilton (who was knocked out by Bortoleto). The five drivers out were Hamilton, Albon (not how either of them would want to end the year, with their team mate in the top ten), Hulkenberg, Gasly and Colapinto. The Alpine drivers will be praying the team gets the regulation changes right next year.
The second session was even more boring. Fastest was Russell, then Verstappen and Norris. Out went Bearman, Sainz, Lawson, Antonelli and Stroll. Apart from Sainz, all the others were bested by their teammates who went through, Ocon putting in a very good lap in his Haas to be ninth.
Gloves were off for the final session. Red Bull sacrificed Tsunoda to give Verstappen a tow down the straight which helped him set a quick lap to be in first position at the end of the first set of laps. Norris could not get his groove back around the track and left himself in a poor position for the final push. Piastri's lap kept him second until Norris took it from him. Verstappen was putting in an even quicker time behind them. Russell tried his hardest to take it but was fourth. Behind them was LeClerc, Alonso, Bortoleto, Ocon, Hadjar and Tsunoda (who didn't set a time).
Verstappen had given himself the best possible chance of winning the championship. There are lots of different permutations and calculations to figure out who will take the crown and number one on their car next season. I'm sure the commentators will keep us up to speed.
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