Q1 starts with a wet track and the riders go out on the intermediate tyres. Towards the end of the session, however, the dry softs began to be fitted. The two Ferraris finished in first and third position, separated by Verstappen in second, while the two Mercedes of Hamilton and Russell struggled to reach Q2, succeeding in the final minutes.
The Aston Martins surprise positively, managing to put both cars in Q2. The Alpha Tauris, on the other hand, disappoint, ending the day in 16th and 17th position in their home qualifying. It must be said, however, that the passage of the shift was really a breath away.
With them, the two Williams are eliminated: Albon is classified 20th and Latifi finishes in eighteenth place. The two are separated by Ocon, who is forced to settle for a 19th place due to a suspected gearbox problem. Tomorrow and Sunday will tell us if the Alpine Frenchman will be able to finish in the top 10 and continue his streak of points races.
In Q2 we witness the first sensational twist: Sainz's Ferrari goes into the wall and thus ends his afternoon. An immense disappointment for the Spaniard, who suffered a heavy accident in Q2 within two days of renewing his contract, in a qualifying in which it seemed he could do very well. Now the Madrid native will have to take advantage of the two races of this unprecedented weekend if he doesn't want to see his teammate Leclerc escape further in the standings.
In the middle of Q2 the rain returns and the riders are no longer able to improve their lap times. The two Mercedes (Russell 11th and Hamilton 13th) are thus sensationally excluded, together with Mick Schumacher, Guanyu Zhou and Lance Stroll. First Q3 of the year, however, for teammate Sebastian Vettel, in his second appearance after Melbourne. Furthermore, the German is one of the few riders to go out in the final minutes of Q2 to take measurements of the track in the new conditions.
Q3 was interrupted by many red flags, caused by Magnussen's Haas and Bottas' Alfa Romeo going off the track. A few seconds before the Finn went off the track, Verstappen managed to complete his lap (the only one among the top drivers) and temporarily took pole position.
With 38 seconds remaining in the session, yet another red flag of the day was shown due to Lando Norris's accident at Acque Minerali. With so little time available, the session is ended without anyone being able to improve.
Verstappen, therefore, maintains the pole, the first of the season, followed by Leclerc and the surprises Norris and Magnussen. Alonso and Ricciardo end a good afternoon in fifth and sixth position, ahead of Perez, Bottas and Vettel. Sainz closes the top 10 with no laps to his credit, having gone off the track in Q2 when he had already made enough time to pass the cut.
