AUTHOR: Jason Elso
Charles Leclerc takes pole ahead of Lewis Hamilton in an accident-filled qualifying session, with Sainz, Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Stroll and Giovinazzi all crashing out
Charles Leclerc took pole in a dramatic and crash-filled qualifying, as his team-mate Carlos Sainz and Yuki Tsunoda both crashed out within seconds of one another at the same corner in Q3.
Lewis Hamilton fought back from a poor practice to qualify second, with Max Verstappen third.
Daniel Ricciardo also went into the barriers in Q2, whilst Lance Stroll and Antonio Giovinazzi suffered similar fates in Q1.
Q2 was slightly less eventful, although there was early congestion in the pitlane as Sebastian Vettel rushed to get out of the pits and almost collided with Sergio Perez.
The Mexican didn’t seem to mind too much as he went top after the first runs, Lewis Hamilton‘s Mercedes 0.004sec behind in second. Leclerc was 0.1sec behind the Red Bull, with Sainz and Verstappen filing in fourth and fifth.
As the second runs commenced, Verstappen then 0.005sec quicker than his team-mate, managing to set his lap without a tow.
The big surprise of the middle session was Yuki Tsunoda, the Japanese AlphaTauri driver setting 4th fastest time.
Q2 came to a sudden end as the Honey Badger binned it, Daniel Ricciardo going off at T3 and burying his McLaren into the wall.
As a result, Vettel just missed out on progressing – he’ll start 11th tomorrow.
Behind the German was Esteban Ocon, half a tenth behind. Ricciardo will line-up 13th, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen and George Russell, whose Williams team performed a miracle to change his power unit in two hours after it failed in FP3. An engine change normally takes four hours.
Q3
Sainz set fifth-fastest time – then crashed out
Getty Images
It was frantic stuff as all the cars headed out for all their final runs. Cars crawled as each searched for a tow down the main straight from each other.
Things then all came to a head at Turn 1 as Tsunoda and Sainz both crashed within seconds of one another.
The Japanese buried his AlphaTauri at T3 before the Ferrari driver span off spectacularly in sympathy, taking his front wing off – he was lucky not to do more damage.
The session was then ended before anyone could set another lap.
As a result, the top five was Leclerc, Hamilton, Verstappen, Gasly and Sainz – who may need a gearbox change.
The under-investigation Norris was sixth, with Perez behind. Fernando Alons and a beleaguered Bottas, who was sent out early to give Hamilton a tow on the first run, coming home 9th and 10th.
Source: motorsportmagazine.com