Q2 – Sainz goes into the lead as Leclerc is eliminated and Bottas takes the attention

It was Verstappen who opened the proceedings at the start of the second qualifying session. The Dutchman briefly enjoyed the route to himself before a flood of cars rushed into the fray. Meanwhile, the stewards confirmed that Hülkenberg would be investigated after the meeting for a pit exit incident.

Verstappen was the first to drive a timed lap. His early performance of 1:22.998 minutes – with a new set of tires – kept him ahead of his competitors. While the McLaren duo lagged behind the world champion, both were running used tires, suggesting there could be more to come in their second runs with fresh rubber.

With five minutes to go, Alonso, Stroll, Magnussen, Bottas and Gasly were the names in danger, leading to another packed queue in the pitlane as everyone waited to make their final runs. However, Verstappen appeared to feel confident after leaving the pits of the car and removing his helmet and balaclava.

Magnussen missed out on entering Q3 as he was unable to improve on P12, while teammate Hülkenberg moved up to second place. Leclerc, on the other hand, found himself in danger after being pushed into the elimination zone.

Alonso improved his efforts to finish sixth, while Ferrari was able to breathe a sigh of relief as Leclerc moved up to first – only that lap was scrapped and he ended up 13th, meaning he will start at the back tomorrow due to the ten-place grid penalty .

Teammate Sainz secured first place and Bottas drew applause in the Kick-Sauber pit by moving up to P9. And with Perez only just making it into Q3, Tsunoda, Lawson, Stroll, Leclerc and Magnussen were out of the race.

Eliminated: Tsunoda, Lawson, Stroll, Leclerc, Magnussen