Qualifying recap
George Russell swiped pole from the clutches of Max Verstappen with a lap he labelled as one of his “most exhilarating” laps in his racing career, crossing the line with a 1m10.899s.
Oscar Piastri qualified third alongside Andrea Kimi Antonelli, while Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc were seventh and eighth; Norris knocked the wall on his final lap and had to abort, while Leclerc was caught out by dirty air from Isack Hadjar’s car ahead.
Hadjar got a three-place penalty for impeding, but from Q1 as he baulked Carlos Sainz at Turn 6 – which knocked the Spaniard out in the opening stage.
“Good game, good game” – Russell is just a knee-bend away from Bruce Forsyth’s iconic pose
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
