McLaren
McLaren struggled early on the hard tyre in FP1 but were quick once on softs. Norris looked strong at the start of Sprint Qualifying but Piastri nailed his decisive lap on softs to take Sprint pole. Norris made a mistake on his first flying run and lost his second to track limits after starting a lap too close to Albon.
Lando Norris, 3rd, 1:20.285
“A frustrating Sprint Qualifying session. The pace was there, but I didn’t get a proper chance to show it. I made a mistake on the first lap, and my second lap was compromised when Alex [Albon] got ahead. We’ll see what we can do from P3 tomorrow… we’ll go out and fight for the win.”
Oscar Piastri, 1st, 1:20.055
“A great start to the weekend. The car felt very good throughout all of Sprint Qualifying… The pace has been there all day, so it was good to be able to put it together. We’ll review overnight to see what we can do to make sure we finish at the front in the Sprint tomorrow.”
Andrea Stella, Team Principal
“The weekend got off to a good start, with Oscar starting from Pole in the Sprint and Lando in third. The car has proven to be fast and we know where we can still improve. This is only the first step and there is still a long way to go, starting with tomorrow afternoon’s Sprint.”
Mercedes
Russell was quick on hards in practice but less certain on softs after missing a flying run. Mercedes required a double warm-up lap on mediums, but Russell put together strong laps to qualify second between the McLarens. Antonelli needed time to adapt and qualified seventh.
George Russell, 2nd, 1:20.087
“I am very happy with how today went… P2 is a great result and to split the McLarens isn’t something we thought we would do. It’s going to be difficult to overtake in tomorrow’s Sprint so the race could be decided coming out of the first corner.”
Kimi Antonelli, 7th, 1:20.532
“Qualifying P7 isn’t where we want to be. I made a few mistakes, particularly in SQ2, which cost me confidence and time for SQ3. The car balance felt good… we’ll analyse overnight to improve.”
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
“It’s been a bit of a challenge getting the car into a decent window on the various tyre compounds today… We can’t match McLaren in the high speed but for the rest of the lap we are competitive. Tomorrow’s Sprint will hopefully deliver useful learning.”
Aston Martin
Alonso had a strong day, fast in practice and Sprint Qualifying, beating both Red Bulls to fourth and placing Aston Martin close in the fight for seventh in the constructors’ standings. Stroll failed to replicate Alonso’s pace and was eliminated in SQ1.
Fernando Alonso, 4th, 1:20.450
“One of the better qualifying results of the year for us. The car felt in the window from FP1 and we managed to put the laps together nicely in Sprint Qualifying despite some traffic.”
Lance Stroll, 16th, 1:21.807
“I didn’t manage to put the laps together tonight… Tomorrow is going to be tricky starting the Sprint from P16, but we’ll see what we can do.”
Red Bull
Verstappen was unhappy with bouncing, steering and tyre behaviour from the start. Changes before Sprint Qualifying did not resolve the issues and he could only manage sixth after aborting an SQ3 run. Tsunoda out-qualified his team mate by 0.009s for the first time this season.
Max Verstappen, 6th, 1:20.528
“Today wasn’t great… really bad bouncing and aggressive understeer, shifting into oversteer in the high speed. We tried changes but it never really worked. Tomorrow in the Sprint, with this balance, it will not be a lot of fun and we will need to make changes going into Qualifying.”
Yuki Tsunoda, 5th, 1:20.519
“So far it has been a clean weekend for me… I am happy with the car but there is still some work to do ahead of tomorrow to find those extra tenths.”
Hannah Schmitz, Principal Strategy Engineer
“FP1 gave us useful high-fuel running and low-fuel soft checks. Sprint Quali didn’t go the way we hoped, but we’ve got another Qualifying tomorrow to make amends. The 25-lap enforcement will shake things up on Sunday.”
Williams
Williams exceeded expectations at a track they thought wouldn’t suit them, getting both cars into SQ3. Sainz beat Albon by a couple of tenths; they’ll aim for Sprint points.
Alex Albon, 10th, 1:20.788
“It’s been a better start to the weekend than we thought. We came out of the garage too late in SQ3 so had to scramble, but we have a decent car heading into the Sprint and qualifying.”
Carlos Sainz, 8th, 1:20.542
“A very positive day at a track where on paper we could have struggled. We chose an experimental set-up which seems to have paid off. Encouraging to see both cars in SQ3.”
Ferrari
Ferrari looked off the pace in practice with Leclerc complaining about steering and Hamilton out in SQ1. Leclerc made SQ3 but could only manage ninth on a day Ferrari didn’t look competitive.
Charles Leclerc, 9th, 1:20.622
“Our qualifying could have been better; I think we had the potential to be in the top 5. The car ahead slowed before turn 15 on my final lap so I couldn’t build enough gap. I’ll push in the Sprint tomorrow.”
Lewis Hamilton, 18th, 1:22.043
“Tough day. We tried a couple of different set ups and it just didn’t work out. We’ll dig into the data and come back fighting.”
Racing Bulls
Hadjar showed strong pace but lost his SQ2 lap to track limits and was eliminated; Lawson exited in SQ1 after damaging his floor in FP1. Both drivers had moments of promise but ended up outside the top 10.
Isack Hadjar, 11th, 1:21.433
“Frustrating Sprint Qualifying — I was doing a good lap but then got track limits in Turn 8. The car has been pretty fast today. Tomorrow’s Sprint might be a DRS train race, making it hard to make up ground.”
Liam Lawson, 17th, 1:21.851
“We struggled with balance today. After FP1 we had to make a big step and ended up compromising a lap. It will be a learning session for the Sprint and Qualifying.”
Mattia Spini, Chief Race Engineer
“FP1 showed higher overall grip than expected. Isack showed competitive pace but lost his key SQ2 lap to track limits. We’ll work to maximise opportunities tomorrow.”
Haas
Haas couldn’t match Aston Martin’s showing; Bearman was the lead Haas in P12. The team sees points as possible but will need a strong start from Bearman.
Esteban Ocon, 15th, 1:21.666
“A difficult session. We can’t get the car to go around properly — instability and understeer make it tricky in high-speed and low-speed corners. We made changes that improved things but there’s more to do.”
Oliver Bearman, 12th, 1:21.494
“Tyre wear seems less of a factor now; on my final lap I was behind a driver who kept going off so there was gravel on track and traffic in sector three. I feel we have a quicker car than shown.”
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal
“We improved the car between sessions and both drivers were happier with balance. Small margins decided SQ2; we’ve learned a lot to set up more competitively for Sunday.”
Kick Sauber
Bortoleto carries a grid drop to be applied on Sunday so could push freely today. Both cars looked quick in SQ1 but faded in SQ2; Hulkenberg was frustrated to go slower in SQ2 than SQ1.
Nico Hulkenberg, 14th, 1:21.631
“I felt quite happy with the car… I was on a good final lap in SQ2 but had some oversteer at the final corner and went wide; it might have been enough to make SQ3.”
Gabriel Bortoleto, 13th, 1:21.567
“We did okay though we could have squeezed more out. Missing SQ3 by around a tenth and a half is disappointing. Overtaking won’t be easy so we’ll push for a clean Sprint and then Qualifying.”
Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal
“Both cars progressed through SQ1 cleanly and we felt optimistic about SQ3. Nico ran wide on his last timed lap which ultimately cost him. We have clear areas to build on.”
Alpine
Alpine struggled across the board. Gasly ran wide in practice and both drivers ended up on the back row; their Sprint looks more like preparation for the Grand Prix than a points chance.
Pierre Gasly, 19th, 1:22.112
“A tough Sprint Qualifying and disappointing result. On my final lap in SQ1 I struggled at Turn 1 with cold tyres and lost time. We weren’t quite quick enough today but have something to learn from.”
Franco Colapinto, 20th, 1:22.364
“Not the best outcome. We were competitive in FP1 on hards but I didn’t do a representative lap on the softs — a big snap cost time and we damaged the floor in practice which impacted preparation. We’ll analyse and test things tomorrow.”
Pirelli
Simone Berra, Chief Engineer
“Track conditions were better than last year and grip levels were higher, so lap times were lower than simulations. Teams used the hard in FP1 then softs; the gap between soft and medium was around six to seven tenths. Track evolution helped performance across laps. We saw some cuts on tyre tread from gravel pulled onto the circuit by off-track excursions — not enough to cause pressure loss but we’ll monitor tyre condition tomorrow.”