Ahead of today’s qualifying session the air temperature is 20 degrees C, while the track temperature is 22 degrees. Guess what… it is still raining.
In all honesty, all bets are off what with yesterday’s heavy rain and the fact that we’ve only had one practice session.
Albon is first out, followed by Norris, Gasly, Ocon, and Lawson.
An early spin for Lawson at Turn 13 sees the yellow flags being waved.
Albon posts a 32.456 but Norris responds with a 31.608.
Zhou goes off at Turn 13 as Ocon goes quickest (30.096).
“A bit of aquaplaning at Turn 4,” says Norris when asked about the conditions.
Alonso goes second ahead of Tsunoda, Perez, and Verstappen as Bottas takes the gamble and switches to Inters.
Norris has his time deleted after running wide in Turn 2, as Perez improves to second with a 29.916.
“Doesn’t seem to be that much standing water,” reports Russell, “so think about Inters.”
Colapinto is off and in the barrier at Turn 3.
The session is red-flagged.
“Sorry,” says the Argentine as the replay shows his rear-left going over the kerb.
The clock stops with 8:50 remaining, and Albon, Zhou, Russell, Bottas, and Hamilton in the drop zone.
Ahead of the restart Bottas switches back to full wets.
“There’s a lot more rain,” says Norris, who is told that it will last for two minutes.
The session resumes and Gasly is first out, followed by Norris, Hulkenberg, Lawson, and Ocon.
“It’s raining a lot less,” reports Perez, as Russell gets frustrated by Tsunoda’s antics as they leave the pitlane. “What the hell, he almost put me in the wall,” says the Briton.
Tsunoda subsequently goes quickest with a 29.172, as Leclerc is told that the track is improving. The Monegasque subsequently goes second.
Piastri goes fifth ahead of Alonso, as Hamilton improves to 14th, courtesy of a tow from Alonso.
Verstappen goes quickest in S2, finally crossing the line at 30.615 to go ninth, while Russell fails to improve on 20th.
Next time around, despite a face full of spray from Stroll, Russell goes second with a 29.172.
Hulkenberg and Verstappen have their latest times deleted, as Hamilton remains 17th.
Norris has dropped to 14th, and when Hamilton posts a 31.150 to go 14th it drops the McLaren driver into the danger zone.
Norris goes 15th on his final lap which demotes Hamilton, while Ocon goes fourth with a 29.171, as a 28.522 sees Verstappen go top.
Verstappen is quickest, ahead of Albon, Russell, Ocon, Tsunoda, Gasly, Leclerc, Perez, Piastri, and Alonso.
We lose Hamilton, Bearman, Colapinto, Hulkenberg, and Zhou.
“Why,” asks the seven-time world champion. “We’ll look into it,” he is told.
Albon is told that the rain has eased off as he heads out on wets, behind Sainz, Leclerc, Tsunoda, Russell, and Stroll.
Piastri heads out on Inters.
Sainz posts a benchmark 29.406, while his teammate responds with a 29.332.
Russell posts a 29.372 to go second but is demoted when Stroll stops the clock at 29.308 and his Aston Martin teammate at 28.707.
A 28.158 sees Perez go top, however all eyes are on Piastri who goes third (28.925) on his Inters.
Verstappen goes quickest with a 27.771 as Norris is told to pit for Inters.
Ocon has his time deleted as Tsunoda, Bottas, Stroll, and a whole heap of others follow Piastri’s example and switch to the green-banded rubber.
Russell gets going again following a spin in Turn 12.
Piastri posts purples in all three sectors, crossing the line at 25.179.
Sainz is off at Turn 2, as Russell improves to second with a 26.307.
The session is red-flagged as Sainz has gone into the barrier opposite the pit exit. “Oh, I crash, sorry guys,” says the Spaniard.
Replay shows he lost the rear as he hit the throttle in the Senna S, showing just how sensitive these cars are in these conditions.
With 5:51 remaining, the Spaniard is currently 10th, while Norris, Gasly, Albon, Tsunoda, and Ocon comprise the drop zone.
As he awaits the green light, Piastri is told that the rain may “pick up” in four minutes. At the other end of the queue, Perez isn’t happy, feeling he should have been sent out earlier.
Norris leads the way, followed by Tsunoda, Albon, Lawson, and Piastri.
Norris goes third with a 26.406, 1.227s down on his teammate’s best.
Tsunoda goes fourth, as Alonso goes quickest in S2, finally crossing the line at 25.035 to go top.
Stroll goes fourth while Verstappen can only manage tenth.
As Norris goes top with a 24.844, Stroll has gone off and into the barrier at Turn 3.
As yellows are waved, both Red Bulls are in the drop zone.
The session is red-flagged for the third time and it’s disaster for Red Bull, as Verstappen already has that 5-place grid penalty after taking on a new ICE.
Norris is quickest, ahead of Alonso, Piastri, Lawson, Albon, Leclerc, Ocon, Russell, Stroll, and Tsunoda.
We lose Bottas, Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, and Gasly.
“Come on guys, we gotta do better,” says Perez, “what is the point of being the last car?”
It’s going to be a busy break for Williams, Ferrari, and Aston Martin as the crews seek to repair the cars of Colapinto, Sainz, and Stroll in time for the race.
