Overview

• Russell delivered a blistering 1m10.899s lap to claim his first pole of the season and called it one of the most exhilarating of his career.
• Max Verstappen qualified second but now carries 11 penalty points, meaning a single further infraction would trigger a one-race suspension.
• Oscar Piastri locked in third for McLaren to protect his championship lead while teammate Lando Norris made mistakes that relegated him to seventh.
• Yuki Tsunoda drops to the back after a 10-place grid penalty for a red flag breach in final practice and Isack Hadjar falls three places for impeding Carlos Sainz.
• Their front-row pairing rekindles memories of the Spanish GP collision and raises expectations of a tense battle into Turn 1 on race day.