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.