Overview

• Piastri admitted he braked too late at Turn 3 and slid into the barriers in Q3, calling it a rare mistake.
• His crash ended a run of top-four starts and leaves him ninth on the grid, his worst qualifying of the season.
• The session stretched with six red flags in gusty, rain-spattered conditions, with Albon, Hülkenberg, Colapinto, Bearman and Leclerc also crashing.
• Norris brushed the wall and qualified seventh, limiting any opportunity to cut into his teammate’s points lead.
• Verstappen claimed pole in the disrupted session, producing an unusual grid that features Carlos Sainz on the front row as McLaren pursues an early constructors’ title this weekend.