COTA qualifying was nothing if not eventful. Shortly after the first session began, Isack Hadjar, the young VCARB rookie, hit the barriers causing the session to be paused. He got taken away in the medical car, but luckily was all okay. No one had completed a lap before the session was stopped, but some had started a push lap meaning some life had been taken off them.
The cars started to form a queue as everyone wanted to get out as soon as the light turns green so they can get at least two push laps in. The Saubers won the fight to the front with Bortoleto on the same set of tires and Hulkenberg on a new set of softs.
The end of Q1 saw Max Verstappen in the top spot with a time of 1:33.207. The bottom five consisted of Gabriel Bortoleto, Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon, and Isack Hadjar all with times in the 1:34s. Lance Stroll also had a 5 place grid penalty from the Sprint race, which caused him to drop all the way to the back of the grid.
Throughout all three sessions, the drivers were having issues staying within track limits. Multiple drivers had track times deleted for having all four tires go off track. Alex Albon and Lance Stroll are both prime examples of this, getting out in Q1 because of track limits.
Next comes Q2, where Oliver Bearman is the first driver out on track on fresh soft tires. Ferrari decided to leave it late, staying in the garage longer than most others. Pierre Galsy lost a lap time in the middle of the session for exceeding track limits, while his teammate, Franco Colapinto, had a big snap. With about four minutes left we see George Russell start the second round of push laps on a new set of softs. Q2 once again ended with Verstappen P1 with a time of 1:32.701. The cut off time was also faster at 1:33.238. The bottom five was Nico Hulkenberg, Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly, and Franco Colapinto.
Now for Q3, where Bearman is once again first out with the championship leader, Oscar Piastri behind him. Four of the drivers, Piastri, Bearman, Alonso, and Sainz, all went out on used tires, while the rest were on new. The Ferrari’s had a little trouble, with Hamilton locking up into Turn 1 and Leclerc spinning at the final corner. With two minutes left, they all come out on new tires for their final run. Verstappen, on provisional pole, did not make it to the line to start his push lap, but he didn’t need the final run anyway!
The top ten for Sunday’s race was Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri, Kimi Antonelli, Ollie Bearman, Carlos Sainz, and finally Fernando Alonso.