00:01Joe, first over the line, he's going to drop Charles Leclerc into the drop zone, and he does so.
00:06Leclerc down to 16th, needs a clean lap.
00:09He's just starting one right now, he's in the first sector, Leclerc, and it's not a super fast first sector
00:15for Leclerc.
00:16Magnussen improves, but will go out. Leclerc's first sector is slower than everyone behind him, apart from Sargent,
00:22so he's got to pick up a lot of pace in the middle sector.
00:25Over the line goes Sargent, and it's good enough for 14th, but I think that's getting deleted for track limits,
00:31so there might be an opportunity for a reprieve for someone.
00:34Perez has gone up to 8th place, we go on board with car number 40, it's the New Zealander, Liam
00:38Lawson,
00:39in his final Grand Prix weekend of the season, up to 9th place, delivers under pressure there, that's a fine
00:45lap from him.
00:45What about Charles Leclerc? What about the Ferrari driver, trying to avoid going out in the first part of the
00:51shootout,
00:51needs a lap, gets a lap, he's up to 10th place.
00:54Yeah, managed to dig in, and the middle sector was pretty decent, final sector as well.
00:58Sainz goes up to 5th, so it's Sargent and Albin, Tsunoda, Stroll and Magnussen, we go on board with Yuki
01:05Tsunoda,
01:05can he fight her way through? He can, by five thousandths of a second, Tsunoda into the next part of
01:11qualifying,
01:12or is he? Let's find out, Sargent's had his time deleted, and Stroll is out again in the first section
01:18of the shootout.
01:19Albin as well, can't do it, was following Stroll around, and it's tight margins,
01:23but Albin means that both Williams are out in this first part, Tsunoda sneaks through by five thousandths of a
01:30second.
01:31Very, very tight stuff for Yuki Tsunoda, who was denied by fine margin before, and he's had his time deleted.
01:38Why the f*** are we in this B88, man? What were you doing?
01:43So Joe is going through, Stroll is 16th, Albin is 17th, Tsunoda had put a good lap together,
01:49but he didn't keep it within the white lines, Magnussen in 19th, and Sargent's lap time was deleted as well.
01:57Bottas fails to improve to the top ten, he is in 11th position with 22 seconds to go.
02:02Here's his teammate, the Chinese driver, Joe Guanyu, coming back with a year extension for his contract next season,
02:10taking his Alfa Romeo, which will become a salver next year, across the line, and he slots in behind his
02:15teammate,
02:15only good enough for 12th fastest as it stands, and I believe that time's been deleted anyway for Joe Guanyu.
02:22Some lap from Esteban Ocon gets himself up to fourth in the Alpine that looks very quick around this circuit.
02:28Hamilton comes through, improves, but it's lap time deleted straight away for Lewis Hamilton,
02:33that's going to leave him on the edge and in trouble when that goes.
02:37So Gasly finds himself in eighth position, Hamilton is looking over his shoulder at the moment,
02:42Perez is on the brink, Hamilton has been dropped down to the brink now,
02:44after that time has been deleted, can he be demoted? Lawson just misses out as a result.
02:50Sainz is pushing and finding time, here we go, on board with the Spaniard.
02:53Can Sainz knock out Lewis Hamilton and find a time to take him through? Yes, he can!
02:59So Perez now the driver at risk, Hamilton goes to 11th.
03:02Perez improving and HĂŒlkenberg improving as well, so Perez can dig himself out of trouble here.
03:08HĂŒlkenberg improving and that could leave Gasly at risk.
03:11Let's find out, Perez needs a lap, Perez gets a lap and he finds himself up to third position.
03:17Good lap time at the moment being set by HĂŒlkenberg, who's just done the fastest middle sector of anyone so
03:24far
03:25and improves up to ninth position.
03:27HĂŒlkenberg adores this format, he's fought his way through, he's dropped down Pierre Gasly.
03:32Hamilton stares at the exit as well, along with Lawson and the two Alfa Romeos.
03:37We have another shock in the second part of qualifying.
03:40Yesterday it was Perez and Sainz, today Lewis Hamilton falls at the second hurdle.
03:47This is a gauntlet throw from Max Verstappen.
03:50It has been an immaculate lap that has one corner to go, well judged from the championship leader
03:55who opens the DRS and says it's a 1.24.5 if you're going to beat me to the front.
04:00But it won't count anyway.
04:01It won't count, it'll go.
04:03Now does that throw the door ajar to the McLarens?
04:06Max Verstappen's time has been deleted.
04:10First lap was deleted for track limits at turn five.
04:13Are you sure?
04:15Assume it is.
04:16So Perez puts a 25.3 on the board now, and the McLarens are going to work in the first
04:22sector.
04:22Here is why Verstappen's lap time was deleted.
04:26So Norris' lap is close to what Verstappen was doing anyway through two sectors.
04:30We'll see what he can do in the final sector, but Norris is flying.
04:34First of all, Piastri's going to cut the beam.
04:35Charles Leclerc has gone fastest, it won't be for much longer.
04:38Great final sector for Oscar Piastri.
04:40That's one McLaren.
04:41We welcome the second one in a few moments' time.
04:43Here he is, Lando Norris, trying to hit the front, and he does so.
04:46He beats his teammate by three hundredths of a second.
04:50And that is quicker than Verstappen had managed before Max lost that time.
04:55On ball with Russell.
04:56Can he get between the two McLarens?
04:58Let's find out.
04:59No, he's in third place, and he's three-tenths of a second away.
05:02We'll throw it to Verstappen now, trying to take the shootout pole.
05:05Yeah, Perez's improvement in the end was only eight thousandths anyway, so didn't have a huge amount of pace.
05:10What about Verstappen?
05:11It's very, very close through two sectors.
05:13Piastri's going even quicker in the first sector.
05:15Norris flying as well in the first part.
05:18Max has got to deliver here with a couple of corners to go.
05:21It's all on the line. It is all on the line.
05:23A genuine three-way battle to win the shootout.
05:27Who's going to take it here?
05:28The world champion-elect comes out of the sixteenth and final corner.
05:32It's Max Verstappen versus the two McLarens, and he's third.
05:35He's third.
05:37Max Verstappen is going to get beaten by the two McLarens.
05:41Extraordinary stuff.
05:42And now the papaya cars are fighting to take the shootout pole.
05:47So it is Piastri v Norris, and that's it.
05:50They're both rapid through the first couple of sectors,
05:52but it's advantaged Norris by about a tenth and a half.
05:55Oh, it's going to be so close.
05:57It was thirty-nine thousandths before.
05:59Can Piastri put the pressure on Norris?
06:01Can Piastri go off the line and take the fastest time he can?
06:06What an extraordinary lap time from the Australian rookie.
06:09And off, off in the background goes Lando Norris to blow it.
06:13And Oscar Piastri has taken the shootout.
06:17He's the fastest car at the end.
06:20Norris went wide on the final corner, on the final run.
06:25Alonso is fifth and stops the car.
06:28It's a McLaren one-two, but it's the rookie who takes it.
06:33Oscar Piastri, fresh off the back of his maiden podium,
06:37takes the sprint shootout pole.
06:40What a superb lap when it counted.
06:42And he's beaten his teammate by eight hundredths of a second.
06:46A stunning session and a brilliant duel between the two McLarens.
06:50Norris, I think, was fractionally up into the final corner,
06:53but overcooked it, went wide, and that's the pressure he's under.
06:57On one lap pace, his rookie teammate is a match for him.
07:00They're nip and tuck, and it's Piastri's day.
Comments