00:01This is the moment for Joe Guanyu that brought out the yellow flags.
00:05The tyre not ready, with the sauna.
00:08It's a gentle spin round.
00:10That is Oscar Piastri being impeded.
00:13Offensively impeded by the Ferrari.
00:15So that was Leclerc on the racing line and that was a slam dunk there I think.
00:20There are some big names down there. Leclerc is pushing on this lap so he's able to do a prep
00:25lap and now he's giving it a full send.
00:27Gasly's in the bottom five as well in the Alpine and then Sainz now launches into a flyer but he
00:32is under big pressure.
00:33Both Ferraris are currently in the drop zone.
00:35And Charles Leclerc is up on the benchmark time but plenty are improving out there including Russell and Ocon.
00:42Leclerc to eighth with drivers still on push laps behind and the entire drop zone is improving on personal best
00:49at the moment.
00:49Carlos Sainz is the fastest driver of all through the first sector.
00:53That's impressive from Sainz to just pump that in having not been on track and gaining information about the grip.
00:59Here he comes in the final couple of corners then.
01:01Currently bottom with no time on the board right up to the edge of track limits.
01:05And he's good there on track limits so Sainz should leap up the times.
01:09Hamilton. Hamilton is out. Hamilton is out in the first part. Sainz goes P1 from the back to the front.
01:14Lewis Hamilton is not on a flyer here. Stroll's in the drop zone. So is Sargent but Joe isn't.
01:21He's managed to get up to 14th position. Can Stroll improve? Hamilton is 19th at the moment.
01:27His own old teammate behind him. And Stroll comes out of the final corner. Personal best.
01:32Sector 1. Sector 2. Gets himself to fourth. Gets himself through.
01:35And Leclerc finds himself 15th on the bubble. That was absolutely frantic.
01:42Charles Leclerc makes it through by 1,000th of a second.
01:48A hydraulic failure.
01:49It goes from bad to worse down at Mercedes. Hamilton out in the first part of the shootout.
01:55And that is the moment that saw a time that was good enough to make it into SQ2 scrubbed off
02:01the board for Lewis Hamilton.
02:02So Hamilton P18. Bottas P19. Sargent is 20th. And Charles Leclerc surviving by the skin of his teeth.
02:11Different day. Different conditions. Different challenge for the Monogas driver who is trying to fight his way through into the
02:18final part.
02:18And he's only two and a bit tense up on Albon. He's looking for a finer margin than that. He's
02:24looking for a larger margin than that.
02:26Two corners to go.
02:27There's not big improvements behind him. I think there's been a big bunch of drivers starting the flying laps.
02:32And they maybe have all slowed each other down. Leclerc twitches through the final corner but keeps it within the
02:36track limits.
02:37And it's good enough. Up to fourth for Charles Leclerc. Under pressure. Norris goes P5.
02:42And now Albon has set an identical time to Hulkenberg. And unbelievably it is going to be a finer margin
02:49to make it through or go out as it stands.
02:52Hulkenberg set the time first. Hulkenberg has 10th place at the moment. Can Stroll get in the mixes as he
02:57comes across the line?
02:58He improves. He's in ninth position. Improves his time. Not his position though. Can anyone get themselves out of the
03:04drop zone? No.
03:05A couple of improvements. Maybe Gasly. Tsunoda is out. He comes across the line.
03:10And can Gasly find anything as he goes across? No. Improved his time but not his place.
03:17Oh! One of his own rear tires as he was leaving the pit box. There'd be no damage. It looks
03:22much more spectacular.
03:23But you see they haven't removed that front left.
03:28Albon, Gasly, Tsunoda, De Vries and George Russell who didn't take part are out in SQ2.
03:37So it's just Verstappen and Norris out there on new soft tires. New mediums for Sainz and Hulkenberg going for
03:44a different compound at the moment.
03:46Then we'll potentially have the chance to change for a new soft due to Thor right at the end of
03:51this.
03:51Everyone else is on a used software now. So Verstappen sets a benchmark and now we're getting down towards the
03:56pace of yesterday.
03:58104.6. That's just a quarter of a second now away from the fastest he did yesterday. The track grip
04:02is clearly coming up again.
04:04Verstappen ahead of Perez is the order at the moment. Ocon slots in to third position.
04:09What can Lando Norris do? We're on ball with the British driver through the final corner of the racetrack.
04:14Flat to the floor across the line. Ahead of Perez is time. Another Norris special. It is Verstappen, Norris and
04:20Perez.
04:21Over the line we go. What can Sainz do? He comes over the line. He goes into fourth on the
04:27medium tire on this first run.
04:30End of the lap for Fernando Alonso as we tick down into the final seconds. Alonso cuts the beam. He
04:37does move ahead of a Ferrari and a Haas.
04:39He's up to P5. What can they do behind? Ocon is now in seventh position. Here comes the second Aston
04:45Martin across the line.
04:46And Stroll moves to seventh position. So Alonso out qualifies his teammate in the shootout. Checkered flag is out at
04:53the moment.
04:54Max Verstappen. Fastest of anyone. Sector 1. Fastest of anyone. Sector 2. Hülkenberg has gone up to fourth position.
05:00Another special lap from him. But this is a mighty performance from Verstappen who improves his time even further.
05:07And it's a 104.4 P1 for Max Verstappen across the line.
05:12Yeah, I don't think anyone's going to take it away. Sainz comes fifth. Perez makes it a Red Bull 1
05:17-2.
05:17Manages to get a good time on the board there and gets right up to where he probably could have
05:22been yesterday.
05:22Leclerc improves to sixth. Only sixth position. Sainz fifth. Looked like he was threatening earlier on.
05:29Leclerc sixth. Ferrari's pace melts away. Beaten by a Haas. Beaten by a McLaren as Red Bull lock out the
05:37front row for the sprint.
05:39But what about Hülkenberg? Fourth in the Haas. His one lap pace this year is just phenomenal.
05:46On a medium. On a medium tyre. And it's paid dividends for Hülkenberg. Second row start.
05:51Let's go.
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