Lewis Hamilton achieved his first success at the wheel of a Ferrari with the fastest time in sprint qualifying, which he won by 0.018 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, while Oscar Piasti finished third as the fastest McLaren driver. In the third segment of sprint qualifying, which was the only one running on soft tires, Hamilton drove a 1:30.849, which is a new track record, and Verstappen, Piasti and Leclerc were also faster than Vettel’s previous record from 2018 (1:31.095).
Leclerc was two tenths slower than teammate Hamilton in fourth, with Russell the faster Mercedes driver in fifth, three tenths behind.
Norris failed both SQ3 laps in sixth, more than half a second behind, with Antonelli more than half a second behind Russell.
Tsunoda finished eighth for RB ahead of Albon, who convincingly overshadowed Sainz, and Stroll was quicker than Alonso in tenth.
Bearman in Haas and Bortoleto in Sauber beat their more experienced team-mates, as did Doohan in Alpine, with the biggest disappointment being Lawson in Red Bull, who was slowest in the car Verstappen almost took pole position with.
