Q3 – Norris secures pole as Russell retires in the final moments

Attention then turned to the top 10 shootout – could Verstappen continue his form and take pole? The reigning world champion set off on fresh soft tires as Q3 began and everyone completed their first laps.

When these first attempts were made, Norris had the advantage: the McLaren driver was the fastest with a time of 1:32.330 minutes. And although Verstappen appeared to have a promising time, the Red Bull man's final sector wasn't so good, meaning he crossed the finish line 0.031 seconds behind Norris' provisional pole lap.

Sainz placed third ahead of Leclerc and Piastri. Elsewhere there were problems for Perez as the Mexican had his time canceled for exceeding the track limit, dropping him to 10th.

While most of the field had returned to the pits before the final runs, Alonso opted to have the track to himself, where he completed a lap that earned him eighth place in the Drivers' Championship. Then there was drama in the pit lane when Alpine let Gasly into the path of Verstappen, an incident that was noticed by race control.

But there were more dramatic scenes as most of the participants completed their final laps. Norris failed to improve on his previous performance, while Verstappen appeared to be well on his way – but Russell crashed after losing the rear of his W15 at Turn 19, sending his car into the barriers.

While the Brit was fortunately fine, the incident resulted in the yellow flag being waved twice, meaning no-one could improve on a lap. This included Verstappen, meaning Norris was assured of pole position while the Dutchman had to settle for P2.

Sainz placed his Ferrari in third, ahead of his teammate Leclerc in fourth and Piastri in fifth, while Russell's earlier performance kept him in sixth. Gasly, Alonso and Magnussen followed in seventh, eighth and ninth, while Perez dropped to tenth after his only timed lap was deleted.