Q2 – P1 again for Piastri, Albon just misses out
The action continued at pace as Q2 began, with a number of drivers heading out early on the soft tyres for their first runs. Verstappen initially set the pace before Norris swept through to take P1 with a margin of three-tenths from the Dutchman.
That picture changed again when Piastri went even quicker, the Australian beating his team mate by 0.058s thanks to his lap of 1m 11.998s. Those at risk after the opening runs, on the other hand, were Bortoleto, Lawson, Albon, Stroll and Bearman.
“I’m happy to give Kimi a tow if needed,” fourth-placed Russell commented over the radio, the Briton seemingly wanting to help the other Mercedes car of Antonelli – currently sitting in P9 – to progress through to Q3.
As the session entered into its final minutes, Antonelli was amongst those to return to the track – but there was no sign of Russell, or any of the top five for that matter, as the rest of the field battled to make it through.
Stroll could not improve on his previous effort, nor could Lawson. Elsewhere there was pressure for the other Racing Bulls car of Hadjar – but the Frenchman impressively moved up to sixth. Fellow rookie Bortoleto missed out in P12, while Bearman was also unable to improve.
The other driver out in Q2 was Albon, the Williams driver exiting in P11 after missing the cut by just three-hundredths. The Thai driver voiced his unhappiness about the Haas of Bearman ahead of him as he crossed the line, accusing the American squad of running “purposely slow in Sector 3”.
Knocked out: Albon, Bortoleto, Lawson, Stroll, Bearman
