Brought to you by TheJudge13 contributor Mattpt55

Ambient 23.7° Track 25.8° Humidity 56.0% Wind 4.0 m/s

Prelude

As the sun plummeted cleanly past the horizon, the liveries of the teams began to sparkle in the artificial daylight. Given the high speed nature of the circuit bankers and red flags potentially were spoilers in the upcoming fight and the increasing murmur that Mercedes PU was operating at a deficit had grown increasingly louder after an FP3 that saw all the Mercedes teams at the bottom of the speed traps.

HAAS and Magnussen appeared to have made a decent recovery after yesterday’s debacle and it was once again a tossup as to which midfield team would seize the advantage for tomorrow.

Summary

Green Light!! Magnussen led the way as no time at all was being wasted by the midfield teams, roaring out of the pits the moment the track opened. Latifi and Zhou trailed, then the McLarens, Norris leading were next up and Mercedes and Aston not far behind.

Early days it was Magnussen, naturally but Norris behind was putting in a respectable effort. And it held, as Norris slotted in a tenth and a half back of KMAG, followed by Ricciardo, Russell, Zhou and Stroll for the top 6. Russell and Hamilton both rocked some Mediums, early on, likely to save the Softs for later in the qualifying session.

Schumacher at the 13 minute mark, went P2, just a tenth off KMAG as the Ferraris and Red Bulls were now prowling the circuit. And Leclerc was destroying the time of Magnussen, up 0.7 seconds through the first two sectors and there it was, the red flag for Latifi as none of the top runners had set a time with 11:22 left to go in the session. On replay, the rears just went on the entry into T13, with a subsequent pirouette that saw him hit the front left first which then spun him round with the front right coming to rest in the wall.

Only Mercedes, Williams, Aston, Zhou, McLaren and HAAS had set anything that resembled a time, meaning the remaining teams had some work to do, and the question now for Red Bull and Ferrari would be whether or not to burn another set of new Softs to clear Q1.

Alfa was first up in the queue, Bottas at the front, Stroll and Verstappen, on what looked to be a used set of Softs. Hulkenberg, Ocon, Gasly, Tsunoda and Perez were next out and the track was filling rapidly with those who needed to get a time in, basically all but the top 4. Tsunoda got called into the pits before setting a time and that was not a good sign, as a new PU had been installed for him after yesterday’s issues.

Verstappen was now running similar times to Leclerc prior to the red flag, but before he got to the line Bottas displaced the HAAS pairing, followed by Stroll. But it was to the top for Verstappen, with Perez just under 0.3 seconds behind. But the Ferraris were implacable, Sainz nicking Leclerc, with Carlos almost half a second up on Max.

Russell bounced up to P4, in between the Red Bull, but Hamilton was no better than P13 which, well, that was going to be a talking point if it didn’t change. As Norris was having a go, it was Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Albon, Latifi and Tsunoda with it all to do as the Macca driver went P5.

3 minutes to go and it was now Hamilton into the drop zone and on his latest lap there was no improvement. “Are we at risk” asks Hamilton and the reply was simply, “Affirm, we are at risk”, as all eyes riveted towards the bizarrely slow Mercedes.

But behind the rest of the drivers were not sitting still, and it was a moving target and not looking good, as Stroll behind was dinging him sector by sector and as he crossed the line he was just up to P15, until Stroll stuck the knife in deep, putting him out in Q1. Bonkers.

Going no further then were Hamilton, Albon, Hulkenberg, Latifi and Tsunoda (who quite literally never had a chance) and they were off in search of some jalamah to fill the empty void in their souls as the rest turned it around for the rigours of Q2.

The next session started with Schumacher leading the way, with KMAG behind. Old teammates Ocon and Ricciardo were next up, then Leclerc and Gasly. Magnussen on used Softs, Russell on Mediums. This time round it was Schumacher besting his teammate, until Leclerc and Norris both rocked across the line, the Ferrari well ahead of the McLaren. Russell went P2, briefly before Perez virtually tied Leclerc, only half a tenth between them.

P3 for Sainz as now it was Verstappen rocking a purple S2 and only P3 for the Red Bull driver, well, 0.02 seconds off Perez and Sainz a tenth and a half back.

8 minutes to go and both Alfas were on a lap as the rest of the teams rolled into the pits for the interlude. Ricciardo, on replay, had a lurid block of Ocon who was as a result, all the way down in P15 as his effort was abandoned due to the incident with Ricciardo.

Bottas to P6, Zhou to P11 and as the teams began to circulate back onto the track it was Zhou, Ricciardo, Magnussen, Stroll and Ocon with it all to do then as the first of the hotlaps got underway. Disaster for Schumacher as he lost it between T12 and T13 which resulted in a massive impact, all 4 corners torn off the car and once again, out came the red flags and into the pits they went. Medical car was dispatched and even though it looked as if he had raised his visor as the car, or what was left of it, ground to a halt, they had yet to show more than a single replay.

5 minutes left in the session, so effectively, once again a single lap shootout to make the glories of Q3 once the session restarted. During the extended rest, Alpha Tauri was seen making some repairs to their car and then the good news that Schumacher was conscious and out of the car, though definitely on his way to the hospital. AS the car was loaded onto the crane, the entire rear of the car tore off, rear wheels and gearbox falling to the ground, presenting a new challenge to the marshals. And then the JCB rolled off with the rear of the car still sat firmly on track, so now apparently doing the job in two parts. Soon enough the second JCB was along, and then it was the turn of the cement dust spreaders and barrier repair.

Happily enough, there were shots of a smiling Schumacher talking to the medical centre staff, and at last a replay was shown, in which it was clear that the car had gotten the rears up onto the kerb, which was high enough reduce traction to the rear and send him directly across into the wall.

KMAG lined up with a minute to go before the track reopened, followed by Leclerc. As the seconds ticked down, it was Sainz next and Bottas. Gasly, Ocon with no real time yet followed, then Norris, Ricciardo and Verstappen. Out of the final corner rocketed Magnussen and he was off. And into T13 he backed off as, perhaps too much traffic loomed.

Not so for Norris, and across the line it was still P8, but an improvement in time. Russell was not improving either and it was Ocon and Magnussen, now on their final runs as the last seconds ran off the clock. P7 for Magnussen then P8 for Ocon, and neither Ricciardo nor Zhou could do the business, leaving Russell P10 and Norris first of the losers, out of Q3 by 0.033 seconds…

Done for the day then were Norris, Ricciardo, Zhou, Schumacher and Stroll, off in search of some Saudi Champagne (non-alcoholic natch) to soothe their wounded egos. The rest prepared to tilt for the ultimate palmares in Q3.

Leclerc, Verstappen and Sainz decided to put all their cards on the table upfront in the battle of the bankers, and they were first off when the track went green. Gasly, Ocon and Magnussen were next up with Alonso trailing them. A distant Perez then rolled off with Bottas trailing and Russell remained in the pits as Verstappen decided to go round for another prep lap as the Ferraris flew past. It was Sainz taking Sector 1 from Leclerc, before Leclerc responded, wresting Sector 2 away. Across the line and it was Sainz, by a paltry 0.044 seconds to the top. Ocon to P3 with Alonso just behind, then Gasly and Magnussen as Perez could only slot in behind Leclerc but ahead of Ocon, a tenth and a half down on Sainz. Verstappen had a huge loss in the first sector and did not look to be making it up throughout the rest of the lap, and P6 was the best he could do. As he hustled back to the pits Russell was out to take advantage of a clear track with his only set of new Softs. P5, splitting the Alpines as behind Bottas had set his sights on Ocon as well, but P6 was the best he could do and that was likely the best he would do, as he, too, had burned his only set of new Softs.

3 minutes left and once more round the track, Ferraris again leading the way, Leclerc ahead of Sainz as they crossed the line and this time round it was a purple first sector for Leclerc. Oooooh and S2 purple for Leclerc as well and matching his time in the final sector rocked across the line 0.177 seconds ahead of Sainz, with only Perez left on track and THERE IT WAS, purpling the final sectors for the Red Bull driver and taking pole by 0.025 seconds while behind, Verstappen could only displace Ocon in P4.

Winners then, Red Bull, with Perez on pole and Verstappen P4 they are in with a shout, but Verstappen not the happiest of campers as he still seemed to be a bit cross purposed with his team regarding the tyre warmup and prep. And certainly, it must be said, 0.261 seconds slower than Perez when it mattered most. Ferrari exuded the quiet confidence of a team that knows they have race pace in hand and are nearly as quick on single lap pace, with Sainz making the interesting observation that for him, he preferred the scrubbed tyres to the new, for the feel they provided.

Alpine will be thoroughly delighted with a P5 and P7, especially after Ocon’s recovery in Q2 from the impeding incident with Ricciardo to make Q3. Being split by a Mercedes should be fun and Alonso has, in the past, demonstrated a certain affinity for starts that might indeed liven things up a bit.

Alfa will be pleased as well, with Bottas again putting in the respectable effort and the other Alpha, with Gasly keeping them in the midfield battle. Though I expect they will be a bit nonplussed about the fact that Tsunoda was unable to turn a single lap as a reported fuel issue sidelined him.

That leaves HAAS, with Magnussen not happy with his performance but telling the team the car felt good, though the larger celebration will be the simple fact that Schumacher was awake, talking and had no reported injuries, though the severity of the impact meant a trip to the hospital for some precautionary scans. Still, given the issues for Magnussen yesterday it was a pretty stonking result and it was clear that the sharp end of the midfield was a reasonable target for the second race running.

Tomorrow’s race is predicted to be a two stopper, with Medium-Hard-Medium being the quickest way round the circuit, though the Soft tyre reportedly lasts almost as long as the Medium, so the opportunity for a midfielder to play a joker is there for the taking.

The fight at the front is intriguing, since the cars fundamentally make time across the lap in different way, even more so if one of the teams opts to split strategy. As to the midfield, well, given barely two tenths covers P5 to P8 one would think it’s not exactly going to be boring though as always the Racing Gods will have the final say.

Discuss!!

And Remember, Play Nice in the Comments!