Lewis Hamilton has smashed the qualifying track record ahead of a surprising Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas.
Lance Stroll (Williams) will have a 5-positions grid penalty after having to change the gearbox of his Williams due to the accident he had in Free Practice 3. Kimi Räikkönen had to change his battery, but he’ll get no penalty. Also, Antonio Giovinazzi replaced Pascal Wehrlein in Sauber for the rest of the weekend.
Q1 : Most drivers went out on ultrasofts directly except for Ferrari, who went out on supersofts, and Ricciardo on softs. Vandoorne had power issues which made his session more complicated. After the first lap, Bottas was ahead, but Hamilton improved his teammate’s time shortly after. The eliminated drivers were, from P15 to P20: Giovinazzi, Magnussen, Vandoorne, Stroll (+5) and Palmer.
Q2 : With dark clouds and some raindrops threatening the dryness of the session, the Mercedes and Ferraris went out quickly to set a time. Bottas was this time ahead of Hamilton. The Ferraris were 2 tenths behind. Alonso complained about a lack of power, but was finally able to set the 13th fastest time. Pérez was out on P11 because of an engine issue in his last lap. The other eliminated drivers were Hülkenberg, Alonso, Ocon and Ericsson.
Q3 : Once again, the drivers go out on track quickly in order to avoid rain surprises. Hamilton had 3 tenths of advantage over Bottas and Vettel in his first attempt, while Räikkönen was further behind. The session was interrupted with a red flag due to an accident where Ricciardo lost the rear of his Red Bull and crashed against the wall.
With the session resumed, Bottas improved Hamilton‘s time, but the Brit hit back with a time 3 tenths faster than his previous one. Vettel was also able to get ahead of the Finn. Räikkönen and Verstappen were not at the same level and finished 4th and 5th. Grosjean did a wonderful lap for 6th and Massa, Sainz and Kvyat closed the top 9.