Leclerc led after the first runs in Q3, popping in his 1m18.239s seconds before Fernando Alonso crashed at Turn 11 – the right hander at the end of the back straight and the second DRS zone.
Alonso had just set a then best time in the middle sector when he lost the rear of his Alpine going through Turn 11, the Spaniard saying after he crashed having been sent into the gravel and then into the wall on the outside, that he had “lost the hydraulics” and “could not change gear”.
When the session resumed for the final Q3 runs – with all the qualifying running taking part on the soft tyres – Perez led the pack around, opting to leave earlier to take two flying laps while the rest built to a single final effort with two warm-up tours.
Perez’s second Q3 attempt ended up just 0.001s shy of Leclerc’s earlier effort, before Verstappen forged ahead of both on a 1m18.154s.
But Leclerc responded with purple sectors in the first and final thirds – Alonso retaining the best time in the…
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