Perez secures pole as Leclerc crash prompts red flag

Perez logged a 1m26.841s amid the first flying runs in Q3 to take the early advantage on the timing board, as Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen went wide through Turn 5 and aborted his initial run – retreating to the pitlane.

Leclerc, meanwhile, tapped the wall on the exit of Turn 16 and then suffered a lock-up at the following corner, which proved only enough for seventh after the initial set of runs.

The two thus had work to do in order to move themselves up the order, and began their final runs to try and overturn Perez’s bid for a second pole position of 2023.

While Leclerc began his lap in rambunctious fashion, he overcooked it on the exit of Turn 6 and lost the rear to spin into the wall. This immediately brought out a set of double-waved yellows in the opening sector, but the session was red flagged with one minute and 36 seconds left on the clock and not restarted.

This cemented Perez’s pole and denied Verstappen, who had topped both Q1 and Q2, a chance to bite back for pole – much to the Dutchman’s frustration.

Fernando Alonso claimed his first front-row start of the season alongside Perez, thanks to his own strong performance after the opening set of runs – and hailed the Aston Martin’s balance as “perfect” following the session.

The Spaniard starts ahead of compatriot Carlos Sainz on Sunday’s grid, as the Ferrari driver managed to produce a steady lap amid the opening set of runs. Kevin Magnussen joins him on the second row of the grid, the Dane nailing his first attempt as Haas continued to look impressive throughout qualifying.

Pierre Gasly took fifth ahead of George Russell, who broke through into Q3 by the skin of his teeth, while Leclerc was seventh fastest prior to his crash.

Esteban Ocon ensured two Alpines made the top 10, with Verstappen and Bottas failing to set representative times in the final part of qualifying.

Lewis Hamilton was the big-ticket elimination from Q2, only managing to secure 13th in the session as the Mercedes drivers spent most of the second part of qualifying in the drop zone.

Russell managed to progress into the top 10, but Hamilton was unable to extract the same degree of pace from the W14 and missed out on Q3 by two tenths – the seven-time champion feeling that the team went too late in search of progression to the final part of qualifying.

Alex Albon was dumped out of qualifying by Russell, who was just half a tenth ahead…