QUALIFYING REPORT
Joining him on the sidelines as Q2 began
were Grosjean in P16 followed by Renault’s Kevin
Magnussen, Manor’s Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber’s
Felipe Nasr and the second Manor of Esteban Ocon.
Q2 saw the Mercedes make their customary
early impact – this time with both Rosberg and
Hamilton on soft tyres. They were joined in that
strategic gambit by Verstappen. Rosberg took P1
followed by Hamilton but they were pushed back by
Ricciardo who took P1 on supersofts with a time of
1:36.255.
The Mercedes drivers were followed by
Verstappen whose first run time on softs was a lap
of 1:36.857. That was better than 1.2 seconds clear
of then 10th-placed Alonso, so the question was
whether the Dutchman would get to stick with soft
tyres for the start or whether he would need to bolt
on the supersofts to guarantee passage to Q3.
The answer was quick in coming. As the final
runs began there was no sign of any movement in
the Red Bull garage and so Verstappen, as well as
Rosberg and Hamilton, will start the race on the soft
compound Pirelli tyre.
Verstappen ended the session in P7 with the
Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen
and the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg ahead.
Sainz put in a good performance to make Q3
in P8 for Toro Rosso after missing out on most of
FP3 due to punctures caused by problems with his
car and Williams’ Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa
completed the list of the those would battle in the
final session.
Out though went Sergio Perez in 11th place,
with the Mexican eliminated ahead of Alonso, Daniil
Kvyat in the second Toro Rosso, Haas’ Esteban
Gutierrez, Renault’s Jolyon Palmer and Sauber’s
Marcus Ericsson.