Verstappen was 0.037 seconds ahead, with his team-mate Sergio Perez third and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz fourth. Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso did not do runs on the fastest ‘soft’ tyre. Qualifying at 14:00 UK time will set the grid for the main grand prix on Sunday, while a second qualifying session will run on Saturday to set the grid for the ‘sprint’ race later that day. Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda spun and punctured a tyre at Turn Two. Leclerc went off twice without harm, locking up at Turn Seven and then Turn Two.

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