Alonso displaced Verstappen at the top of the timesheets with his final lap. The Dutchman was more than 0.2 seconds behind after the first two sectors of his last attempt but a stunning final few corners saw him take pole position by 0.084secs. Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez, the Dutchman’s only vague title rival, crashed in the first session and will start last. Competitive throughout qualifying, Alonso displaced Verstappen at the top of the times after his first run in the top 10 shoot-out, only for the Dutchman to go back on top with a second lap on his first set of tyres.

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