The final Briton on the grid, Haas driver Oliver Bearman, will start last after a difficult weekend.
His gearbox failed on his first lap out of the pits in qualifying, after a crash in second practice and a spin into the gravel in the final session cost him track time at the start of his first full season.
Of the six rookies on the grid, the most impressive performance came from Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto, who out-qualified his experienced Sauber team-mate Nico Hulkenberg with 15th place, the German two spots further back.
Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli, 18, and Red Bull’s Liam Lawson were both eliminated in the first part of qualifying. Antonelli, who will start 16th, said gravel on a kerb damaged the floor of his car, while Lawson went off track and is two places further back.
World champion Verstappen said he did not believe he could have made the difference to beat the McLarens even with a perfect lap.
“Yesterday was quite tough so to be in P3, I take that,” he said. “The qualifying laps were very exciting, a lot of good grip around here and some fast corners so that’s always very fun in an F1 car.
“In the end the gap was quite big to them so it wouldn’t have made a difference in terms of position. Wet or dry, I don’t mind, but in the wet a lot of crazy things can happen.”
Bearman rued his errors in practice as he digested his weekend so far.
“I made my life very difficult by performing badly, not up to standard, in the practice sessions and the issue with the gearbox pretty much sums up the weekend,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Source link : https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/articles/c3d8zre0x9lo
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Publish date : 2025-03-15 06:49:50
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