Early in the morning (for the UK and Europe) we had a very exciting qualifying session with some interesting talking points and more than a few unexpected surprises.

Red Bull: As has become a running theme already, Max Verstappen dominated qualifying and took a relatively easy pole. The same cannot be said, however, for Perez who failed to even set a time after car issues forced him into the gravel.

Mercedes: A shock turn of form for Mercedes as they suddenly found some pace to put them second and third. Russell continues his mastery over Hamilton with a 3-0 qualifying record putting him on the front row.

Aston Martin: Surprised to be pipped by Mercedes, Aston Martin are closing the gap to Red Bull with Alonso running well for P4 with Stroll also putting in a strong time for P6.

Ferrari: A pair of Spaniards together with Sainz in P5 after a good lap. Leclerc was disadvantaged by Ferrari’s poor planning (shock horror) and could only manage P7.

Williams: A tale of two halves for Williams as Albon pulled it out of the bag with a shock appearance in Q3 and P8 on the grid. Sargeant spun which cost him time and left him P18.

Alpine: A good day for Gasly as he made it through to Q3 with P9. Ocon wasn’t far behind in P11.

Haas: A decent day for the Haas team as Hulkenberg did well for P10 in Q3 and Magnussen was P14.

AlphaTauri: A great performance for AlphaTauri as both cars made it into Q3. Tsunoda was the leader of the pair taking P12 while De Vries was close behind in P15.

McLaren: A less than impressive day for the home hero as the best Piastri could manage was P16 – probably not what the fans were hoping for. Norris fared better with a good lap that put him through to Q2 and then P13.

Alfa Romeo: Another year, another dearth of notable performances for Alfa Romeo. Bottas was P19 while Zhou did slightly better in P17.

Do comment your thoughts below.