Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon are the first drivers to add a time to the board, the Alpine quicker than Haas.

An opening flyer has also come in from Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri, who both look quick in this qualifying session. But it's Max Verstappen, again, who goes straight to the top, banking a 1:04.426.

This is a race track where you can overtake, but it is not easy, so qualifying and your starting position for the race is definitely meaningful.

The excitement in Esteban Ocon's voice when the Frenchman was told he had made it through to Q3. Where will the Alpine qualify for tomorrow's race? We'll find out shortly.

Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, heads out of the Mercedes garage and almost takes a couple of bits of important equipment with him.

Here comes the pole fight. Q3 is green.

Daniel Ricciardo heads back to the RB garage and asks his team how much did he miss the top-10 shootout by? "It's nothing, like 10 milliseconds," comes the reply.

It is not that it’s the the lap time is so far out of the blue but Verstappen is by far the only driver who has been able to replicate that.

Has Verstappen got a car that favours qualifying to make pole position at all costs? Are the likes of Norris set up more for a race perspective where they are going to look after their tyres and it comes back to favour them?

Carlos Sainz in P2 and George Russell in P3 clocked the exact same time of 1:05.016 in Q2.

Max Verstappen was the quickest driver in that session, finishing his run over half a second faster than Sainz's Ferrari.

11. Daniel Ricciardo (RB)

12. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

13. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

14. Yuki Tsunoda (RB)

15. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

Lewis Hamilton gains a few places in the dying moments of this second session and moves up to third spot, but George Russell is able to take the position back to push the seven-time world champion into fourth.

Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo are both in danger. Can the two drivers make it to the pole shootout? Nope!

Fernando Alonso is bottom of the pile in P15 and has been on the team radio to Aston Martin to say he nearly crashed in Turns Seven and Turn.

If you look at the team-mates of the leaders, we would expect to see Hamilton further up. Perez has been struggling and I would have expected a lot more from Leclerc.

RB's Yuki Tsunoda is into the elimination pack along with the two Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg.

Good lap from Russell. Hamilton was towing Russell round but still not quite enough to match the Red Bull of Verstappen.

Half a second doesn’t sound like much but it is a lot.

11. Charles Leclerc

12. Kevin Magnussen

13. Fernando Alonso

14. Pierre Gasly

15. Carlos Sainz

It is all about compromising some corners to maximise others when we talk about the set up of the car.

George Russell is able to climb above his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, but the Briton isn't quite able to challenge Max Verstappen's marker. Oscar Piastri also swipes Hamilton's spot, placing his McLaren third on the timesheets.

The rest of the stragglers now head out to begin their Q2 running. Monaco Grand Prix winner Charles Leclerc is the man to beat - which Max Verstappen certainly will with his first attempt.

Verstappen banks a new time of 1:04.577 with Lewis Hamilton slotting into second place.

All drivers on the soft tyres.

The two Alpines are first to present their times to the group, with Esteban Ocon the fastest of the pair with a 1:05.582.

Carlos Sainz slips into fourth on the timesheets, while Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc goes top, 0.050 seconds quicker than Ocon.

"I picked up a lot of bouncing on that lap," Sainz tells his pit wall.

Quickest car in Q1, Carlos Sainz, is out early and searching for the perfect gap to start his first flying lap. The Spaniard is joined by Pierre Gasly, his team-mate Charles Leclerc, and Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly for Alpine out on track.

Because the sprint format has changed and teams are able to change their cars, it is almost like a normal grand prix weekend.

It allows the teams to correct their mistakes.