At a circuit packed with medium speed corners, where downforce is king, it would have been silly to bet against one of the McLaren cars grabbing a comfortable pole. Silly... yet correct.
Until Q2, though, the prospect of a McLaren defeat looked remote. Lando Norris headed Oscar Piastri by half a tenth, with a surprisingly quick Aston Martin of Lance Stroll third. The two McLarens were the only cars to dip below the 1m15s mark, while eventual polesitter Charles Leclerc was almost six tenths off after a lacklustre 1m15.6s lap put him sixth.
