The Latest Breaking News on Formula 1

Sainz went off at the final corner midway through the second part of qualifying which triggered a red flag stoppage, but the Ferrari driver was able to get going and complete an entire lap to return to the pits.

Immediately after the sprint race Leclerc said he wanted to speak to team-mate Sainz about his “over the limit” defensive driving when the pair appeared to clash at Turn 14.

Lando Norris warned that Max Verstappen’s ‘boring’ dominance of Formula One is in danger of turning fans away

Alonso impressed in Shanghai by beating the McLaren and Ferrari cars to third in Q3, the best-of-the-rest spot behind the dominant Red Bulls of polesitter Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

The championship leader had rarely looked beatable throughout the session and ploughed a lonely furrow in pursuit of pole position, particularly as nobody had been able to beat his opening 1m33.977s effort - let alone his ultimate pole lap.

The championship leader had rarely looked beatable throughout the session and ploughed a lonely furrow in pursuit of pole position, particularly as nobody had been able to beat his opening 1m33.977s effort - let alone his ultimate pole lap.

Verstappen will start ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

Following a season-opening race in Qatar that ran without interruption from safety cars, there is widespread expectation that Imola’s tight and undulating nature may conspire to produce incidents that the open, flowing nature of the Losail International Circuit helped negate.

The Spaniard was locked in a tight fight with the Ferraris for third place in the closing stages of the Shanghai sprint event, as he battled rapidly degrading tyres.