Max Verstappen claimed pole position in a qualifying sessions that belonged to McLaren with Lando Norris second and Oscar Piastri third.

Verstappen was again in a class of his own with McLaren emerging as next best in a complicated session that was initially impacted by the weather.

Norris and Piastri has shown well throughout the session, taking a starring role as the chequered flag fell.

Qualifying followed a Formula 2 race that had begun in wet conditions before drying.

The track was still wet, though there were vast dry sections around the 5.8km circuit.

It saw a mix of tyres as Qualifying 1 began, with some opting for intermediates and others softs.

The circuit was too dry for the grooved rubber, a point Charles Leclerc acknowledged over the radio as he toured immediately back to the pits for slick tyres.

The weather remained a threat, with overcast skies threatening to unload on the venue at any moment.

It’s why every driver was out early; being on track at the right time was far more important than fine-tuning set-up and running with optimal fuel for a single lap.

Key to that was tyre temperature and confidence.

That was perfectly demonstrated by Lewis Hamilton, who lost the back end of the Mercedes at Stowe at the end of his first flying lap.

He spun into the gravel on the outside of the corner but could keep the car moving and extricated himself.

An early lap was important as Logan Sargeant reported precipitation to the Williams pit wall.

Stowe was especially tricky, Max Verstappen having a lap deleted for track limits as he slid wide while Carlos Sainz had a wobble on his way to a time good enough for fifth.

Alex Albon also struggled for grip around the fast right-hander, running wide with six minutes remaining to have a 1:31.999 deleted.

That would have seen him 12th, but instead he languished in 19th.

Rain began to intensify with four minutes remaining; Red Bull fitted a new set of soft tyres for Sergio Perez while Williams sent Albon out for another run.

It was in vain as the red flag was thrown for a stricken Kevin Magnussen, whose Haas had rolled to a halt on the exit of Stowe.

Just over three minutes remained, though worsening conditions suggested the best of the conditions was gone.

Magnussen was 16th at the time, the first to be eliminated from proceedings, followed by Zhou Guanyu, Logan Sargeant, Valtteri Bottas, and Albon.

Perez was only 14th, safe by just 0.2s, which left Red Bull nervous enough to park the Mexican at pit exit well before race control advised the session would restart.

Exiting the garage, Verstappen clouted the pit wall and broke the front wing in the process.

He was pushed back into the garage and had a new wing fitted before heading back out to join the queue at pit exit.

After 11 minutes under red flags, Perez led the field back out of the lane with three minutes remaining.

Verstappen, meanwhile, was only on track with 100 seconds left in the session.

The Dutchman, Hamilton, and Pierre Gasly were in a group well off the back of the train that had headed out of the lane.

Conditions had not deteriorated as feared, with Perez going fastest with a 1:29.958s.

That was quickly and sensationally beaten by Albon, with Sargeant slotting in second.

Valtteri Bottas then popped up into second, dropping to third as Lando Norris went quickest.

It highlighted the improvement in the track and the need to be on track for all drivers.

As the order took shake, Perez dropped down the order, ending up 16th and eliminated from Qualifying.

He was joined by Yuki Tsunoda, Zhou Guanyu, Nyck de Vries, and Magnussen.

After the red flag, Bottas stopped on track, ending his session and delaying the start of Qualifying 2.

When the cars were released back on track, they did so with the sun shining.

The track was drying rapidly though it remained slippery as the rubber laid down on Friday had been washed away.

It was a less chaotic session as conditions stabilised with the early running, for the most part, taking place on used soft tyres.

Norris set the early pace with a provisional pole time of 1:29.427s after his initial lap.

That tumbled down the order as others completed their laps, including Albon, who shot to second best, 0.1s down on Alonso, who’d gone fastest with eight minutes remaining.

Sargeant and Lance Stroll had their times deleted for exceeding track limits at Stowe.

With his second run, Oscar Piastri went fastest with a 1:28.567s – 0.003s faster than Verstappen had managed seconds prior.

The track was ramping up as the sun continued to shine, Norris going fastest with a 1:28.042s.

It left him 0.5s clear of Hamilton, who’d inched ahead of Piastri, McLaren sitting first and third with three minutes left in the session.

Inside the final lap, Leclerc rose to second after encountering traffic in Club at the end of the lap.

That became fourth as Sainz went faster, as did Albon to sit second, 0.025s down on Norris in a McLaren-Williams one-two.

Track evolution was extreme as the chequered flag waved, Verstappen topping the session from Piastri, Norris, and Albon.

Nico Hulkenberg, Stroll, Esteban Ocon, Sargeant, and Bottas were eliminated and never took part in the session.

Verstappen headed into Qualifying 3 with a tyre advantage, holding two new sets of the soft compound rubber while the rest were on used tyres for their initial run.

Conditions had continued to improve with the threat of rain had dissipated, the circuit basked in sunshine.

The initial laps saw Verstappen, unsurprisingly, fastest with a 1:27.084s.

That left him with a 0.6s margin over Hamilton, who was second best and just 0.04s clear of Piastri who was third.

Norris couldn’t execute at the first time of asking and sat 10th with a time 1.330s off the outright pace.

With three minutes remaining, the field headed back out of the lane for the final flurry; all 10 remaining drivers had new soft tyres at their disposal.

The Ferrari pair were at the head of the queue, Leclerc followed by Sainz.

They sat fourth and fifth as they began their laps, the Monegasque driver going fastest of anyone through the opening third of the lap.

He climbed onto the front row, 0.052s off Verstappen’s best.

A stunning lap from Norris saw the McLaren driver briefly hold provisional pole, losing out to Verstappen but holding on to second.

He was supported by Piastri in third, pushing Leclerc to fourth.

Then came Sainz, George Russell, Hamilton, Albon, Alonso, and Gasly.