The Latest Breaking News from Nico Hulkenberg

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fastest in FP1 but he crashed out of FP2, which was topped by Verstappen.

Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas set the initial pace with a 1m26.993s, but that was rapidly bettered by a series of quicker times from Zhou Guanyu, Fernando Alonso, Hamilton and Lando Norris, as first place benchmark was 10s lower by the end of the opening five minutes of the one-hour…

His team-mate Sergio Perez led from pole position, running medium tyres like the majority of the field, while Verstappen started ninth on hards after his qualifying woes restricted him to ninth on the grid.

The Dutchman won from ninth on the grid, after losing out on a shot to set a qualifying time on Saturday after botching his first run, and was denied a further chance by Charles Leclerc's late-session crash.

The Dutchman won from ninth on the grid, after losing out on a shot to set a qualifying time on Saturday after botching his first run, and was denied a further chance by Charles Leclerc's late-session crash.

Perez logged a 1m26.841s amid the first flying runs in Q3 to take the early advantage on the timing board, as Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen went wide through Turn 5 and aborted his initial run - retreating to the pitlane.

Perez will start ahead of Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) in Sunday’s race after the one-hour qualifying session on Saturday, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

Perez logged a 1m26.841s amid the first flying runs in Q3 to take the early advantage on the timing board, as Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen went wide through Turn 5 and aborted his initial run - retreating to the pitlane.

Esteban Ocon was first on track and first to set a lap, posting a 1m31.125s on the medium compound which proved to be enough for an early edge over Lewis Hamilton on softs.