Much of the qualifying session looked to be going Ferrari's way, but it wasn't clear which of the two drivers would get the advantage. In the final session, Kimi Räikkönen set the benchmark time and then went even faster so that no one could beat him. Vettel settled for second, with Bottas and Verstappen on the second row of the grid.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton was struggling with his car, uncomfortable through the first two sessions and he missed out on Q3 when yellow flags curtailed his final run. Those flags were brought out by Vandoorne, who had got his McLaren into the top ten but then crashed into the wall and was unable to participate.