Hamilton was blocking Verstappen: "You could see Verstappen thinking: fuck off with that thing."

Olav Mol noticed that Lewis Hamilton was blocking Max Verstappen after the red flag in Q1. The Dutchman exited the pit lane behind the Mercedes driver, and then Hamilton slowed down slightly. According to Mol, it was evident that Verstappen was irritated by this, but he still managed to make a statement by setting the fastest time. However, Sergio Pérez couldn't make the same statement, and Robert Doornbos had something to say about that.

Doornbos observed that Pérez was half a second behind his teammate and then emerged in Q1. Despite being penalized by the red flag, the Mexican still aimed to set a fast lap. However, his tires remained too cold in the end, and he couldn't accomplish his goal. "Pérez chose to go out first, he set his time first, and then everyone else followed. And then he dropped down," Doornbos began in Ziggo Sport's analysis. "Not making it to Q2...," the former Red Bull Racing driver sighed while shaking his head. "You have to flawlessly execute such an out lap in one go."

The Q1 exit for Pérez was a painful conclusion, while Red Bull would have greatly preferred a one-two finish. For a moment, it seemed like there would be no Red Bull driver on P1, as Verstappen crashed in the pit lane. "Yes, when you are a two-time world champion and leading the World Championship, you call that a mistake," Doornbos chuckled. "Perhaps a brief lapse in concentration. I believe those mechanics can laugh about it now," the Dutchman added. Once Verstappen returned to the track after the incident, he faced further challenges, with Lewis Hamilton ahead of him. "It felt like we were watching footage from 2021, but this time it was during an out lap in qualifying!" commented Doornbos.

Hamilton delayed Verstappen both in the pit lane and on the track. "Then the English driver focused on that for a while. Hamilton had a rather messy weekend, including a spin," Doornbos concluded. However, it was a disadvantage for Red Bull that the DRS could only be activated from Q3. The Austrian racing team has a significant DRS advantage, so it was evident that they lost that advantage. "Those small moments, along with the drop in track temperature by four degrees, made the difference," added Olav Mol. In those conditions, Verstappen and the McLaren drivers were able to maximize their performance, but Mercedes and Ferrari were not able to do so.

Mol: "You could see Verstappen thinking: fuck off with that thing"

Mol also observed that Hamilton was impeding Verstappen in the pit lane as time was running out. "You could see Verstappen thinking, "Damn it, move aside. I need to keep going,'" Mol said. Eventually, Verstappen managed to overtake Hamilton and set the fastest time in Q1. "It's his home race, after all. And of course, Toto Wolff had mentioned they would bring another update. Perhaps a front-row start was possible, but it didn't work out for McLaren," the commentator added. Similarly, Pérez didn't succeed in securing a spot on the first row. "As Marko had already said, 'You're making a fool of us,'" Doornbos added. "It all comes down to confidence, and it's quite evident that Pérez lacks that confidence, despite all his talking. On the other hand, Max and Jos Verstappen are drivers who can immediately deliver a fast lap," Mol concluded.