Verstappen complained that the delay had allowed other drivers to demote him from the top 10.

“I find it incredible,” Verstappen said. “The car crashes into the wall, broken. It’s clearly destroyed, but they wait 30 to 40 seconds and the others can complete their lap times and of course the ones behind can’t.”

“The car hits the wall, it has to be completely red, I don’t understand why it takes 30, 40 seconds for the red flag to go out. It’s so stupid to talk about it. It’s ridiculous.”

In fact, a review of the session suggests it made no difference to Verstappen.

He was tenth when Stroll crashed, after a poor lap following a restart after the red flag period for Sainz’s accident early in the session.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crossed the line to push Verstappen to 11th just two seconds later, well within the normal range for a yellow flag to turn red after a heavy crash.

Leclerc finished qualifying sixth, with Albon, who had been second before his accident, dropping to seventh, ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Alonso and Stroll.

Williams ran out of time to repair Albon’s car and withdrew him from the grand prix, but Colapinto will make it to the race, while Sainz will start from the pit lane after Ferrari changed his engine and gearbox.

Verstappen begins the race with a 44-point lead over Norris in the championship with four races remaining.

The race will start as planned at 15:30 UK time (12:30 local time), despite delays in qualifying, following an agreement between the teams and the FIA ​​on Saturday night to ensure that can contest before the expected worst weather arrives later in the afternoon.