Dramatic Qualifying at Imola: Piastri Takes Pole, Ferrari Falters

Oscar Piastri dramatically secured pole position for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, edging out Max Verstappen in a tense qualifying session. The event saw both Ferrari drivers eliminated before Q3 and featured two significant crashes.

Piastri`s fastest lap was just 0.034 seconds ahead of Verstappen`s. Piastri, the championship leader, will aim to extend his lead over McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who qualified fourth, just behind George Russell in third. Norris couldn`t improve on his final run, setting up a challenging race day on Sunday.

The home crowd was silenced as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were surprisingly knocked out in Q2, placing 11th and 12th respectively. This result marked Ferrari`s worst qualifying performance at Imola in recent history.

The session was interrupted by two crashes. Yuki Tsunoda had a frightening high-speed incident in Q1, his car flipping after hitting the barrier, though he thankfully walked away unharmed. Alpine`s Franco Colapinto also crashed during his first outing for the team in Q1.

Fernando Alonso secured his best grid slot of the hypothetical 2025 season, qualifying fifth for Aston Martin. The text then mentions “Williams pair Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon,” who qualified sixth and seventh respectively, ahead of Lance Stroll in eighth. Racing Bulls` Isack Hadjar impressed, taking ninth, with Pierre Gasly tenth for Alpine.

Piastri Proves He`s the Driver to Beat

McLaren showed strong form in practice, but Max Verstappen was a key challenger in qualifying. After the initial Q3 runs, Verstappen led slightly, but Piastri`s superb final lap secured pole with a time of 1:14.670. Verstappen improved but fell short by a mere 0.034s, continuing the season`s trend of tight pole margins (under a tenth in all races except Bahrain).

Piastri commented on successfully tuning the car for qualifying and was pleased with his lap, despite traffic in the final corner. He was okay being the first car out in the final run due to a large gap ahead.

Lando Norris, who had strong pace earlier, couldn`t match the performance jump of his rivals in Q3, losing time in “a couple of corners” according to team principal Andrea Stella. Mercedes` decision to use medium tires for Russell`s last run paid off, disadvantaging Norris, who will start near strong competitors like Alonso and Sainz.

More Ferrari Misery on Home Soil

The upgrades Ferrari introduced didn`t help at their home race, resulting in both drivers missing Q3 for the first time this year. Hamilton expressed devastation and apologized, while a frustrated Leclerc aired his dismay over the radio, repeating “my god” several times. Hamilton felt the car had improved throughout the weekend with better balance and brakes, but new tires in Q2 didn`t provide the expected grip, unlike competitors. He noted the need to investigate this issue.

Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli was 13th for Mercedes, ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) and Franco Colapinto (Alpine), who crashed, triggering a red flag at the first chicane. Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore had previously commented that Colapinto needed to be fast and score points, though without a strict race limit. Haas driver Oliver Bearman missed Q2 as his lap was invalidated because it was completed after the red flag for Colapinto`s crash.

Tsunoda Walks Away from Scary Flip

The most dramatic moment of qualifying occurred in Q1 when Yuki Tsunoda suffered a high-speed crash at Turn 5. His RB car hit the barrier hard and flipped over. Fortunately, Tsunoda was able to walk away from the significant accident and will start the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from the back of the grid.

Emilia Romagna GP Qualifying Summary