Oscar Piastri finished on pole for this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola. The pole position comes yet again at the expense of his teammate Lando Norris who has slowly found himself falling behind in the championship race despite being the favorite at the beginning of the season. “It’s always a great feeling to be on Pole,” sand Piastri. “It was a really good session, tougher with the Red Flags, but I am very happy with the job we’ve done. The tires have been trickier today, but the team did a fantastic job to get the car into a nice window. I’m excited for tomorrow.”
Norris had an contrasting view on the day saying, “A frustrating day for me, the car was good so it’s disappointing not to qualify higher. I’ll work hard tonight with the team to see where we can fight to create opportunities to move forward in tomorrow’s race. We should have strong race pace and there’s still plenty to play for.”
Tsunoda Suffers Major Crash, Verstappen Settle for P2
Yuki Tsunoda failed to set a time in Q1 after a major crash that left the car inverted. Tsunoda attributed the crash to pushing the car too hard after getting caught up on the curbing. He avoided injury in the incident. “Thankfully, I am physically okay and feel fine,” said Tsunoda. “We made quite a lot of changes to the car from FP3 to Qualifying, I just overdid it and pushed too hard on the lap and took too much curb and lost the car. It is frustrating and unfortunately was a stupid mistake that has caused big work and effort for the mechanics. The car felt quick before and I know what went wrong and it’s just an unfortunate situation to be in. Big apologies to the team, and we will look at the damage and hopefully the car will be good for tomorrow in the race.”
Qualifying Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|
| 1 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 1:15.500 | 1:15.214 | 1:14.670 | 18 |
| 2 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:15.175 | 1:15.394 | 1:14.704 | 17 |
| 3 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:15.852 | 1:15.334 | 1:14.807 | 17 |
| 4 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 1:15.894 | 1:15.261 | 1:14.962 | 19 |
| 5 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:15.695 | 1:15.442 | 1:15.431 | 19 |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams Mercedes | 1:15.987 | 1:15.198 | 1:15.432 | 21 |
| 7 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 1:16.123 | 1:15.521 | 1:15.473 | 20 |
| 8 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:15.817 | 1:15.497 | 1:15.581 | 21 |
| 9 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls Honda RBPT | 1:16.253 | 1:15.510 | 1:15.746 | 17 |
| 10 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 1:15.937 | 1:15.505 | 1:15.787 | 17 |
| 11 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:16.108 | 1:15.604 | | 14 |
| 12 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:16.163 | 1:15.765 | | 14 |
| 13 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:15.943 | 1:15.772 | | 13 |
| 14 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:16.340 | 1:16.260 | | 15 |
| 15 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine Renault | 1:16.256 | | | 5 |
| 16 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls Honda RBPT | 1:16.379 | | | 6 |
| 17 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:16.518 | | | 9 |
| 18 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas Ferrari | 1:16.613 | | | 9 |
| 19 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas Ferrari | 1:16.918 | | | 8 |
| NC | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | DNF | | | 2 |
| Note – Tsunoda failed to set a time in Q1 and races at the Stewards’ discretion. Colapinto was handed a one-place grid drop for failing to follow the Race Director’s instructions. |