Oscar Piastri will start from pole position in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday. During an exciting qualifying session in Imola, the McLaren driver outpaced Max Verstappen and George Russell. Here’s a quick recap of the qualifying session.
Q1: Heavy Crashes for Tsunoda and Colapinto
The first part of the session is marred by a massive crash from Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver spins in the air with his RB21 so hard that he rotates around his axis. This results in a red flag and a lengthy delay, but most importantly, the Red Bull driver emerges unscathed. After the restart, Max Verstappen surprises with the fastest time. Is this a sign of things to come? At the end of the session, there’s another crash, this time from Colapinto. The session ends just at that moment, the Alpine debutant finishes fourteenth but does not participate in Q2.
Q1 Dropouts: Lawson, Hülkenberg, Ocon, Bearman, and Tsunoda
Q2: Ferrari’s Embarrassment, Antonelli also Exits
Ferrari embarrasses itself in its home country: both Hamilton and Leclerc are eliminated in Q2, causing a wave of dismay in the red-clad stands in Imola. The two will start Sunday’s race in eleventh and twelfth place respectively. In their shadow, local hero Kimi Antonelli also falls: the Italian finishes thirteenth. Surprisingly, Carlos Sainz posts the fastest time. He proves faster in the Williams than McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, with Verstappen trailing George Russell as the fifth to advance to the final part of the qualification. Notably, Aston Martin drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll impress and qualify for Q3 on medium tires.
Q2 Dropouts: Leclerc, Hamilton, Antonelli, Bortoleto, and Colapinto
Q3: Verstappen Falls Short
Will it be another pole for Verstappen? In the first run, he outperforms everyone, although the margin is only 0.049 seconds. It remains exciting until the end of Q3, and McLaren wants to set the record straight with Piastri and Norris. They succeed in the final run, albeit only in the person of Piastri. Verstappen ultimately has to concede 0.034 seconds, Norris has to tolerate George Russell ahead of him.
