Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix: Pole at Piastri
Sunny. Dry. Air +23C, highway +39...38C
It is difficult to overtake in Imola, the strategy is usually limited to one pit stop, so the starting position is very important. In the last ten races at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit, the pole holder has won five times, and those starting from the front row have won twenty of the 31 Grand Prix held here.
The free races were dominated by McLaren drivers. On Friday, it was World Championship leader Oscar Piastri, and on Saturday morning, Lando Norris drove a tenth faster than his teammate. Almost all the teams have prepared new items for the first European Grand Prix, and the qualification allowed us to assess the changes in the balance of power.
Pirelli brought a "soft" three trains to the stage, including the previously unused new C6 train, which became the main one in qualifying.
The first session was interrupted almost immediately due to Yuki Tsunoda's serious accident. The Red Bull Racing driver has been complaining about handling since the beginning of the weekend, and on the first fastest lap he did not keep the car in turn six, it flew through a gravel trap, crashed into a barrier with its rear end and turned around, landing on its wheels.
The session was stopped with red flags. Yuki got out of the car on his own and was sent to the medical center for a checkup. The car was evacuated, the barrier was restored. After 14 minutes, the riders continued to fight. Later, the team confirmed that Yuki was fine.
In the pit lane, Sauber mechanics released Hulkenberg's car right in front of Antonelli - the stewards took the incident into consideration.
There was another serious accident at the last minute. Alpine rookie Franco Colapinto crashed his car in Tamburello – it spun around and was thrown into a barrier. The rider was not injured, the session was stopped with red flags and decided not to continue.
Berman crossed the finish line at the same time as the red flag appeared. The stewards studied the recording for a long time and came to the conclusion that the session was stopped first, and then the rider completed the lap and did not count it.
Verstappen showed the best time, completing a lap in 1:15.175. Lawson, Hulkenberg, Okon, Berman and Tsunoda were eliminated from further competition.
The start of the second session was postponed twice due to the consequences of accidents - it was necessary to put the track in order.
In his first attempt, Piastri completed a lap in 1:15.241, topping the protocol and beating his teammate by two hundredths. Carlos Sainz unexpectedly showed the second best time, completing a lap in 1:15.198.
Both Ferrari drivers and Italian Antonelli dropped out of the competition on their home track – the new items did not help. Bortoleto and Colapinto did not make it to the finals with them.
In the final, Verstappen set a new benchmark in his first attempt – 1:14.772. On the second attempt, Russell, Alonso, and Stroll went to Medium, while the others left Soft. Piastri led the record with 1:14.670, Verstappen increased, but lost three hundredths, and Russell was ahead of Norris.
Oscar Piastri won qualifying at Imola, taking the third pole of his career and this season. Max Verstappen will share the front row with him, Russell and Norris will start from the second row, Alonso and Sainz from the third.
Qualification results
Pilot
Team
1st session
2nd session
3rd session
M
Time
Kr
M
Time
Kr
M
Time
Kr
1. O.Piastri
McLaren
2
1.15.500
6
2
1.15.214
6
1
1.14.670
6
2. M.Verstappen
Red Bull
1
1.15.175
5
5
1.15.394
6
2
1.14.704
6
3. D.Russell
Mercedes
5
1.15.852
5
4
1.15.334
6
3
1.14.807
6
4. L.Norris
McLaren
6
1.15.894
7
3
1.15.261
6
4
1.14.962
6
5. F.Alonso
Aston Martin
3
1.15.695
7
6
1.15.442
6
5
1.15.431
6
6. K.Sainz
Williams
9
1.15.987
9
1
1.15.198
6
6
1.15.432
6
7. A.Elbon
Williams
11
1.16.123
8
10
1.15.521
6
7
1.15.473
6
8. L.Stroll
Aston Martin
4
1.15.817
9
7
1.15.497
6
8
1.15.581
6
9. A.Hajjar
Racing Bulls
13
1.16.253
6
9
1.15.510
6
9
1.15.746
5
10. P.Gasli
Alpine
7
1.15.937
5
8
1.15.505
6
10
1.15.787
6
11. Sh.Leclair
Ferrari
10
1.16.108
8
11
1.15.604
6
12. L. Hamilton
Ferrari
12
1.16.163
8
12
1.15.765
6
13. K. Antonelli
Mercedes
8
1.15.943
7
13
1.15.772
6
14. The city of Bortoleto
Sauber
15
1.16.340
9
14
1.16.260
6
15. F.Colapinto
Alpine
14
1.16.256
5
15
–
0
16. L. Lawson
Racing Bulls
16
1.16.379
6
17. N. Hulkenberg
Sauber
17
1.16.518
9
18. E.Okon
Haas
18
1.16.613
9
19. O. Berman
Haas
19
1.16.918
8
Y.Tsunoda
Red Bull
20
–
2
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