Q1

The curse of the second Red Bull seat struck once again in this session, as Yuki Tsunoda struggled to get any real competitive lap in with his car. As a result, he qualified dead last, not the first time a Red Bull driver has done that this year.

Franco Colapinto has had something of a difficult return to the sport after replacing Jack Doohan at Imola. He appeared to have an issue with his car in the pitlane, which caused a traffic jam, before managing to crawl out onto the track, but only as far as the pit exit.

Carlos Sainz would have been hoping for a strong result in front of his home crowd, particularly with the strength that his Williams has shown so far this season. However, he was only able to qualify 18th.

ELIMINATED

16. Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber +0.051

17. Esteban Ocon – Haas +0.062

18. Carlos Sainz Jr. – Williams +0.064

19. Franco Colapinto – Alpine +0.195

20. Yuki Tsunoda – Red Bull +0.246

Q2

The other Spaniard on the grid had a much more positive time on track, as not only was Fernando Alonso able to get through Q1, he managed to also get through Q2 in an Aston Martin that hasn’t always looked particularly quick so far this season.

Williams’ poor qualifying continued in the second session, as Alex Albon was eliminated in 11th. This is the first time Williams have failed to have either of their cars in Q3 this season.

Gabriel Bortoleto can be proud of his efforts today, managing to pull his Sauber car into 12th place, his highest qualifying place in F1 so far.

ELIMINATED

11. Alex Albon – Williams +0.030

12. Gabriel Bortoleto – Sauber +0.145

13. Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls +0.152

14. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin +0.447

15. Oliver Bearman – Haas +0.704

Q3

There was much discussion heading to the weekend regarding the new technical directive on front wings, and how much they could impact McLaren in particular. They were quick to demonstrate that the pecking order had not changed.

Norris had initially set provisional pole position after everyone’s first runs, with Piastri second, Russell third and Verstappen fourth.

When it came to everyone’s final laps, Norris was able to improve but only marginally, while Piastri made a statement with his lap, going two tenths quicker than his teammate to secure pole position.

Verstappen would improve to take third, and while Hamilton was initially able to grab fourth, he was just beaten out by his former teammate George Russell.

Qualifying results

1. Oscar Piastri – McLaren 1:11.546

2. Lando Norris – McLaren +0.209

3. Max Verstappen – Red Bull +0.302

4. George Russell – Mercedes +0.302

5. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari +0.499

6. Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes +0.565

7. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari +0.585

8. Pierre Gasly – Alpine +0.653

9. Isack Hadjar – Racing Bulls +0.706

10. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin +0.738