Oscar Piastri puts himself in a good position to extend his championship lead as he goes fastest in Imola while Norris goes 4th.
Q1
The first session of qualifying was very stop-start as multiple crashes took place.
Yuki Tsunoda was the first to crash, having a big incident early into Q1. He has spun his car coming out of the Villeneuve chicane, hitting the barriers with the rear of his car, which quickly shifted round to the front as the car also spun round onto it’s top. It was a big crash that Tsunoda was lucky to climb out of seemingly unharmed.
Franco Colapinto would be the next to crash, making his return to F1 after replacing Jack Doohan at Alpine. His crash came late into the session, having just dipped a tyre onto the grass and losing control at the first chicane.
Colapinto had been quick enough to make it through to Q2 at the time, but the red flag meant that no one in the elimination zone could make a proper challenge to escape it, with Barman being so close to having crossed the line when the session was stopped.
ELIMINATED
16. Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls +0.039
17. Nico Hulkenberg – Kick Sauber +0.178
18. Esteban Ocon – Haas +0.273
19. Ollie Bearman – Haas +0.578
20. Yuki Tsunoda – Red Bull NO TIME
Q2
It was not a good day to be an Italian fan of F1 today. Firstly, Andrea Kimi Antonelli was knocked out in Q2, having already been on the bubble after the first round of laps.
Then, both Ferrari drivers found themselves getting knocked out as well, having reported issues with the brakes for much of the weekend so far.
The Aston Martins demonstrated a significant gain in pace in Q2, having received an upgrade package going into the weekend. Both Alonso and Stroll made their way into Q3, having done so on the medium tyres.
ELIMINATED
11. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari +0.083
12. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari +0.244
13. Andrea Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes +0.251
14. Gabriel Bortoleto – Kick Sauber +0.739
15. Franco Colapinto – Alpine NO TIME
Q3
Due to the exits of some of the bigger names, Q3 looked to be an exciting prospect, especially with how close in performance the cars have been so far this season.
Verstappen had taken the early provisional pole position, with Oscar Piastri only half a tenth behind, and Norris in third.
However, Piastri would snatch pole away with their final qualifying runs, even after having to manage some traffic. Verstappen had gone a little quicker, while Norris failed to go faster, and was eventually dropped to fourth by George Russell.
Carlos Sainz had been quick throughout qualifying, going fastest in Q2. He would finish Q3 in 6th between Alonso and his teammate Albon.
Qualifying results
1. Oscar Piastri – McLaren 1:14.670
2. Max Verstappen – Red Bull +0.034
3. George Russell – Mercedes +0.137
4. Lando Norris – McLaren +0.292
5. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin +0.761
6. Carlos Sainz – Williams +0.762
7. Alex Albon – Williams +0.803
8. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin +0.911
9. Isack Hadjar – Racing Bulls +1.076
10. Pierre Gasly – Alpine +1.117
