Oscar Piastri has grabbed his third career pole position for McLaren at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix by taking the P1 away from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Mercedes driver George Russell will start in P3 ahead of Lando Norris.
After the first series of Q3 runs Verstappen led the way with a lap time of one minute, 14.772 seconds, half a tenth up on Piastri and two tenths ahead of Norris.
On his final attempt, championship leader Piastri lost out to Verstappen in sector one, but a better second and third sectors allowed the McLaren driver to set a time of one minute, 14.670 secoinds to provisionally snatch pole away from the world champion, despite a messy final corner.
Verstappen threatened to challenge with a purple first sector but lost too much time in the final two segments and it became a full one-tenth deficit. The Red Bull driver improved second effort was 0.034 seconds shy of pole, with Piastri starting from the front for the third time in 2025.
Meanwhile, Mercedes driver George Russell beat the second McLaren of Lando Norris to third, with Fernando Alonso a sensational fifth for Aston Martin.
Both Aston Martin drivers advanced to Q3 by using Pirelli’s mediums – the C5 compound – which proved sturdier than the newly introduced C6 tyre, which was a handful to keep alive over an entire qualifying lap.
It allowed Alonso to claim his best starting position of what has been a difficult season so far, ahead of Williams duo Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.
Lance Stroll was eighth, with Racing Bulls man Isack Hadjar and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completing the top ten.
Ferrari’s desire to show well at its first of two 2025 races on home ground, and potentially Imola’s Formula 1 farewell weekend, but unfortunately both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were eliminated out in Q2.
Leclerc and Hamilton qualified P11 and P12 respectively after failing to improve on their final flyer with the soft tyres – Leclerc missing the cut by less than a tenth, with Hamilton a further tenth and a half.
On the subject of home race disappointment, Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli also suffered a difficult afternoon, only in P13, followed by Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Colapinto.
Q1 was red-flagged twice for crashes by Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine debutant Franco Colapinto.
With 13 minutes on the clock Tsunoda suffered a violent accident into Turn 5’s fast Villeneuve chicane at the end of the first sector. Tsunoda lost control over his car and spun backwards into the gravel trap, which sent his Red Bull into a barrel roll. Fortunately the Japanese driver was able to jump out unhurt.
The final Q1 runs saw another crash for Franco Colapinto, who replaces Jack Doohan at Alpine from this weekend onwards.
Colapinto dipped onto the grass at the exit of the first corner complex of Tamburello, spinning off and hitting the tyre wall head on at reduced speed. The Alpine driver escaped unhurt, with his accident ending Q1 early.
Colapinto had advanced to Q2 and eventually qualified P15 but will likely get a grid penalty for being released into the pitlane early under the first red flag, with a similar incident in Bahrain costing Mercedes duo Russell and Antonelli a one-place grid drop.
As a result of Colapinto’s accident, Liam Lawson was unable to complete a final flyer, dumping him out in P16. The Racing Bulls man was joined by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Haas duo of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman.
Bearman felt he had completed his final lap before the red flag came out, but following checks by race control his lap time – which would have easily been enough for Q2 – was not reinstated.
So after two red flags, the qualifying session turned out to be exciting and yet the end result was that Oscar Piastri taking pole position for McLaren. With Max Verstappen on the front row, Sunday’s race will be interesting.
Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:14.670
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:14.704
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:14.807
4 Lando Norris McLaren 1:14.962
5 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:15.431
6 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:15.432
7 Alexander Albon Williams 1:15.473
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:15.581
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:15.746
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:15.787
11 Chalres Leclerc Ferrari 1:15.604
12 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:15.765
13 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:15.772
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:16.260
15 Franco Colapine Alpine 1:16.256
16 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:16.379
17 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:16.518
18 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:16.613
19 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:16.918
20 Yuki Tsuonoda Red Bull No time
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri charged to pole position for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at the end of a dramatic, incident-filled Qualifying session in Imola, narrowly getting the better of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell.
Verstappen had led the way after the opening Q3 runs but Piastri turned the tables with his final lap to the chequered flag – a stunning effort of 1m 14.670s putting the championship leader three hundredths up on his Dutch rival.
Russell took third after opting for medium tyres, rather than softs, on his last lap, with Lando Norris having to settle for fourth in the other McLaren ahead of Aston Martin racer Fernando Alonso (another to go with the yellow-marked compound).
Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon impressed for Williams on their way to sixth and seventh respectively, while Lance Stroll (also on mediums), Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10 positions.
Ferrari had a nightmare first home Qualifying session of the season as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton – having complained of brake issues throughout practice – both missed the Q3 cut en route to 11th and 12th places.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/piastri-beats-verstappen-and-russell-to-pole-in-dramatic-imola-qualifying.3QVriSuvAtxtFf6cxAspQW
Qualifying for Formula 1’s Imola Grand Prix has been red-flagged for a heavy crash for Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda.
Heading into the fast Villeneuve chicane at the end of the first sector, Tsunoda lost control over his RB21 and make heavy contact with the inside wall, sending his car into a barrel roll.
Upon heavy contact with the inside wall, Tsunoda’s car was sent into a violent a barrel roll.
Fortunately, his car landed the right side up, allowing the Japanese driver to climb out seemingly unhurt. Tsunoda was treated to applause from the fans in the adjacent grandstand as he walked over to the FIA’s medical car.
The session was naturally red-flagged with 12 minutes on the clock in Q1, with just 10 out of 20 drivers having set a lap time.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-imola-gp-qualifying-red-flagged-for-violent-yuki-tsunoda-crash/10723710/
Qualifying for Formula 1’s Imola Grand Prix has been red-flagged a second time for a crash by Alpine driver Franco Colapinto.
On his final flyer at the end of Q1 Colapinto, who is making his 2025 season debut with Alpine this weekend, dipped his wheels onto the grass on the exit of Tamburello, the first corner sequence at Imola.
That error sent the Argentinian spinning into the gravel trap before hitting the barriers head on, fortunately at reduced speed.
Colapinto signalled he was okay to his team before climbing out. It was the second heavy smash in Q1 following a violent accident for Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda at the next corner sequence, the Villeneuve chicane.
Tsunoda went backwards into the tyre barriers and was sent into a barrel roll, but landed the right side up and climbed out unhurt.
Colapinto had advanced to Q2 in 14th but will likely get a grid penalty for being released into the pitlane early under the first red flag, with a similar incident in Bahrain costing Mercedes duo George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli a one-place grid drop.
As a result of Colapinto’s accident, Liam Lawson was unable to complete a final flyer, dumping him out in 16th. The Racing Bulls man was joined by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Haas pair Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman.
Bearman felt he had completed his final lap before the red flag came out, but following checks by race control his lap time – which would have easily been enough for Q2 – was not reinstated.
Colapinto replaces Jack Doohan at Alpine from the weekend onwards, joining the Enstone squad after a nine-race stint with Williams in 2024.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/massive-franco-colapinto-crash-red-flags-f1-imola-gp-qualifying-again/10723724/
McLaren racer Lando Norris admitted that he made “a lot of mistakes” in qualifying for Formula 1’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix and went so far as to say that his qualifying performances over the course of the season “have not been strong enough”.
The Briton will line up in fourth for tomorrow’s Imola GP, behind George Russell, Max Verstappen and team-mate Oscar Piastri – who claimed pole position and was almost three tenths quicker than Norris.
“I made a lot of mistakes,” the McLaren racer told reporters in Italy.
“Never good enough in my final lap in quali. Everyone goes quicker and I always go slower. Just not good enough.”
Norris’ fourth-place result versus Piastri’s third pole position of the season means that the Briton trails his team-mate four to three in the qualifying head-to-head this year.
This is something Norris has clearly picked up on, as he went so far as to claim that “none of my performances in Q3 have been strong enough this year” when speaking with Sky TV after qualifying.
This raises questions about where the five-time race winner is losing time. So far, he’s been reluctant to put the blame on his McLaren car, which Piastri is racing to great success so far this season.
“I’m not going to just blame the car, that’s not me,” Norris added.
“I felt good all weekend. I felt good in Q1 and Q2. I felt like there’s lap time available. But when I try and go for lap time, it just doesn’t go.
“Qualifying has been my biggest strength by a long way. This year, it’s just not coming my way. I think we understand some reasons why.
“Of course, I’m not going to be the happiest about it because I want to be fighting for pole. Things are just not going the way that they should do.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lando-norris-never-good-enough-in-q3-settling-for-fourth-on-imola-gp-grid/10723850/
Franco Colapinto has been slapped with a grid penalty – despite crashing out of qualifying for the F1 Imola Grand Prix.
The Argentine was penalised for breaking protocol after Yuki Tsunoda’s high-speed crash.
Colapinto, who was making his debut for Alpine after replacing the luckless Jack Doohan, with the Aussie failing to score a single point in the opening six races.
However, when the red flag was deployed following Tsunoda’s crash, Colapinto made a mistake by entering the fast lane of the pitlane before the qualifying restart time was confirmed, earning him a one-place grid penalty.
The FIA stewards report said: “The team representative stated that he gave the instruction for the car to creep out but not be fully released.
“The driver misunderstood the instruction and entered the fast lane before the restart time was officially confirmed, in breach of the Race Director’s event notes. Once this was done, it was too late to reverse course and the team instructed the driver to proceed down the pitlane.”
Colapinto then suffered a crash himself during qualifying and later apologised to his Alpine team as he was pressing the car to the limit and slid off track.
He told Sky Sports F1: “My first lap was quite a bit under the limit, but was still quite competitive and there was a lot more to come.
So, it’s just a pity – a very costly mistake. Of course, sorry to the team that they have been doing a great job on making me a bit more comfortable with the car.
“It’s just tough when it’s like this – first race – but I’m sure we’ll come back stronger. The team has a bit of work now overnight. I’m just very sorry for that, but I’m sure we’ll give them a nice reward tomorrow.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/franco-colapinto-f1-imola-gp-grid-penalty/10723825/
Yuki Tsunoda has apologised to his Red Bull team after an “unnecessary” and “stupid” crash in qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which will see him start tomorrow’s race from the back of the field.
The Japanese driver crashed during the first part of qualifying in Imola after losing control of his RB21 and making heavy contact with the inside wall.
Tsunoda was taken to the medical centre for precautionary checks and was released before qualifying concluded.
Once cleared by the on-site doctors, the Japanese driver took responsibility for the “unnecessary” incident.
“Yeah, I’m just really stupid… pushing like that,” Tsunoda said. “I mean, this is very hard and [we] made a lot of changes to the car. So, you know, pushing that hard without understanding enough about the car and just… yeah.
“[It was] just very unnecessary, pushing that hard in the early stages.”
As the dust settled on his violent crash, Tsunoda said the first thing he felt was “very ashamed, disappointed, frustrated”.
The incident marked the racer’s first accident in a Q1 session in four years, after he crashed in Q1 in Imola at the 2021 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
Now, his team of mechanics will be left with a long repair job in order to get Tsunoda’s RB21 ready to line up on the grid for tomorrow’s grand prix.
“I haven’t talked with them yet, but the only thing I can do is apologise to them,” Tsunoda added.
“Obviously, [the car] has big damage, so the mechanics have to do a lot of work. And hopefully the car will be ready tomorrow – but it’s very unnecessary for them.”
In stark contrast to Tsunoda’s fortunes in qualifying for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, team-mate Max Verstappen lines up second for the race, just behind the McLaren of Oscar Piastri.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/yuki-tsunoda-stupid-imola-qualifying-crash/10723785/