Max Verstappen has added to his run of pole positions by clinching P1 on the grid for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, with the Dutchman narrowly triumphing over his rivals with an unbeatable lap in Imola.
Verstappen had set a strong benchmark during the initial runs of Q3 and improved even further during his final effort, pumping in a time of 1m 14.746s in the Red Bull. This put him 0.074s clear of second-placed Oscar Piastri – who post-session was penalised three grid places for Sunday’s Grand Prix for impeding the Haas of Kevin Magnussen in Q1 – and McLaren team mate Lando Norris in third.
Charles Leclerc was the lead Ferrari in fourth ahead of Carlos Sainz in fifth, with the Scuderia not quite matching the pace they had displayed earlier in the weekend. George Russell went sixth for Mercedes, while Yuki Tsunoda impressively took seventh place in front of RB’s home crowd.
Lewis Hamilton claimed P8 in the Mercedes, with the top 10 rounded out by RB’s Daniel Ricciardo in P9 and the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg in P10.
FORMULA 1 MSC CRUISES GRAN PREMIO DEL MADE IN ITALY E DELL’EMILIA-ROMAGNA 2024
| POS | DRIVER | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:15.762 | 1:15.176 | 1:14.746 | |
| 2 | 1:15.940 | 1:15.407 | 1:14.820 | |
| 3 | 1:15.915 | 1:15.371 | 1:14.837 | |
| 4 | 1:15.823 | 1:15.328 | 1:14.970 | |
| 5 | 1:16.015 | 1:15.512 | 1:15.233 | |
| 6 | 1:16.107 | 1:15.671 | 1:15.234 | |
| 7 | 1:15.894 | 1:15.358 | 1:15.465 | |
| 8 | 1:16.604 | 1:15.677 | 1:15.504 | |
| 9 | 1:16.060 | 1:15.691 | 1:15.674 | |
| 10 | 1:15.841 | 1:15.569 | 1:15.980 | |
| 11 | 1:16.404 | 1:15.706 | ||
| 12 | 1:16.361 | 1:15.906 | ||
| 13 | 1:16.458 | 1:15.992 | ||
| 14 | 1:16.524 | 1:16.200 | ||
| 15 | 1:16.015 | 1:16.381 | ||
| 16 | 1:16.626 | |||
| 17 | 1:16.834 | |||
| 18 | 1:16.854 | |||
| 19 | 1:16.917 | |||
| NC | DNF |
There was a surprise moment in Q2 when Sergio Perez failed to improve on his final lap, leaving the Red Bull driver in P11. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon also missed out on progressing into the last segment of qualifying, and so too did the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll.
Alex Albon acted as the lead Williams by slotting into 14th, while Pierre Gasly was just behind in 15th place for Alpine.
The Kick Sauber duo of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu exited Q1 in P16 and P17 respectively, ahead of Kevin Magnussen in P18. Piastri will be investigated after the session for potentially impeding the Haas driver during his final flying lap.
Fernando Alonso caused a shock by dropping out of qualifying in P19, while the Williams of Logan Sargeant will line up in P20 after his lap time – which had originally placed him in P17 – was deleted for track limits.
Formula 1
