Piastri flies to Pole as Ferrari falters in Qualifying chaos

Red flags, shattered Italian hopes, and one flying McLaren — Qualifying for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix had it all, as Oscar Piastri charged to his third career Pole while Ferrari crumbled under the weight of home expectation.

Qualifying 1:

Bathed in late-afternoon sun, the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari roared to life as the field burst onto the track to commence a hectic Q1.

Believing that a place in Q3 was on the cards in Imola, Liam Lawson took a patient approach to start his qualifying campaign as he remained in his RB garage until a Red Flag was declared during his outlap.

Having received the information that his former teammate was ok after a heavy accident, Lawson refocused his mindset to the now-limited Q1 ahead of him.

The Kiwi set an initial time of 1:16.379s which left him as the driver at-risk in P15, while Isack Hadjar tracked just one-tenth ahead. 

When it came time for his final run, the Kiwi was yet to complete his outlap before a second Red Flag was declared, and with those ranking below him having improved further up the road, Lawson was forced into an unlucky exit from the session. 

Speaking in the media pen after Qualifying, Lawson said: “We had just started another lap [when the Red Flag came out] so we only did one lap in that session, and it was a rushed lap too — it is a shame.”

“That’s motorsport, it is what makes a track like this exciting but obviously you don’t want to see crashes like that today.”

As a result, the RB driver will line up from P16 for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

Having finished in the top two in every session of the weekend thus far, expectations were high for Oscar Piastri who was the first driver on the scene of the huge accident which brought a momentary pause to Q1.

When the session resumed, Piastri was again one of the last drivers to join the track action, however, that didn’t seem to impact the Australian who slotted into P2 with a time of 1:15.500s.

Due to a second Red Flag, the Australian advanced with that singular lap time being his fastest, and the second overall fastest in Q1.

As for the rest of the field, half of the pitlane remained occupied when the light went green in the pitlane, with the usual back markers and midfield competitors opting to maximise the entire 18-minute opening session on track.

Alex Albon topped the timesheets in the early stages of Q1, edging ahead of both Ferrari drivers — much to the dismay of the sea of red in the grandstands — before the session was brought to a necessary halt. 

Yuki Tsunoda was able to walk away from a nasty accident after his Red Bull flipped upside down into the tyre barriers and catch fencing, lying crumbled in the gravel after he lost the rear over the aggressive Imola kerbs.

Despite bowing out of Qualifying without a time and heading to the Medical Centre to be checked over, the Red Bull driver had luck on his side as the halo successfully did its job in the huge accident that prompted a lengthy Red Flag for barrier repairs.

Only ten drivers had a time to their name when the session resumed, making for a busy restart when the track went green. 

Despite the rest of the grid’s best efforts, Max Verstappen charged to the top of the order with a time of 1:15.175s, aided by a fastest first sector.

Not as satisfied with his run was Lando Norris, who sat seven-tenths behind the Red Bull driver, while the home heroes Leclerc and Hamilton were also uncomfortably lodged in the midfield.

At the back end of the order, the Sauber and Haas drivers were tasked with breaking free from the clutches of the elimination zone as the field launched for their last-ditch attempts — however, they were cut short by a second Red Flag. 

In his first Qualifying session as an Alpine Formula 1 driver, Franco Colapinto’s afternoon ended in heartbreak after an overambitious route over the kerbs resulted in his A524 heading nose-first into the tyre barriers at 

The Argentine advanced to Q2 despite his car lying wounded in the gravel, however, a misjudgment by Alpine in the pitlane could see a penalty coming Colapinto’s way.

Unlucky in the elimination zone, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Oliver Bearman — who was challenging his lap cancellation — and Yuki Tsunoda were knocked out alongside the #30. 

Qualifying 2:

Hoping for a more straightforward outing during Q2, the middle stage of Qualifying got off to a delayed start as the remaining 14 drivers gradually filtered out of the pitlane.

Verstappen was one of the first to take on the old-school challenge, kicking up dust through the first sector as he charged to the head of the field.

It was only a momentary high for the Dutchman, however, when both McLaren drivers demoted him to P3, leaving the #1 over a tenth behind the benchmark.

The championship leader secured the early Q2 benchmark with a time of 1:15.241s, collecting a purple middle sector as he crossed the line marginally ahead of Norris.

Teammates who weren’t as fortunate were the Ferrari duo who again sat in the middle of the pack, unsure of their ability to make gains on the next tour of their home circuit.

At the back end of the order, Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto were the drivers facing a Q2 exit after their first attempts, with the hometown favourite Kimi Antonelli at-risk of joining them in the bottom five after his first run left him just 28 milliseconds ahead of the Aston Martin.

Having retreated to their garages moments earlier, the start of the last-ditch efforts was a busy one when the drivers fought to leave the pitlane in sync. 

Antonelli was one of the first drivers to complete his lap, improving to a dangerous P8 that was ultimately bested by Gasly and both Aston Martins. 

Italian hearts only broke further when Hamilton and Leclerc both failed to set competitive laps, facing the same fate as the #12 when Alonso and Stroll dropped the SF25s into the bottom five. 

Rubbing it in his former team’s face, Carlos Sainz set a blistering time of 1:15.198s to temporarily hold the top spot in Q2, allowing him to advance to the top ten shootout without stress.

Joining the Italian representatives in a Q2 exit were Bortoleto and Colapinto, who was unable to take part in the 15-minute session. 

Qualifying 3:

Seven teams had booked themselves a ticket to the top ten shootout, making the fight for pole position all the more tense when the light went green for the last time in Q3. 

It was a strong start for the McLaren duo who traded fastest sectors across the 4.9km lap, however, it was Piastri who came out on top of the intra-team battle with a time of 1:14.821s.

Verstappen had an answer to the Australian’s flying pace, demoting Piastri by a slim 0.049s margin as he reinstated himself as the fastest driver on track to claim provisional pole.

Behind the top three, the lone-running Mercedes driver sat close to three-tenths behind the Red Bull benchmark after running wide at Turn 13, while the rest of the field were almost a second off the pace. 

The field returned to the pitlane for a brief lull before a combination of soft and medium compound-sporting cars filtered out just moments later.

Piastri was one of the first drivers to launch for Pole, recording a purple middle sector before last corner traffic came close to ruining his otherwise speedy run.

With a time of 1:14.670s, the championship leader shot to the top of the timesheets, waiting for his competitors to cross the line before it was confirmed that he would be starting the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from pole position. 

“It was a great session but a tough session with all the delays and red flags,” Piastri said. 

“And with the tyres as well, today the C6 was a real mystery. The lap was good, I had about four cars in the last corner which didn’t help.

“I wasn’t thrilled to be the first car on track, you lose the slipstream but you don’t have any dirty air. That’s what we chose to do, we have enough pace to be able to do that and the team did great.”

Showing a rare glimpse of frustration, the Australian also said he “was going to lose my s**t if that last corner cost me pole”, but thanks to errors from Verstappen and Norris, that anger never arrived, and he was able to hold onto his third pole of his career.

Despite flying through the first sector, yellow Sectors 2 and 3 left Verstappen at a 34-millisecond deficit to the #81.

For Piastri’s McLaren teammate, Norris’ lap came undone at Turn 13 where he ran slightly wide, costing the Brit precious time in the marginal fight for pole.

To make matters worse for Norris, he was also demoted by Russell who took the gamble on the medium compound as the final driver on track.

Behind the top four, Alonso put Aston Martin’s new upgrades to work as he secured P5 for tomorrow’s starting grid, sharing Row 3 with his compatriot, Sainz.

The Spaniards will have their teammates in their mirrors tomorrow, albeit the Williams ahead of the Aston, while the two Frenchmen, Hadjar and Gasly, rounded out the top ten.

Plenty of storylines are set to unfold over 63 laps in Imola from the Red Bulls and Ferraris hunting recovery drives to Oscar Piastri digging deep to defend his championship lead — with lights out scheduled for 23:00 AEST.

Image:

Emilia-Romagna GP Qualifying Results:

Buy the new issue of Auto Action Premium HERE

Read the new issue of Auto Action Digital HERE

Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here or you can purchase a copy of the latest issue from one of our outlets here. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine