F1 Imola GP: Oscar Piastri beats Max Verstappen to pole position

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri has grabbed pole for Formula 1’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix after pipping Max Verstappen’s Red Bull in Imola qualifying.

After the first salvo of Q3 runs Verstappen led the way with a 1m14.772s, 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 him to set a 1m14.670s to provisionally snatch pole away from the world champion, despite a scruffy final corner.

Verstappen threatened to retaliate with a purple first sector but lost too much time in the final two segments to claw back the full one-tenth deficit. The Dutchman’s improved second effort was 0.034s shy of pole, with Piastri starting from the front on Sunday for the third time in 2025.

Meanwhile, Mercedes driver George Russell pipped 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 berth of what has been a difficult campaign 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 10.

Ferrari suffers Q2 disaster

Ferrari’s desire to show well at its first of two 2025 races on home soil, and potentially Imola’s F1 farewell weekend, hit a huge roadblock after both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were unceremoniously dumped out in Q2.

Leclerc and Hamilton qualified 11th and 12th respectively after failing to improve on their final flyer with the brittle soft tyres; Leclerc missing the cut by less than a tenth, with Hamilton a further tenth and a half in arrears.

On the subject of home soil disappointment, Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli also suffered a difficult afternoon, with the Bologna native out in 13th, followed by Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Colapinto.

Crashes for Tsunoda and Colapinto derail Q1

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 car 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 Argentinian too escaped unhurt, with his accident curtailing Q1 early.

Colapinto had advanced to Q2 and eventually qualified 15th 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 16th. The Racing Bulls man was joined by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Haas duo 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.

F1 Imola GP – Q3 results

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Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	O. PiastriMcLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	6	1’14.670		S	236.673
2	M. VerstappenRed Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	6	+0.034 1’14.704	0.034	S	236.565
3	G. RussellMercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	6	+0.137 1’14.807	0.103	M	236.239
4	L. NorrisMcLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	6	+0.292 1’14.962	0.155	S	235.751
5	F. AlonsoAston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	6	+0.761 1’15.431	0.469	M	234.285
6	C. SainzWilliams	55		Williams	Mercedes	6	+0.762 1’15.432	0.001	S	234.282
7	A. AlbonWilliams	23		Williams	Mercedes	6	+0.803 1’15.473	0.041	S	234.155
8	L. StrollAston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	6	+0.911 1’15.581	0.108	M	233.820
9	I. HadjarRacing Bulls	6		RB	Honda	5	+1.076 1’15.746	0.165	S	233.311
10	P. GaslyAlpine	10		Alpine	Renault	6	+1.117 1’15.787	0.041	S	233.185
View full results