Jacques Villeneuve worried one F1 driver could lose his race seat ‘soon’ after Imola qualifying

Qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola produced another fascinating session.

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has secured another pole position this season after pipping Red Bull star Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell during the final period of qualifying.

It was another frustrating session for Lando Norris after once again failing to hook together his quickest lap when it mattered in Q3, and at a circuit where overtaking is incredibly difficult, he’ll start fourth ahead of Fernando Alonso’s resurgent Aston Martin.

Nearly every major talking point took place before the top 10 shootout, with four notable absentees from the last session.

Jacques Villeneuve was stunned by Ferrari’s tactics as both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were knocked out in Q2.

Hometown hero Kimi Antonelli also failed to progress to Q3, failing to match Russell’s performance in the Silver Arrows.

However, Q1 created the most drama, with Oliver Bearman furious he missed out on progressing due to a red flag brought out by returning Alpine driver Franco Colapinto’s huge shunt.

It wasn’t the biggest crash of the day though, with Yuki Tsunoda barrel-rolling into the barriers on his first flying lap, writing off another race weekend at Red Bull as he prepares to start from the back of the grid.

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Jacques Villeneuve thinks Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar swap could happen ‘soon’

F1 world champion Villeneuve was speaking on his Instagram after the qualifying session at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and analysed the action up and down the grid.

He explained, “What a crazy qualifying today! Two crashes, two big crashes, we’re not used to that.

“And does it mean that the extremely competitive and impressive Hadjar this year will replace Tsunoda soon?

“And Colapinto, he’s been told here to be quick, to score points and to not crash, and he knows from last year, he knows that he’s been crashing too much.

“What does he do? He goes out and crashes again! Really, he put himself under pressure that he shouldn’t have, not the right thing to do.

“The two Ferraris and Antonelli in their home races, out in Q2, not good, fans will not be happy with this. It’s tough to recover even with race pace here tomorrow.

“And in the front, Aston Martin, masterstroke with the medium tyres, nobody else thought about it, except for Russell and Mercedes, good reaction for Q3.

“Then in the front, well, McLaren has the tyre control, Piastri at the front, could be a fun first corner.

“If he goes into the lead, he should carry on leading that race.”

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Yuki Tsunoda walks away unharmed from huge Imola crash thanks to F1’s Halo device

Tsunoda’s RB21 appeared to bottom out after taking too much kerb through the Villeneuve chicane, losing control and being sent helplessly towards the barriers.

Fans praised F1’s safety devices after Tsunoda’s crash, with the way he flipped the car on his approach to the tyre wall reminiscent of Zhou Guanyu’s crash at Silverstone in 2022.

Tsunoda is dealing with a worrying trend at Red Bull, as he appears to struggle to maximise his performance when it comes to qualifying.

His underlying pace in practice looked good, and with a slightly jumbled-up grid, he could have capitalised and potentially been pushing for a top-five starting position.

Instead, Villeneuve thinks Tsunoda is under increasing pressure from Isack Hadjar after another strong performance from the Racing Bulls rookie.

Hadjar will start P9 at Imola, and while his teammate Liam Lawson didn’t advance out of Q1, it’s a slightly harsh comparison as the New Zealander lost his final flying lap to Colapinto’s red flag.

That shouldn’t take away from the Frenchman’s achievements this season, and it highlights how far he’s come that he was disappointed not to be further up the grid.