Lando Norris will only start the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from fourth place after the McLaren driver’s disappointing end to qualifying at Imola, as Oscar Piastri scored pole.
It is the third time in the last four Grands Prix that Norris has now failed to qualify in the top three positions. Piastri, meanwhile, has bagged his fourth pole of the term in the first seven rounds after denying Max Verstappen of Red Bull to score P1 on the grid at Imola by 0.034s.
Piastri can even become only the second McLaren driver after Ayrton Senna in 1991 to win four Grands Prix in a row if the Australian converts his latest pole at the Emilia Romagna GP. He won from first place on the grid in Bahrain, second in Saudi Arabia and fourth in Miami.
The 24-year-old’s latest pole is also not that much of a surprise as McLaren have dominated the Imola timesheets for the Emilia Romagna GP all weekend. And Anthony Davidson thinks Piastri claimed pole at Imola after he mastered one area that caught Norris out in qualifying.
Lando Norris ‘suffered’ in qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix after taking too much kerb at the Alta chicane
Norris improved his time through the first sector despite having to run through the dust that Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar lifted exiting Turn 2. But the Briton’s S1 split was still 0.142s slower than Piastri’s lap, and his deficit grew to 0.346s in sector two and 0.674s at the finish.
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| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Oscar Piastri |
131 |
| 2 |
Lando Norris |
115 |
| 3 |
Max Verstappen |
99 |
| 4 |
George Russell |
93 |
| 5 |
Charles Leclerc |
53 |
| 6 |
Andrea Kimi Antonelli |
48 |
| 7 |
Lewis Hamilton |
41 |
Taking too much of the kerb through the Alta chicane also ensured Norris had no chance to respond to Piastri’s pole lap and improve on the Briton’s provisional Q3 lap time. He clouted the inside kerb for T14, which lifted Norris’ McLaren in the air and ruined his line out of T15.
Davidson saw clear similarities between Norris’ line into Turn 14 and how Piastri tackled the Alta chicane during FP3 for the Emilia Romagna GP on Saturday morning at Imola. And while the Australian learned how to attack the tight chicane, Norris paid the price for his poor line.
He told Sky Sports F1 (17/05, 16:37): “That’s not necessarily where he lost the time because it was in the middle sector. It was that second part of Acque Minerali where what caught his teammate out earlier on in FP3, this time it was Lando’s moment where he suffered.”
Lando Norris faces a huge challenge to stop Oscar Piastri winning four straight Grands Prix at Imola
Piastri securing pole position and Norris only qualifying in fourth for the Emilia Romagna GP gives the Australian a big advantage over his McLaren teammate for Sunday’s race at Imola. Overtaking is often at a premium at Imola given the circuit in Ferrari’s backyard is very tight.
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Norris will now have to hope that McLaren’s tyre management advantage means he can get ahead of Verstappen and Mercedes star George Russell, who starts from third place, to deal Piastri some pressure. He can ill-afford to let the Melbourne native stretch his 16-point lead.
McLaren instantly saw the 25-year-old move 23 points clear of Piastri when Norris won the Australian Grand Prix from pole position in March. Yet the Melbourne native has turned his early deficit into a 16-point lead in six rounds, in which Norris has not won or scored a pole.
