Oscar Piastri took pole position off Max Verstappen with his final run at the end of qualifying for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

George Russell took third place off Lando Norris on their final runs. However his team mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli failed to reach Q3.

Both Ferraris also failed to qualify in the top 10 at home, while Yuki Tsunoda and Franco Colapinto crashed out in the first round.

Q1

Tsunoda was not happy with the balance of his Red Bull when final practice ended at Imola. His best time was over a second slower than that of team mate Verstappen, which left him down in 17th.

He was clearly leaving nothing on the table as Q1 began and took a lot of kerb as he turned into Villeneuve on his first flying lap. The Red Bull spun out of control, made heavy contact with the barrier inside, briefly flipped over, then came to a stop the right way up.

The session was immediately halted while Tsunoda climbed out of his car and made his way to the Medical Centre. Half the drivers had set times, and the field quickly headed for the pit lane exit once a restart time was announced. Franco Colapinto arrived too soon, however, his Alpine team having apparently released him before race control declared the restart time, and the stewards confirmed he had been placed under investigation.

Verstappen in the sole remaining Red Bull quickly reeled off a time good enough to take over at the top. Piastri took up second place behind him while Norris could only manage fifth to begin with, having run wide at the exit of Tosa.

Nico Hulkenberg’s hopes of progressing beyond Q1 ended when he ran wide between the two Rivazza corners as he ended his lap. Then Colapinto ensured no one else would improve their times when he became the second driver to crash, at Tamburello.

The returning driver lost control of his car at the exit of turn three. He skated over the gravel at the exit and hit the barrier nose first. He appeared unhurt but with no time left the session came to an end.

Colapinto’s crash means he made the cut for Q2, though he was unable to participate in it. Both Haas drivers were therefore eliminated along with Hulkenberg, Liam Lawson and Tsunoda. However that became a matter of dispute in the gap between Q1 and Q2.

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Q1 result

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Q2

The postponed start to Q2 was further delayed as it emerged there was doubt over whether Oliver Bearman had completed his final lap in Q1 before the red flags were shown for Colapinto’s crash. The FIA originally listed him in 19th place with Gabriel Bortoleto occupying 15th, which gave him the final place in Q1.

After announcing Bearman’s time was under review, and delaying the restart of Q2 by a further 12 minutes, the session finally began with Bortoleto first to join the track. Bearman climbed out of his car.

The session finally began shortly before 5pm – when qualifying was originally due to finish. Verstappen immediately put up the fastest time but was beaten by both McLarens, Piastri lapping two hundredths of a second faster than Norris.

With Colapinto in Q2 but unable to participate, 14 drivers were contesting the 10 places in Q3. As the final runs began Pierre Gasly was among those heading for elimination, complaining that Lance Stroll had spoiled his run through the final two corners on his lap.

If Gasly thought that had been a cunning move by Aston Martin, they had an even better ruse for the final runs. Stroll and Alonso joined the track on the medium tyre compounds and both significantly improved their times, securing places in Q3.

The big loser from that development was not Gasly, but Ferrari. Neither Charles Leclerc nor Lewis Hamilton improved on their final runs and they slipped to 11th and 12th respectively as Aston Martin reached the top 10.

The stunning development almost overshadowed a brilliant lap by Carlos Sainz Jnr, who ended Q2 on top for Williams. His team mate Alexander Albon also reached the final round, but at the bottom of the top 10. Antonelli also went no further.

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Q2 result

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Q3

The McLaren drivers were first to complete their opening runs in Q3. Norris lost the top spot to Piastri, then Verstappen aced the middle sector and moved ahead of them both by less than five hundredths of a second.

Only Russell looked like threatening the top three after their opening runs, lapping within three-tenths of a second of them, while Isack Hadjar in fifth place was nine-tenths of a second down.

While Russell followed Aston Martin’s gamble by switching to mediums for his final run, Verstappen and the McLaren drivers stuck with their softs.

This time Piastri was the first of the front runners to finish his lap. He caught traffic at the Rivazzas but picked his way by them well enough to take pole from Verstappen by a tenth of a second.

Norris’s lap went awry quickly. First he encountered a cloud of gravel when Hadjar went off ahead of him at Tamburello. He lost more time in the middle of the lap and with that his chance of pole was gone.

Verstappen looked on course to take pole back as he began his lap. But a poor run through the middle sector left him on the back foot, and at the line he was three hundredths of a second shy of Piastri.

That left only Russell with a hope of pole, and he came surprisingly close to it on his medium tyres. He crossed the line a tenth of a second shy of Piastri, not enough for the front row but enough to cost Norris third place.

Alonso used his medium tyres again to secure an excellent fifth place ahead of Sainz, Albon and team mate Stroll. A furious Hadjar fell to ninth at the end ahead of Gasly.

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Q3 result

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