EMILIA ROMAGNA GP – Max Verstappen beats both McLarens by three-quarters of a tenth to pole in tight qualifying
Max Verstappen has beaten both McLarens by three-quarters of a tenth too take pole for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. The Dutchman who had appeared to struggle all weekend pulled it out of the bag to take pole with a 14.746 to take his eighth consecutive poles, matching Ayrton Senna’s record on the thirtieth anniversary of his death at this race at Imola.
Verstappen also ties another legend of the sport, Senna’s long-time rival and teammate Alain Prost, with eighth consecutive poles at the start of a season. Verstappen was faster than Oscar Piastri who beat his teammate Lando Norris by nearly two hundredths, in one of the most competitive sessions of the season. You are never able to count out the Dutchman who is always able to extract the best from the car when it matters.
Red Bull did face a genuine challenge following a challenging start to the weekend but ultimately found the speed he needed in qualifying with a final lap of 14.746 to pip second-placed Piastri and third-placed Norris to the head of the grid by less than a tenth of a second. But Piastri faces a post-session investigation for appearing to impede Kevin Magnussen late in Q1.
Verstappen said: “Really difficult weekend so far, even this morning, so incredibly happy to be on pole. I didn’t expect that. We made some changes before qualifying and it seemed to feel a bit better and this track is unbelievable.”
Norris added, “Tiny margins, but as a team we have done a great job so far. Exciting we’re close and I can’t wait until tomorrow.”
Piastri had the full upgrade which Norris had in Miami, also Red Bull had an upgrade, but Verstappen had suggested that McLaren has made a step forward might be accurate. But he was given a three place grid penalty for impeding Kevin Magnussen in Q1 meaning he will start Sunday’s race from fifth on the grid
Complicating matters for Verstappen and Red Bull on Sunday might be that his teammate, Sergio Perez, will start down the order, potentially opening up a scenario where McLaren can use both cars to fight one driver.
Charles Leclerc was fourth the Ferrari driver a tenth and a quarter behind the two McLarens but was ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz by a quarter of a second. Ferrari looked also to be in the fight for pole early on but as qualifying progressed the team looked to not be able to find more, despite bringing their biggest upgrades of the season.
On his final attempt, Leclerc was unable to find improvements in the first sector only improving his own time, while Verstappen was continuing to improve despite another error at the second Rivazza still managed to improve. It also opened up the top three to both McLaren’s who went faster.
Sainz was fifth a further quarter of a second behind, Ferrari for their home race had brought the biggest upgrades so far while they were a threat for pole that faded when Verstappen threw everything at it. George Russell was sixth the Mercedes driver just a thousandth behind the Spaniard.
Russell was spilt by RB’s Yuki Tsunoda after the Japanese driver went four hundredths faster than Lewis Hamilton. It has looked very difficult to separate the two Mercedes this weekend, but they have struggled to fight at the front but are making gains they were just under half a second off which has been the closest they have been in recent races.
Tsunoda has been one driver who has shocked in a good way and was even as high as third in Q2. Daniel Ricciardo was ninth going three-tenths faster than Nico Hulkenberg. Sergio Perez perhaps highlighted how uncertain Verstappen was of pole, the second Red Bull was knocked out in Q2 when Sainz improved to get his Ferrari out of danger.
This weekend has been about the finest of margins with even the front runners looking uncertain of getting through safely to Q3, also that was despite setting his fastest time at the end of Q2.
Perez’s former teammate Esteban Ocon was two-tenths behind for Alpine, he was comfortably ahead of Lance Stroll. Alex Albon was fourteenth as the Williams driver was just under two-tenths faster than Pierre Gasly.
Perez’s future with Red Bull has been forgotten about in recent months given the civil war rumbling on between the teams’ owners, team principal Christian Horner and Verstappen and his father Jos. Tsunoda’s performance could raise pressure on both Perez for the second Red Bull seat and underperforming teammate Ricciardo, but it was a better day for the Australian.
Signs that fine margins would define qualifying were there from the beginning as Valtteri Bottas missed out by a tenth on Q2 going faster than Sauber teammate Guanyu Zhou One of the biggest shocks of qualifying was Fernando Alonso, the Aston Martin driver only nineteenth after the 2005 race winner crashed out at Rivazza in FP3 at lunchtime.
The Spaniard’s final attempt saw him fail to improve making his mistake at Tamburello when he went through the gravel on the exit. That left Alonso slowest of the drivers to set a time with Logan Sargeant completing the field, after his fastest lap was deleted for exceeding track limits.
Alonso, said that he had been caught out because the distance boards approaching the first chicane had been wiped out by a crash at the start of the F2 race which preceded the F1 qualifying and brought out the red flag.
He said, “I was lacking laps today and we put fuel in the car for qualifying and just to be able to do some pit stops. Eventually, I did my best lap on the very first lap with a lot of fuel in the car so I think there is more pace, but one of those days.”
Related
- EMILIA ROMAGNA GP – Oscar Piastri leads McLaren one-two by three-tenths in third practice
- EMILIA ROMAGNA GP – Charles Leclerc fastest two tenths ahead of Oscar Piastri in second practice
- EMILIA ROMAGNA GP – Charles Leclerc fastest a tenth ahead of George Russell in FP1
- Welcome to the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix – 2024
- PRIXVIEW – Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix