McLaren’s Oscar Piastri secured pole position for the Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix by narrowly edging out Max Verstappen’s Red Bull in a thrilling qualifying session at Imola. Despite Verstappen initially setting the pace, Piastri’s final flying lap proved to be faster, setting a time of 1m14.670s to claim the top spot on the grid.
The championship leader’s impressive performance also saw him outpace both Verstappen and Lando Norris, who qualified in third. George Russell from Mercedes impressed by taking third place on the grid, while Fernando Alonso delivered a standout qualifying performance, placing fifth for Aston Martin.
Both Aston Martin drivers made it to Q3 using the more durable C5 compound, with Alonso securing his best starting position of the season. The challenging new C6 tyre compound caused issues for some teams, affecting Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who were eliminated in Q2.
The excitement of qualifying was further heightened by two crashes in Q1, involving Yuki Tsunoda and Franco Colapinto. Despite these incidents, all drivers emerged unharmed, with Colapinto managing to qualify in 15th place after his early exit in Q1.
