Verstappen remains the only pole sitter in 2024 at Imola, Norris P3

Q3 at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix proved to be a five-way battle between Max Verstappen, the two Ferraris and the two McLarens with Verstappen coming out on top. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris finished less than a tenth behind the Dutchman, but a penalty could await Piastri for impeding Kevin Magnussen earlier. The two Ferraris were not as close as they were hoping to be, as Charles Leclerc finished fourth ahead of Carlos Sainz.

George Russell finished sixth after getting better of his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who will start from P8. Yuki Tsunoda finished seventh and found himself in a Mercedes sandwich, while Daniel Ricciardo will start from P9 on the grid ahead of Nico Hulkenberg. The German qualified for Q3, even though he never driven before at the Imola track.

Q2

The two Mercedes were in the danger zone, but they were able to make it through, unlike Sergio Perez, who missed made a mistake on his final lap in the Variante Alta, and eventually finished 0.015 seconds behind Daniel Ricciardo. Both VCARB cars were able to make it through to the final session together with Nico Hulkenberg, while Alex Albon and Lance Stroll were eliminated along with the two Alpine cars.

OUT - P15 Gasly, P14 Albon, P13 Stroll, P12 Ocon, P11 Perez

Q1

Both Perez and Alonso’s cars were repaired for Qualifying after their earlier crashes in FP3 this morning, so they were able to compete. The gravel traps around the track caught out many drivers once again, including Logan Sargeant and Fernando Alonso, who made mistakes in Sector 1. Ferrari chose an alternative strategy and drove on the mediums this session.

Nico Hulkenberg finished the session in P3, as he was the only on in the bottom five entering the final minute together with Daniel Ricciardo to exit the elimination zone. Iit was a rather anticlimactic end to the session, Lewis Hamilton even sat in P15 without having to improve, as five drivers have already set a slower time than he did during the Briton’s final lap. After his mistakes in FP3 and Q1, Alonso got eliminated, while Kevin Magnussen was impeded by Piastri.

OUT - P20 Sargeant, P19 Alonso, P18 Magnussen, P17 Zhou, P16 Bottas