Verstappen starts from pole at Imola

Sunny. Dry. Air +24С, highway +42…40С

Nine teams brought new products to the first European leg of the season, but not everyone managed to get them working in training, affecting the balance of power. On Friday, Charles Leclerc was the fastest; Saturday morning Oscar Piastri led the protocol.

The stands at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola were painted red and completely filled on Friday. Unlike last year, when the stage had to be canceled due to flooding caused by rain, the weather was excellent.

Despite the fact that Pirelli brought the softest tires to the podium this time – C3, C4 and C5 in Hard, Medium and Soft roles, many complained about the lack of grip of the drive wheels.

In the first session Sainz, Leclerc and Russell made their first attempt on Medium, the rest rode on Soft. Pirelli promised a half-second gap between the compounds, but track conditions improved and the gap narrowed.

Norris almost lost control of the car coming out of the final corner and Sargent went into the gravel in sixth but continued. Alonso, who crashed his car in the third practice session, was eliminated in the fourth.
Verstappen set the best time, completing a lap in Soft in 1:15.762, but Leclerc in Medium was only six hundredths behind.

Bottas, Zhou, Magnussen, Alonso and Sargent were eliminated from further competition, whose time was canceled due to leaving the track.

In the second session everyone went to Soft. On the first attempt, Verstappen topped the timesheet with the best time of the weekend – 1:15.386, but Leclerc was faster – 1:15.328, and Tsunoda was a surprise second – 1:15.358. The first three steps in six hundredths!

On his second attempt, Verstappen set the fastest time with 1:15.176. The first ten passes in half a second. Perez, Ocon, Stroll, Albon and Gasly did not reach the final.

In the final Ricciardo missed the first attempt and Verstappen set the best time: 1:14.869.

On the second attempt, Verstappen drove even faster: 1:14.746. The McLaren drivers improved and lost less than a tenth, but were left behind.

Max Verstappen won qualifying at Imola to take his seventh of seven pole positions of the season and the 39th of his career.

After the session, the stewards fined Oscar Piastri three places at the start for blocking Kevin Magnussen, causing Verstappen and Norris to start from the front row, Leclerc and Sainz from the second row, Russell and Piastri from the third row.

Qualifying results