Piastri bests Verstappen for pole at Imola

Oscar Piastri will start the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix from pole after in a chaotic 90m qualifying session that saw two monster crashes for Yuki Tsunoda and Franco Colapinto and both Ferrari drivers eliminated in the bottom 10.

Piastri beat Max Verstappen by just 0.034s more than 30 minutes after qualifying should have been completed after Q1 blew out to almost an hour thanks to two red flags and an in-session stewards investigation.

Tsunoda was the first to crash, his car already bouncing on approach to Turn 5, Variante Villeneuve, when he took a big bite out of the curb entering the chicane. His last registered speed was around 180mph when the car broke from his control and shot off across the gravel.

The RB21 got airborne as it reached the end of the gravel trap, and it slammed into the wall rear-first. The force of the impact launched the car into a half barrel roll, but the roll hoop caught on the barrier, firing it back into the gravel trap the right way up, where it finally came to rest.

Tsunoda was able to extricate himself from the wreckage and walk to the medical car, which took him to the medical center for precautionary checks. Red flags suspended the session for around 15 minutes to clear the heavily damaged car and repair the barriers.

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The remaining 12m of the session got underway cleanly until newcomer Colapinto threw his car into the barriers at Tamburello after the checkered flag. The Argentine, who has replaced ousted rookie Jack Doohan this weekend, was on his final flying lap of the segment when he clipped the grass on exit, sending him pirouetting nose-first into the wall at high speed. He also was able to walk away uninjured.

The timing of the red flag was awkward for several drivers who were still on hot laps but particularly for Oliver Bearman, who had been easily fast enough to make it through to Q2 but completed his final lap just as the session was suspended.

TV replays appeared to show the Briton taking the checkered flag fractionally before red light panels in the distance became illuminated, and the incident subsequently came under review, delaying the start of Q2 further. Race control eventually sided against Haas, however, dropping Berman to last among those who set a time.

The rest of the session continued smoothly to a thrilling climax in the battle for pole, with Piastri overcoming an early Verstappen advantage in Q3 to pip the Dutchman to top spot.

Verstappen was fastest after the first runs of the pole shootout, putting his Red Bull Racing car 0.049s ahead of Piastri and 0.19s ahead of Lando Norris. Piastri, however, looked the most assured of the three, and the Australian found a decisive 0.151s to move himself provisionally into top spot with his final lap despite a gaggle of cars through the two Rivazza corners left him unable to improve his time in the final split.

Verstappen began his reply with a purple first sector, but his lap fell away from the middle split as his soft tires began to wilt, leaving him an agonizing 0.034s down.

Norris was last of the three on the road, but his final attempt went even more awry, with a wobble through Acque Minerali instantly ruining the lap and handing Piastri his third pole of the season and his career.

“It was a very tough session with all the delays,” he said. “And then also the tires – the tires have been very, very tricky today. The team did a great job, got the car into a nice window. The lap was good. I had about four cars in the last corner that didn’t help, but it was enough. I’m happy with the job I’ve done and excited for tomorrow now.”

Verstappen was satisfied with Red Bull Racing’s turnaround from an uncompetitive Friday, putting the final deficit down to the new C6 tire.

“The softest compound is very difficult to keep them alive around the lap,” he said. “Maybe they were a bit too soft for this track. For us at least it was a little bit more difficult to extract the most out of it.”

George Russell capitalized on Norris’s mistake to slip into third, made all the more impressive for Mercedes sending him out on the more predictable medium tire for his final lap. It worked a charm, halving his deficit to Piastri to 0.137s.

“[The tire choice was] a small compromise for tomorrow, but it was worth it to be back in the top three,” he said. “I’m very happy with the performance to be very close to Oscar – it’s always a surprise when you’re so close to a McLaren.”

Norris ended up 0.292s off the pace in fourth ahead of an excellent Fernando Alonso, also on the medium tire, for Aston Martin’s first Q3 appearance of the year.

Williams teammates Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon were closely matched in sixth and seventh ahead of Lance Stroll to complete Aston Martin’s first double Q3 showing since Brazil last year. Isack Hadjar was ninth for Racing Bulls ahead of Pierre Gasly in 10th.

Italy’s hopes of a big home result took a significant hit in the final moments of Q2, when both Ferrari drivers and local favorite Andrea Kimi Antonelli were all eliminated outside the top 10.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton both had marginally scrappy laps to conclude the session, the former suffering understeer through Variante Alta and the latter sliding through Tosa. Leclerc missed out on Q2 by 0.083s in 11th, with the Briton qualifying 12th and 0.161s further back.

Antonelli was 0.007s behind the Ferrari duo in a shock elimination for Mercedes after having looked competitive in FP3 earlier in the day.

Gabriel Bortoleto was knocked out 14th ahead of the crashed-out Colapinto, who will be investigated after the session for exiting his garage to enter pit lane too early during Tsunoda’s red flag. Both Mercedes drivers received one-place penalties at the Bahrain Grand Prix for committing the same offense.

Liam Lawson was eliminated 16th, the Kiwi having only just started his final flying lap when Colapinto’s red flag ended the attempt early.

Nico Hulkenberg qualified 17th after running wide through the Rivazza curves on his final lap.

Haas drivers Esteban Ocon and Bearman were 18th and 19th after Bearman’s review was thrown out. Tsunoda ended the session without a time.