Piastri penalised, Ricciardo makes Q3 for first time this season as stars flop in wild session: F1 Wrap
Australia’s Oscar Piastri will start the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from fifth after copping a grid penalty, as reigning world champ Max Verstappen held off the chasing pack to steal pole position at Imola.Piastri had qualified second by 0.074s, but the FIA confirmed a three-place grid penalty after an incident earlier in Q1 where he appeared to impede Kevin Magnussen’s Haas on a hot lap.
In his first-ever race weekend at Imola, a track on which he had only ever previously done testing laps, second was an impressive finish for Piastri - whose McLaren teammate Lando Norris was just 0.017s further back in third.
It comes after Piastri, who this weekend received the full upgrade package that Norris received a fortnight ago and inspired his maiden victory in Miami, topped FP3 earlier on Saturday.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz, a disappointing result for the team that brought a major upgrade to their home race this weekend - and had showed good pace in practice to significantly raise expectations in the Tifosi faithful.
Every practice, qualifying session and race from the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial Today >
Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso were left with plenty of repairs to be done after crashing in FP3.
Verstappen said he was “incredibly happy”, swearing on team radio after crossing the line and sealing a pole position that came as something of a surprise after the Red Bull star struggled on Friday and did not top any practice session.
He said: “A difficult weekend so far, even this morning. Incredibly happy to be on pole here. I didn’t expect that.
“We made some final changes before Qualifying and they seemed to make it feel better. I could push harder.”
Legendary former champion Damon Hill said on Sky Sports F1: “I expected a little bit more from the Ferraris but I just want to say a little bit about Max’s lap there.
“I think that was a very special lap. They were up against it. You could tell from his reaction afterwards that he was relieved and delighted that he got this pole position. But just watching the onboard, that was a fantastic lap.”
A “really happy” Piastri said: “So, so close to pole... very happy with how this weekend’s going so far.”
“I think yes (we can fight for more tomorrow),” he added. “I think no, we’ve said in the past,” but said this time was different given the team’s upgrades (Norris in Miami, Piastri this weekend) had delivered clear improvements.
“I think the confidence is high that we can do something good,” he said.
MORE NEWS
‘It’s not the first time’: Mad Max fumes at Hamilton as mixed results for star Aussie duo — FRIDAY WRAP
Piastri’s big chance as F1 teams unleash make … or break changes: F1 Burning Questions
Daniel Ricciardo, who reached Q3 by just 0.015s as Perez was stunningly knocked out, finished ninth, two places behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda who has been quicker than the Australian all weekend.
Ricciardo said he was still “struggling quite a bit” on the first sector but otherwise saw it as a “positive day” for the team as a whole.
“Qualifying was a better session for me, we made some progress from the start of the weekend as we were struggling a bit more than Yuki,” he said.
“In every lap I did, I was always trying to find a bit more here and there, but the first sector is still the part where I’m struggling quite a lot. That’s where the lap got away from me but we’ll keep looking at it tonight to understand more, and I’ll work on it.”
Perez, meanwhile, said: “We have been playing up and down with the car a lot. Going into Qualifying with the small margins, Q1 I started quite badly because I had a poor lap but in the end it turned out we were safe.
“This meant we started Q2 with scrubbed tyres. Once we put the new tyre on in the second run, I surprinsgly picked up a lot of rear grip and got caught up with it.
“Going into Turn Seven I went straight and lost two-and-a-half tenths.”
It was a disastrous day for Fernando Alonso, who had a heavy crash in practice that required desperate repairs from Aston Martin - who successfully managed to get his car fixed just in time for qualifying. But in Q1, he ran wide at the chicane and then had a lengthy trip through the gravel on the next corner.
While he continued driving, he clearly was struggling, and did not complete a final flying lap as he was knocked out of Q1 in a dismal 20th.
Perez, who had a crash of his own in FP3, was another to struggle in qualifying, being knocked out in Q2. He will start 11th.
Qualifying - Top 10
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Oscar Piastri, McLaren*
3) Lando Norris, McLaren
4) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
5) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
6) George Russell, Mercedes
7) Yuki Tsunoda, RB
8) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
9) Daniel Ricciardo, RB
10) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
*docked three grid places, will now start fifth
LIVE BLOG
Re-live the action in our live blog below!