Emilia Romagna GP - Qualifying

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MSC Cruises Emilia Romagna GP

Qualifying

May 18, 2024

IMOLA, Italy— Max Verstappen retained his lead over Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, as McLaren's speed continues to improve.

Verstappen tied the record of eight consecutive poles set by Ayrton Senna. Despite appearing unwell on Friday and failing to set a personal best in any of the three practice sessions before qualifying, his time of 1:14.746 seconds was sufficient to win the session.

However, McLaren was immediately behind, with Norris and Piastri finishing within a tenth of a second apart; Verstappen's lead over Piastri was only 0.074 seconds. But Piastri's interference with another driver during qualifying on Saturday night resulted in a three-place grid penalty from the stewards. In Sunday's grand prix, he now starts fifth.

"I'm 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 a bit better. I could push a bit harder and this track is unbelievable to be on the limit here close to the gravel." Verstappen stated following the meeting

The Dutchman remarked after matching Senna's record: "It's a great start to the year but also it's very special [here]. It's 30 years since he passed away at this track and I'm very pleased to get pole here. And in a way, it's a nice memory for him, he was an incredible F1 driver, especially in qualifying laps as well.

"Great day for me and great day for the team. I'm very happy."

When McLaren upgraded Norris's car for the Miami Grand Prix two weeks ago, both teams are using the new package this weekend.

According to Norris, the team has had a fantastic start to the weekend. "P3 is not a bad job at all. We did attempt, both of us, for P1 so tiny tiny margins. For us as a team we've had a very good weekend so far. Oscar has done a great job, and so did Max. It's excitingly close and I can't wait for tomorrow."

Teammate Piastri, meanwhile, stated: "It was pretty good. A little bit of a scruffy last corner, but I think here it's so so difficult to do a perfect lap but I'm really happy. It's been a little while since I've been back up here so I'm very happy with how this weekend is going so far.

"I think we can [fight for the win]. We'll see what we can do. We've definitely been on the pace all weekend. You can never discount Max and Red Bull as we've just seen, but the confidence is high and it's not the easiest track to overtake on and confidence is high we can do something good."

Verstappen's Red Bull has also been upgraded, indicating that his evaluation from Friday night that McLaren has advanced could be true.

The fact that Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez will start down the order on Sunday could make things more difficult for him and Red Bull and could create an opportunity for McLaren to employ both cars to challenge one driver.

Ferrari lost ground in Q3 after appearing strong on Friday.

Charles Leclerc, who led the field in both of Friday's sessions, came in fourth place, 0.224 seconds off the pace, ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz.

Leclerc said later on: "I'm disappointed, it was a good weekend until then [qualifying] but it's hard to read into the practice sessions with different fuel loads. [For us] there's just not enough performance in the car, it's still localised to the first two corners where we are slower, so something to work on for tomorrow."

One of the session's highlights for RB, Yuki Tsunoda, finished in seventh place behind Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

In the other RB, Daniel Ricciardo also had a great practice, qualifying ninth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, who will start tenth for Haas.

The biggest surprise of the session was Perez's elimination in the second round.

Red Bull has not yet offered Perez a contract until 2025, and considering Tsunoda's stellar play for the organization's junior squad, a lackluster showing on Sunday might fuel rumors the team might take a different turn.

On Sunday, Perez will start from the eleventh position at a circuit where it could be difficult to move quickly through the field.

The drivers who were eliminated from both the first and second qualifying sessions represented Alpine, Aston Martin, Williams, Sauber, and the Aston Martins. Otherwise, it was the usual suspects who did not advance to the final qualifying session.

The unique sight of Fernando Alonso sulking down in 19th place signaled the end of the session.

Alonso's participation was uncertain following his incident during the final practice many hours prior, however

His car was fixed by Aston Martin, allowing him to leave the session.

Having missed the most of practice, the Spanish driver stated in the post-media interviews that the team decided to run with heavier fuel; yet, the car displayed unpredictable behavior for the whole of Q1.

He gave the group credit for their work.

"The team was incredible today," Alonso said. "It was nice to witness that, the hours before qualifying, both teams together, Car 18 and Car 14 working flat out to put my car in qualifying. We managed to do so. So that was big thanks to everyone.

Logan Sargeant of America, who seems to be hanging on to his Williams race seat by a thread, qualified last and had his last lap time wiped due to going above the track restrictions. 

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Emilia Romagna GP 2024 Qualifying Results

Disqualified from Q1

16. Valtteri Bottas, Sauber (1:16.626)

17. Zhou Guanyu, Sauber (1:16.834)

18. Kevin Magnussen, Haas (1:16.854)

19. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin (1:16.917)

20. Logan Sargeant, Williams (--)

Disqualified from Q2

11. Sergio Pérez, Red Bull (1:15.706)

12. Esteban Ocon, Alpine (1:15.906)

13. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin (1:15.992)

14. Alexander Albon, Williams (1:16.200)

15. Pierre Gasly, Alpine (1:16.381)

Top 10 Qualifying from Emilia Romagna GP 2024

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull (1:14.746)

2. Oscar Piastri, McLaren (1:14.820)

3. Lando Norris, McLaren (1:14.837)

4. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (1:14.970)

5. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari (1:15.233)

6. George Russell, Mercedes (1:15.234)

7. Yuki Tsunoda, RB (1:15.465)

8. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (1:15.504)

9. Daniel Ricciardo, RB (1:15.674)

10. Nico Hülkenberg, Haas (1:15.980)