Verstappen Claims Pole For 2024 Emilia Romagna GP

Max Verstappen recovered from a tough FP3 to claim pole position for 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Verstappen struggled for pace throughout Friday Practice which continued into FP3 as he found himself almost one second off the pace in a chaotic finish, but the reigning champion rebounded to dominate Qualifying and take pole.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri meanwhile enjoyed a strong day as he topped FP3 but fell just short in Qualifying as he took second on the grid.

 

FP3

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McLaren’s Lando Norris was first on track but it was Red Bull’s Sergio Perez who set the initial benchmark time of 1m 17.682 on medium tyres.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz however went fastest on soft tyres with 1m 17.444, only for his teammate – Charles Leclerc to go 1.163 seconds quicker in the eighth minute, which he lowered to 1m 16.087 on his next flier.

Sainz however produced 1m 16.067 to go 0.020s faster in the 20th minute but the session was red flagged five minutes later after Fernando Alonso lost the rear of his Aston Martin through Rivazza and spun out.

The session resumed eight minutes later and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri quickly showed pace on the soft tyre to go third quickest, but on a provisional fastest lap he ran wide on exit of Rivazza to ruin his chance of going top ahead of Qualifying simulation.

Piastri however timed his final lap to perfection to seemingly top the session with 1m 15.529 in the 54th minute left, as Perez crashed at Variante Alta after clipping the kerb hard on entry.

Marshals however swiftly cleared the stricken Red Bull and the session resumed with two minutes left on the clock, yet a majority of drivers failed to stat a final lap before the checkered flag after they squabbled over track position.

Norris though was just one of a few drivers who registered one last lap time which saw him climb to second as Sainz rounded out the top three.

Max Verstappen, Perez, Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly all set their fastest lap times on the medium tyres, whilst Alonso’s best time was done on the hard tyre.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1m 15.529
2	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 0.300
3	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+ 0.538
4	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 0.558
5	George Russell	Mercedes	+ 0.566
6	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+ 0.837
7	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 0.941
8	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	+ 0.952
9	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 1.014
10	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	+ 1.018
11	Daniel Ricciardo	RB	+ 1.031
12	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	+ 1.102
13	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	+ 1.139
14	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber	+ 1.166
15	Logan Sargeant	Williams	+ 1.265
16	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+ 1.394
17	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+ 1.431
18	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 1.810
19	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 1.832
20	Guanyu Zhou	Kick Sauber	+ 2.362

 

Qualifying

Q1

Gasly was first out on track but it was his Alpine teammate, Ocon who set a benchmark 1m 16.645 which was soon bettered by several drivers, as Piastri sat top with 1m 15.940 after everyone completed their first laps – except for Williams’ Albon and Sargeant.

In fact the Williams pair propped up the field behind Alonso, Hulkenberg and Zhou who sat just above them in the bottom five, whilst Norris improved to the summit with 1m 15.915 in the 12th minute.

At the checkered flag, Alonso was eliminated as the slowest driver overall behind Magnussen who joined him on the back row, whilst Bottas qualified 16 ahead of Sargeant and Zhou.

Verstappen meanwhile found himself quickest with 1m 15.762 ahead of Leclerc and Hulkenberg.

 

Q2

Russell and Hamilton are first out on track for Mercedes alongside Albon as other drivers sat in their garages, and Russell proceeded to set a benchmark 1m 16.200 only for Hamilton to go 0.003s quicker.

Verstappen however displaced the pair with 1m 15.386 but Leclerc displaced him by 0.058s and Tsunoda slotted into second.

Once everyone completed their first lap times, the elimination zone compromised of; Russell, Gasly, Ocon, Stroll and Albon, although Russell was only 0.003s behind Hamilton who sat tenth in the last Q3 qualification spot.

As the checkered flag fell, Gasly was eliminated as the slowest driver in 15th position and was joined by Ocon, Stroll and Albon who filled positions 12-14 on the grid.

Perez meanwhile became a shock Q2 exit as he only qualified 11th and missed out on Q3 by 0.015s to Ricciardo, whilst his teammate – Verstappen posted 1m 15.176 to top Q2.

 

Q3

Hulkenberg was first out on track and set a benchmark 1m 16.308 but Verstappen found himself on provisional pole with 1m 14.876 ahead of Norris, Leclerc and Piastri with the top four split between 0.279s.

Sainz sat fifth ahead of Russell, Tsunoda, Hamilton, Hulkenberg and Ricciardo, although Ricciardo hadn’t set a lap time.

With three-and-a-half minutes to go, Hulkenberg led a queue of cars out for the final runs but pole ultimately went to Verstappen with 1m 14.746 ahead of Piastri and Norris with the top three split by 0.091s.

Leclerc was fourth ahead of Sainz, Russell, Tsunoda, Hamilton, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg.

Post-session, Piastri was demoted to fifth on the grid after he was adjudged to had impeded Magnussen in Q1, which consequently earned him a three-place grid penalty.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1m 14.746
2	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 0.074
3	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 0.091
4	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 0.224
5	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+ 0.487
6	George Russell	Mercedes	+ 0.488
7	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	+ 0.719
8	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+ 0.758
9	Daniel Ricciardo	RB	+ 0.928
10	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	+ 1.234
11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	1m 15.706
12	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	+ 0.200
13	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 0.286
14	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 0.494
15	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 0.675
16	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber	1m 16.626
17	Logan Sargeant	Williams	+ 0.105
18	Guanyu Zhou	Kick Sauber	+ 0.208
19	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+ 0.228
20	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 0.291