Verstappen Claims Pole Position at Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix

Max Verstappen continued his impressive form by securing pole position at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, narrowly beating his rivals to the top spot on the grid.

Verstappen set a blistering lap time of 1m 14.746s in his Red Bull, edging out Oscar Piastri by 0.074s, who was later penalized due to impeding the Haas of Kevin Magnussen in Q1.

Lando Norris of McLaren grabbed the third spot, followed by Charles Leclerc as the lead Ferrari in fourth and Carlos Sainz in fifth.

George Russell claimed sixth for Mercedes, while Yuki Tsunoda surprised by clinching seventh in front of RB‘s home crowd.

Lewis Hamilton settled for eighth, with the top 10 rounded out by Daniel Ricciardo in ninth and Nico Hulkenberg in tenth.

In a surprise turn of events, Sergio Perez failed to better his lap, finishing in 11th, with Alpine‘s Esteban Ocon and Aston Martin‘s Lance Stroll also missing out on Q3.

Alex Albon was the lead Williams in 14th, while Pierre Gasly followed close behind in 15th place for Alpine.

The Kick Sauber duo of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu were knocked out in Q1, along with Kevin Magnussen and Fernando Alonso, who caused a stir after dropping out in P19.

In Q2, Verstappen once again set the pace, leading the field ahead of Leclerc and Tsunoda, with Hamilton and Russell narrowly making it into the top 10.

Ultimately, in Q3, Verstappen dominated by improving on his own time to secure pole position, with McLaren’s Piastri, despite penalties, slotting into second and Norris in third.

Verstappen expressed his delight at the unexpected pole position, crediting last-minute changes to his car, with the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix scheduled to begin at 1500 local time on Sunday at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.