Oscar Piastri de McLaren delivered an astonishing tour in the dying moments of qualification.© AFP
Oscar Piastri de McLaren delivered an astonishing tour in the dying moments of qualification to win the pole position for the Grand Prix 2025 of Emilia-Romagna on Saturday. The reigning world champion of Red Bull, Australian, Max Verstappen and George Russell of Mercedes and Mercedes in a chaotic session and filled with incident. Verstappen seemed ready to continue his dominant race after having led the initial laps of the Q3, but Piastri produced a puffy 1m of 14.670 during his last race, hitting the Dutchman with only three hundredths of a second.
George Russell impressed by taking third place, despite the choice of medium tires rather than the sofa softs for his last attempt. Lando Norris could only manage fourth place in the other McLaren, while Fernando Alonso d’Aston Martin completed the first five.
There were deeper surprises on the ground, Carlos Sainz de Williams and Alex Albon Shining in sixth and seventh. Lance Stroll, the Racing Bulls recruit Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly d’Alpine finished the top 10.
It was a qualification session to forget for Ferrari during their home race. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who reported persistent braking problems during training, failed to reach the third quarter and will start the 11th and 12th. Kimi Antonelli, favorite of the hometown, could not match his teammate Russell and finished 13th.
Franco Colapinto d’Alpine passed in the second quarter to Pace, but was sidelined after a heavy accident in the first quarter, which highlighted the red flags and left his team of night repairs to manage.
Haas endured a difficult day while Esteban Ocon and the recruit Ollie Bearman were both released in the first quarter. Bearman’s best tour arrived a few seconds too late after the Cochapinto crash.
The biggest fear of the session came from Yuki Tsunoda, who underwent a high -speed accident and a barrel jet at the beginning of the first quarter. Fortunately, he escaped unscathed, although his Red Bull has undergone significant damage.
All eyes are now turning around Sunday, Piastri leading the grid in what promises to be an exciting race in Imola.
(With the exception of the title, this story has not been published by NDTV staff and is published from a unionized flow.)
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