Hello everyone! The Imola grand prix took place last Sunday, but before we can comment on it, we have to first talk about the qualifying round which determined the starting positions the next day. Here is everything you need to know about the Imola qualifying round.
q1
Welcome to the first qualifying round of the European triple header! This weekend we are honoring the late and great Aryton Senna who unfortunately lost his life on this very track in 1994. The weather is hot and so are the drivers! Let’s get into it.
Wasting absolutely no time, with 12 minutes and 16 seconds left in Q1, Red bull driver Yuki Tsunoda crashes into the barriers. He flipped his car about two times before it landed upright. The car was badly damaged, so every Red Bull mechanic likely sighed in unison upon witnessing the amount of work that was in store for them. Luckily, the Japanese driver hopped out of the car like it was a mild crash and not the life threatening one that it actually was. Because of the damage that was inflicted, he will start the race in 20th position and in the pit lane. Red Flag deployed!
With less than a minute left of this qualifying round, Stake driver Nico Hulkenberg finds himself in the bottom five. In a desperate attempt to make it into Q2, he makes a wide turn and ends up spraying gravel across the track. He continued the lap but his dreams quickly disappeared. He finished his lap P17.
In the last 3 seconds of Q1, new Alpine driver Franco Colapinto sent out the yellow flag when he crashed into the wall. Although not as immense a crash as Tsunoda’s, it still called for quite a lot of work to be done. Even though he crashed his car, this sector of qualifying was basically completed, and when he wrecked, he was already out of the positions being disqualified. So, the Argentine driver technically made it into Q2 and would continue to Q3 Has it not been for his brief acquaintance with the barrier.
Oliver Bearman finds himself skyrocketing out of 19th place to 10th as the time runs out for Q1. His time was unfortunately deleted after it was discovered that he hadn’t finished his lap before the time ran out, so he finds himself, yet again, in 19th position.
The drivers eliminated in Q1 are Liam Lawson, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Oliver Bearman, and Yuki Tsunoda.
q2
Nothing too intense or exciting happened until the final minute of Q2. Carlos Sainz finds himself in pole position! The fastest lap of Q2. The time runs out but not all the drivers have completed their lap. All eyes turn to Sainz’s teammate Alex Albon, who is currently P14, but once he completes his lap, he leaps out of the disqualified positions and lands 7th.
Alpine driver Pierre Gasly takes Albon’s 14th place position and is hoping to turn it into a place in the top ten. He has a few more turns to go, can he make it? Yes he can! Gasly to 6th. The Alpine garage may be rejoicing at the moment but the Merecedes garage certainly is not. Kimi Antonelli, the 18 year old rookie who is celebrating his first home race of his career, got sent to 11th position when Gasly made it to 6th. More worry fills the hearts of the Italian fans watching from the grand stands. Both Ferrari drivers are currently at the bottom of the safe positions, Charles Leclerc in 9th and Lewis Hamilton in 10th. Never in my life would I think I would be saying this sentence, but the Ferrari cars are currently at the whim of the Aston Martin cars. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll have yet to set their times, so if they make it into 10th place or higher, the Ferrari drivers are out! Stroll crosses the finish line first and shoots up to P6, leaving Lewis Hamilton behind in 11th. Now all eyes turn to Fernando Alonso! He finishes his lap and finds himself replacing Stroll for 6th position! Both Ferrari drivers are eliminated! What a sad, sad day for the Ferrari drivers and Kimi Antonelli. Millions of Italian fans were cheering for them either from the stands or from their couches, so watching their home driver and both drivers from their home team get eliminated in Q2 must have been devastating! Hopefully they can make a comeback tomorrow and give the sea of red that makes up the grandstands something to cheer for.
The drivers eliminated in Q2 are Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Antonelli, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Franco Colapinto. Onto Q3!
q3
McLaren driver Lando Norris was the first to finish his first lap. He set the lap record at 1 minute and 14 seconds. Norris’s teammate Oscar Piastri is well on his way to secure his first ever win in the drivers championship, so all eyes are now on him to see if he will be able to get a faster lap time than Norris and replace him for pole position, and he does it! Piastri to first!
Here comes reigning world champion Max Verstappen in the Red Bull car! He is fast approaching and looking for yet another pole position. There he goes! Up to Pole goes Max Verstappen! 4 hundredths of a second better than Piastri!
Mercedes driver George Russell now has a lot of weight on his shoulders after his teammate faced elimination last round. His lap was quite fast but not fast enough! He is currently P4.
Here goes Alex Albon! He and his teammate Carlos Sainz are currently seeking to be both faster and ahead of the Aston Martins. Albon makes it into 8th. Sainz follows closely behind and takes 8th position from Albon, sending the Thai driver into 9th place.
Papaya driver Oscar Piastri’s sole mission at the moment is to set a faster time in this lap than Max Verstappen, something he failed to do in the last lap. At the start of his lap, he had a tenth of a second advantage over Verstappen. All drivers that Piastri had to pass in order to finish his lap kindly got out of the way for him, making his path towards victory even straighter than it already was, Piastri takes pole!
Lando Norris was yet to complete his lap, but fans were praying that he could beat Max Verstappen so McLaren could bring home a qualifying 1-2. Norris was fighting for 2nd at the same time that Verstappen was fighting for first. It became clear early on in the lap that Norris’s lap wasn’t a personal best. As of right now, Verstappen has the advantage. Although, Verstappen’s beginning corners of his lap weren’t very world champion-like either! There is still hope for the Brit! He pushes forward, but he barely misses it. Norris takes 3rd. Now we turn to Verstappen. In the final corners of his lap, he drives like lighting, and his brakes don’t seem to be an issue like they have been in the past! Verstappen is truly showing himself as the four-time world champion, but Piastri may be dethroning him! Verstappen misses out on pole position by three hundredths of a second! Verstappen takes 2nd.
Carlos Sainz is currently having quite a good lap! He advances to 6th position! Next comes George Russell! He crosses the finish line and takes Norris’s place in third!
Oscar Piastri takes Pole Position in the Emilia Romagna grand prix qualifying round! Quite the unfortunate day for majority of the Italian fans, but not for the ones sporting Papaya colored merchandise in the sea of Ferrari red!
the grid
Here is your grid for the 2025 Emilia Romagna grand prix.
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- George Russell (Mercedes)
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
- Carlos Sainz (Williams)
- Alex Albon (Williams)
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
- Isack Hadjar (VCARB)
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Stake Kick Sauber)
- Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
- Liam Lawson (VCARB)
- Nico Hulkenberg (Stake Kick Sauber)
- Esteban Ocon (Haas)
- Oliver Bearman (Haas)
- Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
The Formula 1 edit 
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