2024 F1 Imola GP qualifying results: Verstappen takes pole

18 May 2024

Motorsport.com, Edition: Australia

Verstappen will start ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

F1 qualifying - Figure 1 — Photo Motorsport.com, Edition: Australia

Imola Grand Prix grid: Verstappen on pole from Piastri Read Also:

Formula 1F1 Imola GP: Verstappen takes pole from Piastri as Ferrari disappoints

What happened in Imola Grand Prix Q1?

Piastri set the early pace at 1m15.940s, 0.073s quicker than Verstappen, before F1’s most recent race winner Norris snatched P1 by 0.025s with a 1m15.915s.

Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg briefly grabbed the top spot with 1m15.841s, before Verstappen unleashed a session-topping 1m15.762s, 0.061s ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Falling at the first hurdle were Valtteri Bottas (Sauber), Zhou Guanyu (Sauber), Kevin Magnussen (Haas, who was baulked by Piastri on his final lap), Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Logan Sargeant (Williams).

Alonso suffered an off at Tamburello, his Aston’s handling looked terrible after the team scrambled to rebuild it after he crashed at Rivazza in FP3. He was forced to abort his final lap with an "unknown problem".

Sargeant chose the Villeneuve chicane for his ride across the gravel trap. He had his quickest time, that was good enough for 17th, deleted due to exceeding track limits.

F1 qualifying - Figure 2 — Photo Motorsport.com, Edition: Australia

Imola GP Q1 results: Verstappen fastest from Leclerc

Cla Nº Driver Car / Engine Time Delay Laps 1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'15.762 6 2 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'15.823 0.061 9 3 27 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1'15.841 0.079 9 4 22 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1'15.894 0.132 6 5 4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1'15.915 0.153 7 6 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1'15.940 0.178 4 7 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1'16.015 0.253 8 8 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1'16.015 0.253 8 9 3 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1'16.060 0.298 6 10 63 George Russell Mercedes 1'16.107 0.345 6 11 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1'16.361 0.599 9 12 11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'16.404 0.642 4 13 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'16.458 0.696 9 14 23 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1'16.524 0.762 6 15 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'16.604 0.842 8 16 77 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1'16.626 0.864 6 17 24 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1'16.834 1.072 9 18 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1'16.854 1.092 8 19 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'16.917 1.155 7 - 2 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes - - 8

What happened in Imola Grand Prix Q2?

Leclerc set the bar at 1m15.328s, 0.03s faster than Yuki Tsunoda’s RB, with Verstappen another 0.03s further back.

F1 qualifying - Figure 3 — Photo Motorsport.com, Edition: Australia

But Verstappen restored normal service with a session-topping 1m15.176s late on to top Q2 by 0.152s.

Knocked out at this point were Sergio Perez (Red Bull), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Alex Albon (Williams) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine).

Imola GP Q2 results: Verstappen fastest from Leclerc

Cla Nº Driver Car / Engine Time Delay Laps 1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'15.176 6 2 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'15.328 0.152 6 3 22 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1'15.358 0.182 3 4 4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1'15.371 0.195 6 5 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1'15.407 0.231 5 6 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1'15.512 0.336 6 7 27 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1'15.569 0.393 6 8 63 George Russell Mercedes 1'15.671 0.495 6 9 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'15.677 0.501 6 10 3 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1'15.691 0.515 6 11 11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'15.706 0.530 6 12 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1'15.906 0.730 6 13 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'15.992 0.816 6 14 23 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1'16.200 1.024 6 15 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1'16.381 1.205 6

What happened in Imola Grand Prix Q3?

On the first runs, Verstappen set the pace at 1m14.869s, 0.073s faster than Norris, while Leclerc was 0.147s off the provisional pole.

F1 qualifying - Figure 4 — Photo Motorsport.com, Edition: Australia

On the final runs, Leclerc improved to within 0.101s but stayed third. Verstappen found even more time, with 1m14.746s, to extend his advantage.

Norris got to within 0.091s of pole, but Piastri pipped his team-mate to the front row with a 1m14.820s, 0.074s away from Verstappen – who would have started on the second row if he hadn’t improved on his final push lap.

The Ferraris of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will start fourth and fifth respectively, ahead of George Russell (Mercedes), Yuki Tsunoda (RB), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Daniel Ricciardo (RB) and Hulkenberg.

Cla Nº Driver Car / Engine Time Delay Laps 1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'14.746 6 2 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1'14.820 0.074 6 3 4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1'14.837 0.091 6 4 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'14.970 0.224 6 5 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1'15.233 0.487 6 6 63 George Russell Mercedes 1'15.234 0.488 6 7 22 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1'15.465 0.719 6 8 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'15.504 0.758 6 9 3 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1'15.674 0.928 3 10 27 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1'15.980 1.234 6