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Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton secured pole position ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with the Red Bull pairing of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen in second and third respectively.
Lewis Hamilton claimed his 99th career pole ahead of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen as the top three were separated by under a tenth. Charles Leclerc claimed fourth ahead of Pierre Gasly while Daniel Ricciardo beat Lando Norris after his fastest lap time was deleted for track limit infringements.
Valtteri Bottas had a dreadful day in eighth ahead of an impressive Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll to round out the top 10. Carlos Sainz will have a free tyre choice for the race after he qualified in 11th with George Russell alongside the Spaniard in 12th.
Sebastian Vettel qualified in 13th ahead of an excellent Nicholas Latifi in 14th and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso in 15th. Kimi Raikkonen qualified 16th, Antonio Giovinazzi in 17th, Mick Schumacher in 18th, Nikita Mazepin 19th and Yuki Tsunoda will start at the back of the grid after he crashed out in Q1.
Q1
Schumacher was the first car out on track, going straight to the top ahead of teammate Mazepin. A host of cars subsequently followed as Stroll went to the top of time timing sheets.
AlphaTauri rookie Tsunoda found himself in the barrier when the Japanese driver lost the rear end into Turn 14 and 15, the session was halted as a red flag was shown. It looks like it could be a busy night for his side of the garage, with a gear-box change looking likely as he ripped open the rear of his car.
Come the end of the session, the track began to ramp up as the drivers approached their final flying laps, it was Williams that stood out throughout Q1 as both cars made it through to Q2 as Latifi led teammate Russell.
Bottas led the timing sheets with a 1:14.672 after Q1 with teammate Hamilton behind in second, an impressive start to the day for Norris who was in third. Alonso was only safe by just over a tenth as the Alpine driver struggled to get on top of his car.
We lost Tsunoda early in the session as he will start at the back of the grid in tomorrow’s race. It was a Haas and Alfa Romeo double as Mazepin, Schumacher, Giovinazzi and Raikkonen were all eliminated out of qualifying.
Q2
It was Red Bull’s time to take to the top as Perez claimed the top spot at the end of Q2, building on his momentum after an early scare earlier in the weekend.
Norris continued his impressive form in second as Leclerc was third for Ferrari. Hamilton, Verstappen and Bottas came next as the trio all managed to get through to Q3 on the medium compound tyre.
Ocon shocked a few neutrals as he progressed to the final stage of qualifying in eighth as he beat his two-time world champion teammate Alonso for the first time this season.
Sainz had a poor day in the second Ferrari as he was knocked out in Q2, although the Spaniard will have a free tyre choice tomorrow as he starts from 11th.
Vettel was beaten by Stroll who made it to Q3 for the second time this season, despite looking handy all weekend, Latifi was still out-qualified by Russell come the end of qualifying.
Q3
In their first run’s in Q3, it was Hamilton who headed the field with a 1:14.411 ahead of Verstappen and Perez. Norris looked to be best of the rest ahead of Leclerc as the 10 remaining drivers entered their final timed laps of qualifying.
When it came down to crunch time, few held their nerve as Hamilton was one of the first to cross the line as he waited for the remaining cars to finish. The seven-time world champion failed to improve upon his lap time earlier in the session.
Teammate Bottas was to follow but the Finn was miles behind the pace of his teammate as he finished over five-tenths behind Hamilton. The 31-year old has a lot of work to do as he will start from eighth.
The timing sheets started to light up, as Norris set purple sector’s one and two as he looked certain to take pole position. The Brit finished his lap only a fraction behind Hamilton before his lap was invalidated for a track limit infringement.
Everyone had their eyes glued on Verstappen as he was last to cross the line but in fact, it was his teammate Perez who got closest to Hamilton, after putting together three green sectors, the Mexican only finished o.o35 behind the pole sitter.
Verstappen was unhappy with his lap as he hit the gravel in sector one but remains in third position ahead of a hotly poised Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
What’s Next?
It looks like it could be two Red Bull’s against Hamilton tomorrow for victory with both of their cars on contrasting strategies. It will be key for their race that Perez gets ahead of Hamilton off the line with his softer compound of tyre, which also puts Verstappen closer to the seven-time champion.
Although it could not be plain sailing with a possibility of rain in the air tonight, we could potentially see some wet weather running in Imola.
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