F1 2025: Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix Qualifying Recap | Oscar Piastri locks in third pole position of the season

Ferrari have a nightmare Saturday in Imola

Current Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri picked up his third pole position of the 2025 season as the McLaren driver saw off reigning world champion Max Verstappen to steal pole at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix 2025 and hand McLaren their first pole in Imola in over two decades. 

Here’s a quick recap of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix qualifying session.

Q1 – Tsunoda’s big crash puts Red Bull on the back foot again; Colapinto doesn’t have the ideal start

Alex Albon’s 1:16.164 set the early benchmark for the first qualifying session in Imola with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso being 0.074 seconds behind while Lewis Hamilton was in third place after his first run, almost a hundredth behind Williams. Before the other front runners could get going the session saw an early red flag following Yuki Tsunoda’s big crash at the Villeneuve chicane which ended the Japanese driver’s qualifying session. 

As the session resumed, Alonso went fastest with a 1:15.695s while the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli was 0.248s behind Alonso in third. It was Max Verstappen who dislodged Alonso at the top with a 1:15.175s before Oscar Piastri’s first run could only see him 0.325s behind Verstappen. The drop zone had both the Haas cars, Liam Lawson’s VCARB and the Sauber of Nico Hülkenberg. With only seconds to go, Alpine’s new driver, Franco Colapinto brought out the red flag to end the session. A strong final lap saw Ollie Bearman escape from the drop zone, but it was deleted as the young Brit put the lap in post the red flag coming out. Despite his last-second crash, Colapinto made it out of Q1 although it ended his qualifying session as the damage prevented him from taking part further. 

Drivers eliminated in Q1

Liam Lawson
Nico Hülkenberg
Esteban Ocon
Oliver Bearman
Yuki Tsunoda

Q2 – Double blow for Ferrari as Carlos Sainz goes fastest

Following a short delay, Max Verstappen’s 1:15.400s set the benchmark time for the second qualifying session in Imola with the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Hamilton coming two hundredths and three hundredths behind him respectively. George Russell went second with his first lap, going 0.151s slower than the Red Bull driver but it was Lando Norris going P1 with a 1:15.261s before his teammate dislodged him with a 1:15.241s to set up a McLaren 1-2 at the top, with the Australian going 0.020s quicker than his teammate.

As the chequered flag fell, it was Kimi Antonelli, both the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto unable to make it out of Q2 as two stunning laps from both Aston Martins and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine got themselves out of a pickle.

Drivers eliminated in Q2

Charles Leclerc
Lewis Hamilton
Kimi Antonelli
Gabriel Bortoleto
Franco Colapinto

Q3 – Piastri pips Verstappen for another pole position as Norris disappoints once again

Oscar Piastri’s 1:14.670s saw him take the provisional pole as he swapped the top spot with Max Verstappen while Norris’ first lap was almost three-hundredths behind his teammate. The top seven was within a second of Piastri in a tight qualifying session 3 battle and Max Verstappen’s final lap saw him unable to take pole position falling, 0.034s behind the current championship leader. Mercedes’ George Russell put in a strong final lap to push Lando Norris to the P4, with Russell managing a second row start at P3. 

It was also McLaren’s first pole start in Imola since 2005 when Kimi Räikkönen had handed the Woking-based team a pole position, more than 20 years ago.

Starting Grid for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix 2025 (before any penalties)

1. Oscar Piastri
2. Max Verstappen
3. George Russell
4. Lando Norris
5. Fernando Alonso
6. Carlos Sainz
7. Alex Albon
8. Lance Stroll
9. Isack Hadjar
10. Pierre Gasly
11. Charles Leclerc
12. Lewis Hamilton
13. Kimi Antonelli
14. Gabriel Bortoleto
15. Franco Colapinto
16. Liam Lawson
17. Nico Hülkenberg
18. Esteban Ocon
19. Oliver Bearman
20. Yuki Tsunoda