© Getty ImagesCheco Checks Into The Front Row With Max P3 In ImolaThe Mexican puts in a brilliant final flying lap in Q3 but just misses out on pole.
Max meanwhile will start the race from P3 after he made an uncharacteristic error on his final lap of the session.
At the start of the hour-long session, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was the early pace setter, with the Canadian setting a P1 time of 1:16.082. It wasn’t long, though, before the red flags were shown, as six minutes into the 18-minute-long segment, AlpahTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda crashed out. The Japanese rookie got out of shape through the Variante Alta chicane and lost the rear end of his car. He slid backwards into the tyre barriers sustaining heavy damage at the rear of his AlphaTauri AT02.
The session resumed after an almost 10-minute suspension and Checo and Max were straight into the action, both with soft tyres on board. Sergio crossed the line in 1:15.744 but that was quickly beaten by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and then by Alpine’s Esteban Ocon before Max took P1 with a lap of 1:15.109. Checo’s opener was then deleted for a track limits infringement in turn nine and the Mexican driver dropped to the bottom of the time sheet.
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas then jumped to P1 with a time of 1:14.926 as teammate Lewis Hamilton slotted in just behind with a lap of 1:14.955, and McLaren’s Lando Norris took P3 with a lap of 1:15.009. Checo’s second lap then put him into P5 behind Max with a second effort of 1:15.395.
With a safe passage through to Q2 secured, the Bulls elected to remain in the garage for the final runs and Ocon managed to move ahead of Sergio to claim P5.
There was a more nervous end to the session for the Frenchman’s Alpine teammate Fernando Alonso and the Spaniard scraped through to Q2 in P15 thanks to a time of 1:15.832.
That was a little over a tenth of a second ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Räikkönen, who was eliminated in P16. Also ruled out after the first segment were 17th-placed Antonio Giovinazzi, Haas drivers Schumacher and Mazepin, and the unfortunate Tsunoda.
Max Is Released Onto Track© Getty Images
It was Norris who set the pace in the opening runs of Q2, with the McLaren driver using soft tyres to claim P1 with a lap of 1:14.718. Behind him, using mediums, Hamilton to P2 and Max into P3.
By contrast, Sergio opted for a set of softs on his first run, and while he set purple times in the second sector he came across traffic in the final sector and his slightly compromised time of 1:15.106 was only good enough for P5 behind Valtteri Bottas and it became sixth as Leclerc grabbed P4 in the dying moments.
The Mexican bolted on another set of softs for his final effort and this time he got a clear run to claim P1 with a lap of 1:14.716, two thousandths of a second ahead of Norris. Leclerc also used softs to jump to third place while Hamilton finished fourth with his medium-tyre opening time.
Max also relied on his medium-compound opener to make it through and booked his Q3 spot with P5 and a time of 1:14.844.
Eliminated at the end of Q2 were Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in P11 followed by Williams’ George Russell, Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, Nicholas Latifi in the second Williams and Alonso.
Hamilton laid down a tough marker in the opening runs of the top-10 shootout with a provisional pole time of 1:14.411. Max slotted into P2, less than a tenth off the Mercedes driver, while Checo took third place with a lap of 1:14.665.
Hamilton failed to improve on his final run and though both Bulls made gains in the final runs to put pressure on the defending world champion’s benchmark, they ultimately couldn’t eclipse his time.
Getting Some Air In Quali© Getty Images
Pérez got closest, putting in a good lap of 1:14.466 to finish just five hundredths of a second behind Hamilton and claim his first ever front row start in Formula 1.
However, Max made a small mistake early in his final run and though he recovered time, the Dutchman was only able to find 0.002 over his opening lap and was forced to settle for P3 on the grid.
Behind the top three, Leclerc took P4 – for the second race in succession – while Pierre Gasly grabbed an excellent fifth place on the grid for AlphaTauri. Daniel Ricciardo will start P6 for McLaren, directly ahead of teammate Lando Norris, who would have been starting in P3 had his final lap of Q3 not been deleted for a track limits infringement. Eight quickest in qualifying was Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, while row five tomorrow will feature Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in P9 ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
Max Congratulates His Teammate After Quali© Getty Images
“What a massive result for us, knowing that I could win the race tomorrow is definitely a good feeling. There are a lot of positives to take out of today but I made a little mistake at the final turn, I was so close to pole. I can’t believe this is my first Red Bull start on the grid, as I started from the pit lane in Bahrain and it’s from the front of the grid! It just shows the amount of work we have put into this as a Team is paying off.
It was a great result for us today but we can’t get too carried away, I know that there is a lot of work to be done, "Looking to the race tomorrow, Max and I are of course on different strategies, I am starting on the softs and Max is on the mediums so I think we have a good race ahead of us, especially as we’ve been able to apply the pressure to Mercedes. It was a great result for us today but we can’t get too carried away, I know that there is a lot of work to be done and it’s important that we keep making good process.”
“It was not a clean lap in Q3. I made some mistakes and when you go off on a qualifying lap it is never going to be good. The first sector of the first lap wasn’t good in the wake of another car so I knew there was a lot of time there and I pushed a bit more on the second lap but I ran wide on the exit of Turn 3 and cut the grass a bit which wasn’t very lovely for the lap time. Sometimes these things happen and you can’t do a perfect or near perfect lap all the time. There are always things you can do better even when you say it’s a perfect lap but today was far from that. I shocked myself that I had a lap like that as it’s been a long time since I felt this way after qualifying.
For the Team it’s always good to have two cars up there, so I hope me and Checo can make it more difficult for Mercedes. "Checo did a great job so congratulations to him. We have a good race car and tomorrow is where you score points. There are a lot of factors involved in the race like the weather and the start but for the Team it’s always good to have two cars up there, so I hope me and Checo can make it more difficult for Mercedes to decide on a strategy.”
It was a great Team performance today with our best qualifying result in Italy since 2013. “It was a great Team performance today with our best qualifying result in Italy since 2013. Sergio did a fantastic job in just his second qualifying session for us and it was a shame for Max who made an uncharacteristic mistake at Turn 3 on his final run in Q3. It’s incredibly satisfying to see both drivers up there and in with a shot at pole, especially in a nail-biting session where the top three were separated by less than a tenth.
We’ve got a few options which we’ll work on this evening to bring home the best possible result tomorrow. "Sergio is really finding his feet and today marks his best F1 starting grid position. With minimal seat time he’s doing a great job and settling into the Team very well. We’re in a good position and with both drivers on alternative strategies, we’ve got a few options which we’ll work on this evening to bring home the best possible result tomorrow. It should make for an exciting Grand Prix.“
EmiliaRomagnaQualifyingTop10
Position | Driver | Team | Time | 1. | 2. | 3. | 4. | 5. | 6. | 7. | 8. | 9. | 10. |
Lewis Hamilton | Sergio Pérez | Max Verstappen | Charles Leclerc | Pierre Gasly | Daniel Ricciardo | Lando Norris | Valtteri Bottas | Esteban Ocon | Lance Stroll |
Mercedes | Red Bull Racing Honda | Red Bull Racing Honda | Ferrari | AlphaTauri | McLaren | McLaren | Mercedes | Alpine | Aston Martin |
1.14.411 | 1.14.446 | 1.14.498 | 1.14.740 | 1.14.790 | 1.14.826 | 1.14.875 | 1.14.898 | 1.15.210 | No Time Set |