Winners and losers from the 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix qualifying
Sainz is in sixth while Colapinto ended his session in the wall.
An eventful qualifying has resulted in Oscar Piastri on the top step but there was plenty of action before that.
Two red flags and an upside-down car reflected an incident-filled session in Imola and here’s who came out on top and who is wishing for a do-over.
Winners and losers from the 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix qualifying
Winner: Oscar Piastri
An obvious place to start but with the track being billed as one that’s difficult to overtake on, qualifying was always going to be the key session this weekend.
Even going in, the battle was thought to be amongst Lando Norris, Piastri and Max Verstappen but as it wore on, it looked increasingly like just the Championship leader and the reigning champion were true contenders.
In the end though, Piastri got it done, finding 0.034 more time than Verstappen did to take pole for the third time in his career and the first time he has done so in Europe.
Piastri is on a hat-trick of wins and is clear favourite to make it four on Sunday.
Loser: Franco Colapinto
If Franco Colapinto could have written the worst way to return to Formula 1, this may well have been it.
Just as Q1 was coming to a close, the red flag went up with Colapinto in the wall and gravel at Tamburello.
The problem had occurred when he ran wide on the exit of the right-hander, touching the grass and sending his Alpine into a tailspin.
Although not the biggest crash of the session, more on that later, is was a disastrous way for Colapinto to start his five-event race deal, and one that subsequently got worse after he was handed a grid penalty for leaving his pit box too early.
Winner: Aston Martin
Just a few days after team principal Andy Cowell conceded they were facing the “harsh reality” of no more points this season, Aston Martin go and secure their first double Q3 since August.
Leaving it late in Q2 allowed both Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso to make it through and the latter really impressed in Q3, making it past his compatriot Carlos Sainz by 0.001 seconds.
Alonso has yet to score a point this year but he has given himself a good chance of doing just that this weekend.
Loser: Yuki Tsunoda
The curse of the Red Bull second seat continues with Yuki Tsunoda suffering a dramatic crash early in the session.
Bottoming out on the approach to Turn 6, Tsunoda went through the gravel having bounced over the apex kerb and the momentum was enough to see him barrel roll as he hit the tyre wall before landing right way up again.
Another remarkable feat for F1 safety allowed Tusnoda to walk away but he must now try and claw back what he can from P20 on the grid.
Winner: George Russell
In a presumed three-way battle for pole, George Russell managed to disrupt proceedings with an excellent lap on the mediums to put his car P3.
He may not have yet visited the top step but Russell is enjoying the best season of his career so far and has not finished below fifth in quali this campaign.
McLaren of course have the pace but on a difficult-to-overtake track, Russell will enjoy the battle against Norris tomorrow.
Loser: Ferrari (and all the Italian fans in the crowd)
If you look closely, you can actually pinpoint the second when Italian fans’ hearts ripped in half.
If Kimi Antonelli’s Q2 exit was not enough, a double blow of Hamilton and then Leclerc meant the Tifosi all shared a thousand-yard stare wondering how this had happened.
For the Ferraris, it was a case of the car simply having no performance while Antonelli will be wondering just how much more he could have done considering Russell is in P3.
Failing as Ferrari is never a good look, but to do so in front of your home fans means it is best for anyone associated with the team to avoid picking up a local newspaper in the morning.
More reaction from qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
Colapinto crash triggers second Imola qualifying red flag
Tsunoda walks away from huge barrel roll qualifying crash at Imola
Winner: Carlos Sainz
The early season struggles of Carlos Sainz look to be a thing of the past as he performed excellently in Imola.
His best moment arguably did not come in Q3 but actually Q2 where he set a stunning lap of 1:15.198 to move top of the standings.
In the final blast, he narrowly missed out on P5 thanks to his countryman Alonso but it is the third P6 in a row for Sainz.
Loser: Lando Norris
The title slipped yet further away from Norris with another poor quali result.
The Briton came fourth in a three-horse race with a scruffy Q3 lap opening the door for Russell to move ahead and give Norris a mountain to climb in the race.
At the start of the European season, Norris needed a statement performance to swing momentum back his way but instead, he will start fourth with his team-mate on pole and Verstappen straight ahead.
If Norris has any hope of victory, he must dispatch Russell quickly in Sunday’s race.
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