Oscar Piastri has secured pole position for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, but the spotlight during qualifying was dominated by a dramatic crash involving Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda. The incident occurred early in Q1 when Tsunoda lost control at the fast Villeneuve chicane, leading to a substantial roll-over. Thankfully, Tsunoda emerged unscathed, surprising even his teammate Max Verstappen, who expressed his disbelief after seeing the crash’s replay.
After the crash, Tsunoda returned to the paddock, where he apologised to his team, admitting he had overstepped the limits in his eagerness to perform. He noted that the team had made several adjustments to his car’s setup after a disappointing 17th place in practice, suggesting he was pushing too hard without fully grasping the car’s new configuration. As a result, he was unable to record a time, and his crash likely means he will start from the pit lane in the race.
Additionally, Franco Colapinto, making his debut for Alpine, contributed to the drama by crashing again in the closing moments of Q1, bringing out another red flag.
Meanwhile, Piastri’s qualifying performance was noteworthy; he managed to navigate through slower cars towards the end of his final lap to finish ahead of Verstappen by a mere 0.034 seconds. Piastri expressed relief that he was able to secure pole despite the complications, and he’s optimistic about the upcoming race, especially given the historically challenging overtaking on the Imola circuit.
George Russell qualified third for Mercedes, relegating Piastri’s McLaren teammate Lando Norris to fourth place, continuing Norris’s disappointing qualifying streak this season.
The performance of local Italian drivers also fell short, as neither Ferrari driver nor Kimi Antonelli managed to progress into Q3. Frustration was evident, particularly from Charles Leclerc, who lamented their lack of competitive pace over the radio as time elapsed during qualifying.
The race is set to start tonight at 11 PM AEST, promising a thrilling showdown at one of Formula 1’s most challenging tracks.