Piastri powers to pole in frantic Imola qualifying

Piastri set a time of 1:14.670s to eclipse Verstappen by just 0.034s in a session that was twice red-flagged due to accidents, one for returnee Franco Colapinto and a sizeable one for Yuki Tsunoda, while Ferrari failed to make the top 10.

George Russell was third for Mercedes as Lando Norris wound up in fourth spot.

Verstappen had sat atop the timesheets after the first Q3 runs, with his time edging Piastri’s effort by 0.049s.

But Piastri unearthed more time on their respective second Q3 laps to claim his third pole position of the campaign, having also been fastest in China and Bahrain.

Piastri is striving for a fourth consecutive win in Sunday’s race and leads the standings by 16 points.

Norris, his closest opponent, will start from fourth position after he failed to find time on his second Q3 run and was usurped by Mercedes driver Russell.

Russell opted to use Medium tyres for his final Q3 push lap, a strategy which was adopted by Aston Martin in both Q2 and Q3, as the team enjoyed a strong day.

Fernando Alonso was fifth overall, with Lance Stroll eighth, as the two AMR25s bookended the Williams pair of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.

Isack Hadjar was ninth for Racing Bulls while Pierre Gasly completed the top 10 for Alpine.

Gasly’s new Alpine team-mate Colapinto was one of two drivers to find the barriers in Q1.

Colapinto was on his final push lap in Q1 when he lost control of his Alpine A525 through the Tamburello chicane.

Colapinto spun into the gravel through the corner and suffered a nose-first impact with the barriers, sustaining heavy damage to the front of the car.

That brought Q1 to an early conclusion, with Colapinto having already set a time fast enough to make it through to Q2, though the accident precluded any further participation.

The session had already been halted for 15 minutes in the opening stages after a massive off for Tsunoda.

Tsunoda was on his first push lap in Q1 when he spun through the Villeneuve chicane and suffered a heavy rear-first impact with the barriers.

The trajectory of the accident took Tsunoda’s car briefly on top of the barriers, upside down, before it landed the right way up in the gravel trap.

Tsunoda was able to extricate himself from the wreckage, and was released after precautionary checks at the medical center, but faces starting Sunday’s grand prix from the very back of the field.

It was a disastrous session for Ferrari on home soil.

The squad has struggled for ultimate pace through the practice sessions but was unable to even make the top 10, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton only 11^th and 12^th respectively.

The home hopes were compounded further as Kimi Antonelli was able to muster just 13^th for Mercedes.

Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto made it through to Q2 and was the slowest of the 14 drivers who set a lap in the session.

Liam Lawson was knocked out of Q1 in 16^th place, while Nico Hulkenberg suffered a Q1 elimination after his prospective best lap was wrecked when he went wide into the gravel at Rivazza.

Haas suffered a double Q1 elimination as Esteban Ocon, who has struggled for pace all weekend, was 18^th, with team-mate Oliver Bearman 19^th.

Bearman had posted a lap quick enough to make it through to Q2 but the lap time was deleted due to the timing of the red flag for Colapinto’s accident.

The situation was reviewed, causing a delay to the start of Q2, but race control did not reverse its decision despite video evidence suggesting Bearman had made it, and consequently Bearman was left in 19^th spot.