Last Updated:
The Australian was 0.034sec ahead of Dutch world champion Verstappen of Red Bull, while Britain’s George Russell of Mercedes in third place on the grid.
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia gets readys for the third free practice at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack, ahead the Italy’s Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix, in Imola, Italy, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Championship leader Oscar Piastri calmly delivered a near-flawless lap under acute pressure on Saturday to claim pole position for McLaren ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The 24-year-old Australian clocked a best lap in one minute and 14.670 seconds shrugging aside a cluster of slower drivers at the final corner, to beat the four-time world champion by 0.34 seconds.
In a delayed and incident-hit qualifying session of two red-flag interruptions, it was his third pole position this year and his career.
Team-mate Lando Norris, who is 16 points behind him in the drivers’ title race, was fourth behind Mercedes’ George Russell, ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin in fifth place.
Carlos Sainz of Williams was sixth ahead of team-mate Alex Albon, Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin, Racing Bulls’ rookie Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly of Alpine.
The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton failed to make the cut to Q3 and qualified 11th and 12th ahead of local hero Kimi Antonelli in the second Mercedes.
“It was a great session, very tough with the delays and red flags and the tricky tyres,” said Piastri.
“The team did a great job and got the car in a nice window, we’ve been trying a few different things this weekend and we got into a nice place for qualifying.”
Verstappen was satisfied despite missing out on his third consecutive pole.
“It was a good day for us,” he said, a sentiment repeated by Russell. “We could not have achieved much more here today,” said the British driver.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – AFP)
- First Published:
