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Emilia Romagna GP
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2025 Formula 1 Emilia Romagna GP
May 15, 2025 to May 18, 2025
| Imola, IT
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Formula 1 Emilia Romagna GP
F1 Imola GP live commentary and updates - Qualifying
Updates from qualifying at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
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11:49:26 am
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Tempting though it is to continue our perambulation through the Tom Jones back catalogue, we'll close off our live coverage of Imola GP qualifying here. Another pole position for Oscar Piastri and another second-row start for McLaren teammate Lando Norris.
But Piastri will have Max Verstappen alongside him on the grid tomorrow and that doesn't always end well for one or the other...
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
11:46:58 am
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George Russell juggling his microphone from one hand to the other as he tackles the parc ferme interviews. Who does he think he is? Tom Jones?
"We could not have achieved much more today," he says, "but we need to focus on tomorrow."
Indeed - while it's not unusual to see Russell on the podium this year, he did miss out in Jeddah. He'll be delighted to achieve another podium on the green, green grass of Ferrari's home.
Having qualified P3, he won't have to speed through the field like a Thunderball...
11:42:06 am
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"Today was a very good day for us," says Max Verstappen. Well, not for his teammate.
11:40:26 am
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No improvement for Norris. He's still P3. Verstappen does a 1m14.704s - better than his previous lap but not enough to improve on P2.
Russell crosses the line with a 1m14.807s which puts him in P3 and drops Norris to P4.
The gap between the top three qualifiers is therefore 0.137s.
"I was going to lose my [EXPLETIVE DELETED] if that last corner had cost me pole," says Piastri on the radio.
Alonso is fifth - looks like he used a scrubbed set of mediums but you have to ask if this will compromise Aston in the race.
The Williams are sixth and seventh - track position did Sainz no harm since he's ahead of his teammate.
Stroll is P8, ahead of Hadjar - who had to bail out of his final flyer. Replays show the Racing Bulls driver nearly replicating Colapinto's shunt from earlier at the Tamburello, but kept it on the road.
Gasly rounds out the top 10, 1.117s off pole position. A ghastly business.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images
11:33:49 am
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Can anyone beat Max Verstappen's 1m14.772s on these second runs? We'll wait.
Russell and Alonso out on mediums as well as Stroll.
Piastri goes P1 - 1m14.670s but he had traffic at Rivazza. But Norris gets all squirrelly through Acque Minerali so he's already down.
11:32:13 am
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Carlos Sainz chuntering on the radio - he's running at the back of the queue on track.
11:31:54 am
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Oscar Piastri back out for his second run, on softs, as is Isack Hadjar. Alex Albon also out on softs. Lance Stroll aiming to strike happy with the medium again.
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
11:30:20 am
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Hadjar, Stroll, Alonso, Sainz, Albon and Gasly round out the top 10. All the first runs were on the soft tyres - let's see who does what in the second runs...
11:29:19 am
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Lando Norris in P3, 0.190s off provisional pole and seven hundredths faster than fourth-placed George Russell.
Intriguingly, replays indicate Russell had a 'moment' at Acque Minerali so he left some time on the table.
11:27:31 am
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Fascinating mix of fast sectors here. Piastri purple in sector two and goes P1 with a 1m14.821s, but Max Verstappen immediately goes fastest of all in the first sector and, even though the next two are 'only' green, Max snatches provisional pole with 1m14.772s - 0.049s faster than Piastri.
11:25:34 am
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And the first runs in Q3 begin. Lando Norris corrects a twitch as he goes through Tamburello.
That's the only kind of twitch he'll be involved in for the foreseeable future, of course - he's quit social media.
11:20:08 am
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Getting replays of the Ferrari farrago - Hamilton had a terrible Tosa while Leclerc slithered kerbwards at the exit of Variante Alta.
11:18:44 am
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So, a top 10 in Q2 bookended by Williams and a smoooooth operation by Carlos Sainz in P1.
Carlos Sainz, Williams
Photo by: Lars Baron / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
11:17:07 am
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The other Williams of Alex Albon goes P7, which becomes P8 as Hadjar goes P7, then they both drop as Alonso and Stroll zap through in P6 and P7 - on mediums!
Gasly through too, so there are some huge casualties here including both Ferraris. P11 and P12 for Leclerc and Hamilton - Charles was eight hundredths of a second off Albon in P10. There will be a day of mourning up the road in Maranello.
Kimi Antonelli also out in P13. Bortoleto a slightly more predictable elimination in P14.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
11:13:26 am
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Sainz purple in sector one, green in sector two... wow! P1! 1m15.198s.
11:12:42 am
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Bortoleto goes P12 - that's it for him. Antonelli posts a 1m15.772 which lifts him from P10... but only to P8!
11:10:48 am
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Nobody doing the medium-shoe shuffle yet in the final Q2 runs but the Astons are still in the garage.
11:09:55 am
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Gasly feels he was baulked by an Aston Martin at the end of his lap and is duly giving off over the radio; whether his engineer suggested a scruffy exit from the Variante Alta was more to blame, we cannot say for now...
11:07:01 am
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Outside the top six we have Hadjar, Alonso, Sainz and Antonelli. Currently in the drop zone: Stroll, Gasly, Albon and Bortoleto.
11:06:09 am
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Leclerc and Hamilton P5 and P6 after those first runs. Charles 0.363s off Norris with Lewis just a tenth and a half off.
11:05:00 am
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Max Verstappen goes top with a 1m15.400s but George Russell is flying in the first sector - it's purple. But not quick enough over the rest of the lap. Russell goes in P2 with a 1m15.551, which immediately becomes P3 as Lando Norris crosses the line in 1m15.261s.
And then everybody shuffles down again as Oscar Piastri goes fastest of all - 1m15.241s, 0.020s faster than Norris.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images
11:02:18 am
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Interesting that Lance Stroll set his fastest time in Q1 on mediums. Other teams will likely have banked that knowledge.
However, it all depends how many sets of mediums they've got left and whether they want to use them, given that will be a race compound tomorrow.
Green flag
11:00:38 am
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Q2 IS GO
Absent Liam Lawson, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocoon, Oliver Bearman, Yuki Tsunoda and Franco Colapinto.
10:59:01 am
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Well, the signal has been given that Q2 would start at 16.58 so there was nothing to stop Sauber sending Bortoleto out.
TRIGGER WARNING
Remember that Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley was the Red Bull sporting director who got in Michael Masi's ear during that Abu Dhabi Grand Prix...
10:57:07 am
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Well, Bortoleto has just driven out of the garage. Perhaps he's seizing the moment?
Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber
Photo by: Lars Baron / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Or maybe he just had his fingers in his ears...
10:55:50 am
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Still no word on whether it'll be Gabriel Bortoleto or Oliver Bearman hitting the track in Q2. Perhaps they should arm-wrestle for it?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments...
Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
10:49:37 am
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There will be a lot to unpick in Race Control because Bearman was almost at the end of his lap - he didn't pass the scene of the accident at speed. Historic precedent has it that drivers in Bearman's position have been permitted to complete their laps before the red flag is triggered, but that will depend on whether cars were in the area of Colapinto's shunt at the time.
10:47:39 am
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FIA now says "Lap time of car 87 [Bearman] under review"
10:45:24 am
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Q2 was due to restart at 16.46 local time but that has now been pushed back again.
10:44:15 am
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Start of Q2 has been delayed since the tyre barrier at the Tamburello needs to be rearranged.
The proximity of the barrier to the track at that section has always been a problem but it can't be moved - there's a river on the other side, hence the corner was turned into a chicane after Ayrton Senna's fatal accident there 31 years ago.
Replays provide an explanation for Bearman's lap time not standing - the red flag indicator was on before he crossed the finishing line. Neither he nor the team understand yet and he's been told to stay in the car.
Liam Lawson thinks the second red flag prompted his elimination since he'd just started another lap when it was triggered.
Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
10:40:20 am
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So Q1 is over with Liam Lawson, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman eliminated; so too, by default, Yuki Tsunoda.
Interestingly, it looks like Fernando Alonso was on an out-lap on mediums when that red flag flew.
Replays of Colapinto's accident show that as he exited the left-right of the Tamburello his left-rear wheel rode up over the kerb, dipped in the gravel, and that's what spat him off. He went nose-first into the wall and was still gripping the steering wheel on impact, so that will have hurt. No wonder he sounded shaken on the radio.
Rather cynically and unnecessarily, F1 TV showing an image of Jack Doohan smirking - which may or may not be a library shot.
Red flag
10:35:43 am
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COLAPINTO OFF
A messy accident for Franco Colapinto at the Tamburello. He climbs gingerly from the damaged Alpine with the medical car already in attendance. Lots of damage to that car.
Just before the red flag flew, Oliver Bearman improved to P10 on our data screen but that lap appears to have been struck off since he's now showing P19.
10:32:36 am
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Bortoleto goes P15 - he won't be comfortable with that. But he won't be ousted by his teammate, since Hulkenberg skittled over the kerbs and dipped his outer wheels in the gravel in the middle of the Rivazza.
10:31:20 am
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Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Bearman and Ocon are the drivers in the drop zone. Hulkenberg is "under investigation" for that pitlane incident with Antonelli.
10:30:34 am
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Antonelli cut up by one of the Saubers emerging from the garage and straight onto the radio to complain. He's learning from George!
10:29:49 am
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It's going to be harum-scarum in these final minutes as the cars line up in the pitlane exit for one last bid. Lance Stroll going out on mediums, according to our data screen.
10:28:14 am
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Now the McLarens go through. Neither can beat Max for now; Piastri is closer, P2 on a 1m15.500s. Norris is P6 on 1m15.942s. 4m50s left so there's time for more...
Yes, a scruffy exit from Tosa took Norris onto the kerb and gravel.
10:26:53 am
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Verstappen now P1 with a 1m15.175s. Hamilton P10 on 1m16.193s...
10:25:48 am
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Fernando Alonso now on top with 1m15.695s. Stop the count!!!
10:25:25 am
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Sainz goes top for now on 1m15.987, immediately usurped by Pierre Gasly with a 1m15.937s.
Pagination
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By: Stuart Codling
Published: May 17, 2025, 3:49 PM
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