Formula One – Emilia Romagna Grand Prix qualifying RECAP: Leaderboard and lap-by-lap updates as Max Verstappen takes pole

It is fourth and fifth for Ferrari who were quickest during the two practice sessions on Friday.

They just didn’t have enough in them to keep up with the flying Dutchman Verstappen or the McLarens.

A win on home soil would take a massive effort for the Ferrari team.

Just a reminder that Oscar Piastri is still under investigation for appearing to impede Kevin Magnussen during the first part of qualifying.

What a shame it would be for the Australian if he loses out on that second place.

If he is penalised then generally that would mean he drops three places which would relegate him behind Lando Norris and the two Ferrari drivers.

Elsewhere, a disappointing day for Mercedes in 6th and 8th, with Lewis Hamilton again having a lot of work to do from the fourth row.

Max VerstappenOscar PiastriLando NorrisCharles LeclercCarlos SainzGeorge RussellYuki TsunodaLewis HamiltonDaniel RicciardoNico Hulkenberg

Verstappen improves and so does Norris who is 0.091 off the pace!

And Piastri improves to go second! Only 0.074 off Verstappen who takes his eighth straight pole position.

Or is it? Leclerc is purple in the middle sector!

Sainz crosses the line he is fifth. Leclerc loses time in the final sector and stays third.

Max Verstappen is finding time as the two McLarens are also down on time!

First man to set a second flyer in Q3 is Carlos Sainz but he is well down on the first sector!

Leclerc is also down in the first sector it’s not working for Ferrari who were so quick on Friday.

VerstappenNorrisLeclercPiastriSainzRussellTsunodaHamiltonHulkenbergRicciardo

George Russell is sixth and Lewis Hamilton eighth – with the latter a whole second slower than Verstappen.

Everyone will come into the pits now and prepare themselves for their last-gasp laps in qualifying.

Can Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz do anything about that time by Verstappen?

That first sector time of Verstappen has given him the advantage over Norris and Piastri who were rapid in the last two sectors.

The big contenders are all out on brand new soft tyres and Max Verstappen is flying.

The Dutchman is the first of the big contenders to set a time with a 1:14.8!

Lando Norris is quicker in the final two sectors and is less than a tenth behind!

Oscar Piastri matched Norris in the first sector but is three tenths down in the second.

Yuki Tsunoda goes third, before Piastri sets the quickest third sector to behind his team-mate.

Next are the Ferrari pair with Carlos Sainz fourth and Charles Leclerc then splitting the two McLaren’s for third.

The green light is back on and the drivers are returning to the track for the final stage of qualifying.

Safe to say the Mexican is not happy. 11th is not great especially on a circuit which is notoriously difficult to overtake on. Safe to say it’s a big task in hand for him and Alonso down in 20th.

Max VerstappenCharles LeclercYuki TsunodaLando NorrisOscar PiastriCarlos SainzNico HulkenbergLewis HamiltonGeorge RussellDaniel Ricciardo

It has been a shocker of a day for Sergio Perez and muchlike he did on several occasions last season, he is out of Q2 when his team-mate Max Verstappen is top.

Big shoutout to Yuki Tsunoda who was an impressive third in that session behind Verstappen and Leclerc.

The Red Bull hasn’t looked quick during practice, but Verstappen could be tough to beat in this upcoming final session.

Lance Stroll is only 13th, but Daniel Ricciardo jumps up to ninth relegating Perez into the bottom five.

Carlos Sainz was in danger but he goes sixth.

Sergio Perez is in bigger trouble and he is slow in the first sector, and only just up in the second sector!

As his team-mate Max Verstappen again goes quickest, Perez is only 11th and out!

Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly are also out.

Perez had a big moment during his lap and that is why his session ends early.

So here comes George Russell, outside of the top 10 and in need of a big lap with Lewis Hamilton not far behind him.

Russell is four tenths up in the middle sector and has a clean line in the final corner to go sixth! Hamilton behind him is not as quick but goes seventh.

Hulkenberg again impreses to go sixth in the Haas. Sergio Perez is on the bubble

Williams have again gone early with Alex Albon who sets a competitive first sector which is matching the likes of Lando Norris.

A bit down on the second sector on Lewis Hamilton who is in 10th and he doesn’t do enough to jump out of the bottom five. He is 12th and will get another go.

The bottom five as things stand are George Russell, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll and Alex Albon – with the latter’s lap-time being deleted for track limits.

Lewis Hamilton again is on the fringe of elimination, those Mercedes drivers need better lap times.

Top 10 with five minutes left – Leclerc, Tsunoda, Verstappen, Piastri, Norris, Sainz, Perez, Ricciardo, Hulkennberg, Hamilton

Carlos Sainz and Ferrari not looking quite as good as what they did in practice so far anyway.

He has a few snappy moments on his quick lap and is three tenths down on Verstappen.

Oscar Piastri is next and he is only 0.021 seconds down on the Dutchman before Charles Leclerc jumps to the top of the times.

Yuki Tsunoda sets the quickest first sector and he sets a time good enough for second! Brilliant time ahead of Verstappen – where did that come from!

Lando Norris is fifth in the McLaren.

Max Verstappen runs slightly wide but not into the gravel like Albon did earlier and he is eight tenths quicker than Hamilton.

Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg slot between Verstappen and the two Mercedes drivers.

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton are on track and they are exchanging quickest sectors.

There is not much in just 0.003 with Hamilton getting the better of Russell.

Albon is the only other driver to set a time in third.

But here comes Max Verstappen who is flying

The first driver out is Lewis Hamilton who is questioning ‘where is everyone’ but he is out on his lonesome.

Kevin Magnussen who is out of qualifying appeared to be blocked by Oscar Piastri on his quick lap and it has been noted by the stewards.

The Australian will be hoping to avoid punishment but it didn’t look great.

Max Verstappen spoils Hulkenberg’s fun with Tsunoda up to third and Ricciardo eighth.

Leclerc then jumps to second and that is it.

Valterri Bottas, Logan Sargeant, Zhou Guanyu, Kevin Magnussen and Fernando Alonso are out.

Lewis Hamilton barely scrapes through in 15th!

Zhou Guanyu is only 16th with his fast lap, Logan Sargeant sneaks in up to 14th while Nico Hulkenberg is flying with the quickest middle sector and goes quickest of all!

Daniel Ricciardo needs a quick lap, one guy who won’t improve is Fernando Alonso who is in the pits and out of qualifying.

Big lap needed from Fernando Alonso who has had a stinker of a weekend and he is down in the first sector on what is needed after missing the apex.

And he bails on his lap as Lance Stroll goes four tenths quicker than his team-mate in the first sector.

He might have time for one more lap.

Alex Albon on a personal best goes 12th just ahead of Lewis Hamilton and pushing Kevin Magnussen into the bottom five.

Top five in Q1 at the moment are Norris, Piastri, Verstappen, Sainz and Gasly.

He had to get his car fixed after a crash in practice and on one his first laps out he is back in the gravel!

That won’t help Fernando Alonso’s cause and replays show him running wide in the chicane at the beginning of the lap after overtaking Lando Norris.

Bottom five at the minute are Alonso, Hulkenberg, Zhou, Albon and Sargeant.

George Russell goes third in his Mercedes and there’s a yellow flag in the first two sectors, but it’s only brief so someone has run wide and rejoined the track.

Carlos Sainz goes third before Pierre Gasly goes fourth in the Alpine. Times are obviously improving here!

Lewis Hamilton’s rear of his Mercedes stepped out in the final sector but he is only 12th.

The man who ran off track on replays is shown to be Logan Sargeant who slid into the gravel but avoided the barrier.

Piastri is slower than the Dutchman in the second sector and crosses the line to go fastest by 0.073 seconds!

The Australian has been on fire today.

Replays show Verstappen taking a big bump over the kerbs.

Still six drivers yet to set a time including George Russell and Alex Albon who had his time removed.

Could this be a sign of what is to come?

Comfortable lap for Max Verstappen who goes purple in the first two sectors to go nearly two tenths clear at the top.

Sergio Perez meanwhile is two tenths behind Norris in third.

But Oscar Piastri is going even quicker in the first sector.

Alex Albon in his Williams lights up the timing screens with the quickest first sector.

Carlos Sainz goes fourth, before Charles Leclerc goes quickest.

Albon on the softs looks like he is about to go quickest but runs onto the gravel out of the last corner and is only ninth.

Next up is Lando Norris who is quicket in the middle sector and he has a snap at the same moment Albon had his issue but is still good enough for quickest – but he is on the softer tyres than Leclerc in his Ferrari.

George Russell looks like he will be setting the fastest time but decides to pit – maybe just scrubbing his set of medium tyres to use later.

So far it is Esteban Ocon who is quickest from Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll.

Carlos Sainz is on his lap but goes deep in the first sector and is five tenths off the quickest in that section.

Mercedes have split strategy with their two drivers, but the Ferrari pair come out on the medium tyres – obviously fancying their chances that they don’t need the softer and quicker tyres to get through to the next stage.

The green light is shown in the pit-lane and Pierre Gasly in his Alpine is the first man out on track. Most are out on softs except for George Russell who is on the mediums, compared to his team-mate Lewis Hamilton on the softs.

Sergio Perez is sat in his Red Bull and ready to go out, while Aston Martin say Fernando Alonso will be out in time.

If Max Verstappen takes his eighth strraight pole, it will match the record set by Ayrton Senna between 1988 and 1989.

Going off practice though it might not be quite so easy for the Dutchman… though we have said that before!

Not long to go though Aston Martin are still in a race against time to get Alonso out in the first session of qualifying.

They look quite calm, might not be ready for the start of the session but could be enough to get out before the end.

Meanwhile there’s a check on the floor and something at the back for Oscar Piastri, hopefully nothing too serious for the Australian!

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri might be the team to quick.

McLaren on a single lap and on the long run are with a good chunk fastest and then it’s all of us bunched up.

Then it will still be the Ferraris and probably the Red Bulls and us, but closer together.”

McLaren are back, we are closer to Red Bull. It’s all about details.

This morning’s session was strange with the red flags but McLaren have always been there since the beginning of the weekend.

It was good fight with them in Australia and Miami. It’s good for F1 with three teams fighting and Mercedes are not far away as well.

Max will be back for Qualy but we are closer than at the beginning of the season.’

Daniel Ricciardo was summoned by the stewards over an incident that very nearly saw him collide with Kevin Magnussen during FP3.

They both went to explain their version of events a good hour ago, and a decision has come in.

No penalty for Ricciardo but it’s a €5,000 fine for RB for failing to make Ricciardo aware that Kevin Magnussen was coming up behind him at high speed.

Despite the stewards acknowledging the situation was ‘dangerous,’ Ricciardo avoided a penalty due to several mitigating circumstances.

Have Ferrari signed the man they have been missing?

Lewis Hamilton is an incredible signing for the Scuderia but they might have just found the winning solution with Red Bull’s Adrian Newey reportedly set to join the Italian team alongside the seven-time world champion.

Sources in Italy have suggested that the contract has already been signed, after he announced his exit from Red Bull ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.

Click below to read more…

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton’s on-track rivalry has been pretty much non-existent since their epic fight for the 2021 title – given the Brit has not had a car to challenge the dominant Red Bull.

But on Friday the Dutchman was left seething after he felt that he was impeded by the seven-time champion on a flying lap.

Verstappen wasn’t the only former rival of Hamilton who was annoyed with the Brit too!

Click below to read more…

Max Verstappen extended his lead at the top of the standings in Miami, despite losing out to Lando Norris.

He holds a 33 point lead over team-mate Sergio Perez, with 20 points covering the Mexican, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz.

Max Vertstappen – 136Sergio Perez – 103Charles Leclerc – 98Lando Norris – 83Carlos Sainz – 83Oscar Piastri – 41George Russell – 37Fernando Alonso – 33Lewis Hamilton – 27Yuki Tsunoda – 14

The mechanics in the Red Bull and Aston Martin garages will have known they had a job on their hands to get the cars of Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso fixed in time for qualifying.

Sky Sports’ pitlane reporter Ted Kravitz believes both men will be able to take part in this afternoon’s qualifying, but if they do, their respective trips to the barriers of the Imola circuit is not the preparation they need going into qualifying.

After Charles Leclerc topped the two sessions on Friday for Ferrari, it was McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who led the way during a chaotic FP3.

The Australian was the only driver to set a representative lap time after Sergio Perez in his Red Bull crashed at the Variante chicane with five minutes remaining.

Fernando Alonso also crashed out of the session in his Aston Martin in the first of two red flags to be brought out.

Max Verstappen was not happy on Friday, with his pace, or Lewis Hamilton who he felt had impeded him, and though Red Bull made significant set-up changes overnight, they didn’t get the best of their car this morning.

Rounding off the top-five behind Piastri were his team-mate Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, Leclerc and George Russell.

And welcome to Mail Sport’s live blog for qualifying for tomorrow’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at the historic Imola track.

We are off the back of the first race win for McLaren’s Lando Norris in Miami, only the second driver not named Max Verstappen to win a race this season.

Red Bull have had a tough start to the weekend with both McLaren and Ferrari looking quick across the first three practice sessions.

Will there be another twist to the tale this weekend? We will get a good idea in this afternoon’s qualifying session which gets underway at 3pm.

We will be with you for all the build-up and action from qualifying.