Formula leader an Oscar Piastri kept under pressure to place McLaren in Paul’s position for Grand Prix Emilia-Romagna on Saturday with Red Bull Max Verstappen joining Australian in the front row.

George Russell Qualified Third for Mercedes in Imola with McLaren’s Lando Norris fourth in a session that was twice with red flag after Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda and alpine Franko frankntoto collapsed in the first phase.

Ferrari, meanwhile, suffered a new low in front of fans of their home, with Charles Leclerc 11 and Lewis Hamilton The 12th before the first world champion race seven times in Italy for the Maranello-based team.

Pole, in a minute 14,670 seconds, was platesThe third of the season while the 24-year-old follows a fifth win in seven races and fourth in a row to extend his 16-point superiority over Norris.

“It was a very difficult session with all the delays, the red flags“Said the piastri, who won in China and Bahrain from Poli and has grown only in confidence and speed as the season progresses.

“The lap was good. I had about four cars in the last corner, which didn’t help, but enough. So very happy with the work I have done and excited for tomorrow“

World champion four times Decent He had been in a temporary pole, at 1: 14,772 with a piastri 0.049 slower, but Australian dug deep for extra milliseconds when it mattered.

Verstappen, winner of the three past competitions organized by Imola, managed to improve his time, but not enough to overcome the latest piastri effort and dropped 0.034 short.

“Everything was really going well, only this softer complex is very difficult to keep alive around the lap“The Dutch driver told Pirelli tires.

“Sector one was good and then the tires again left me from there from the small borders“

Russell placed his time on the middle tires.

“Always is always a surprise when you’re so close to mclaren because they are so fast at the moment“Briton said.

Despair

Ferrari’s hopes of challenging the McLaren champions never materialized.

“My Lord, my Lord,” Leclerc shouted at the team radio as the realization immersed after he crossed the line in front of the Ferrari fans’ mass.

“Definitely destroyed and guts because the car really felt quite well“Hamilton told reporters.”I felt like cars configuration was right and we just can’t go so fast.

“We threw soft (tire) at the end and for some reason it just didn’t enliven, there was no control“

Italian rookie of Mercedes and local hero Some Antonelli It also failed to make the top 10 and will only line up in the 13th place.

Fernando Alonso It will be lined up in fifth place for Aston Martin, an impressive turn for a team that has fought this season and for a former IMOLA and double world champion who has not yet scored a point in 2025.

The couple of Williams Carlos Sainz AND Alex Albon were the sixth and seventh fastest.

Canadian outing made it two Astons in the Top 10 and provided further evidence that their updated car is going in the right direction, with eight in the network followed by Bulls Racing ‘ Isac Hadjar and alpine Pierre Gasly.

Tsunoda and Colapinto, the latter returned to the net after an attack with Williams last year and instead of fallen Australians Jack doohanBoth were sent to the medical center for checkups after their clashes.

The Red Bull Driver’s crash led to a 15-minute delay for dirty repairs, and the red flags were shaken again when Colapinto went to the grass approaching Tamburello and lost control, rotating and hitting the barrier’s head.