In a qualifying session stalled by five separate red flags, Verstappen grabbed his first pole of the 2022 season, beating F1 world championship leader Charles Leclerc by 0.779s despite having to ease off under yellow flags caused by Valtteri Bottas stopping on the edge of the circuit with exhaust failure.
With Leclerc unable to fight back, the remainder of Q3 was truncated by red flags triggered by Bottas’s Alfa Romeo and McLaren driver Lando Norris going off the road at Acque Minerali, allowing Verstappen to become the official pole position holder at the Emilia Romagna GP regardless of his finishing position in Saturday’s sprint race.
Despite causing the fifth and final red flag of qualifying, which he felt cost him a front-row shot, Norris held on to grab third place for McLaren behind Ferrari’s Leclerc, as Kevin Magnussen delivered the best ever F1 qualifying result for Haas with fourth place, despite spinning off early in Q3 to cause a brief red flag.
Fernando Alonso claimed fifth place for Alpine ahead of McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. Bottas took eighth place despite being unable to take part in the final few minutes of Q3, in front of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel who bounced back from a tough Australian GP.
Carlos Sainz made it into Q3 but couldn’t take part in the session after crashing heavily midway through Q2, leaving the Ferrari driver to start from 10th place in the sprint race.
Sainz’s red flag plus a rain shower denied any later improvements in Q2 to relegate George Russell in 11th and Lewis Hamilton in 13th – which meant neither Mercedes driver made it into Q3 for the first time since the 2012 Japanese GP.
Norris crashed out in Q3, but will still start the sprint from third
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
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