2024 Emilia Romagna GP Qualifying: Max Equals Senna's Record

Max Verstappen extended his streak of pole positions by securing P1 on the grid for the 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with a commanding lap in Imola.

The Dutchman set a formidable benchmark during the initial runs of Q3 and improved further on his final effort, clocking a time of 1m 14.746s in his Red Bull. This put him 0.074s ahead of second-placed Oscar Piastri, who was later penalised three grid places for impeding Kevin Magnussen’s Haas in Q1, and McLaren teammate Lando Norris in third.

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Charles Leclerc led Ferrari in fourth place ahead of Carlos Sainz in fifth, with the Scuderia unable to match their earlier weekend pace. George Russell secured sixth for Mercedes, while Yuki Tsunoda impressed with seventh place in front of VCARB’s home crowd.

Lewis Hamilton took P8 in the Mercedes, Daniel Ricciardo in P9, and Nico Hulkenberg in P10, completing the top 10.

In a surprising Q2 moment, Sergio Perez failed to improve on his final lap, leaving the Red Bull driver in P11. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll also missed out on advancing to the final qualifying segment.

Alex Albon led Williams by taking 14th place, with Pierre Gasly just behind in 15th for Alpine.

The Kick Sauber duo of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu exited Q1 in P16 and P17, respectively, ahead of Kevin Magnussen in P18. Piastri was investigated post-session for impeding Magnussen during his final flying lap, eventually receiving a three-place grid drop to start in P5, leaving his team-mate Lando Norris to inherit a front-row spot.

Fernando Alonso caused a shock by dropping out of qualifying in P19, while Logan Sargeant’s Williams will start P20 after his lap time, originally placing him in P17, was deleted for track limits.

Emilia Romagna GP Qualifying Results

2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Qualifying, 18 May 2024

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:15.762	1:15.176	1:14.746	18
2	81	Oscar Piastri¹	McLaren Mercedes	1:15.940	1:15.407	1:14.820	15
3	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	1:15.915	1:15.371	1:14.837	19
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:15.823	1:15.328	1:14.970	21
5	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1:16.015	1:15.512	1:15.233	20
6	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:16.107	1:15.671	1:15.234	18
7	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT	1:15.894	1:15.358	1:15.465	15
8	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:16.604	1:15.677	1:15.504	20
9	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB Honda RBPT	1:16.060	1:15.691	1:15.674	15
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	1:15.841	1:15.569	1:15.980	21
11	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:16.404	1:15.706		10
12	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	1:16.361	1:15.906		15
13	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:16.458	1:15.992		15
14	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	1:16.524	1:16.200		12
15	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	1:16.015	1:16.381		14
16	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:16.626			6
17	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:16.834			9
18	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	1:16.854			8
19	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:16.917			7
NC	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams Mercedes	DNF			8

¹Oscar Piastri received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Kevin Magnussen during Q1 of qualifying and would end up starting P5 on the grid.

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Ben is our chief editor specialising in F1 from the 1990s to the modern era. Ben has been following Formula 1 since 1986 and is an avid researcher who loves understanding the technology that makes it one of the most exciting motorsport on the planet. He listens to podcasts about F1 on a daily basis, and enjoys reading books from the inspirational Adrian Newey to former F1 drivers.