The sun beamed down over the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit today, ahead of the F1 Qualifying at the 2025 Imola GP. With challenging track conditions and lack of overtake opportunities, the drivers pushed their limits to the max.
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Disaster for RedBull!
A heart stopping moment. With just twelve minutes to go of Q1, RedBull driver Yuki Tsunoda found himself spinning into the barriers. This crash brought out a red flag, and it was a long wait before the session resumed.
Luckily, Tsunoda was okay. It was a hefty shunt, his car spun and flipped upside down before finding itself firmly placed against the wall. This has been a huge disappointment to the team, who will be working very hard overnight to fix the car ahead of tomorrow’s race.
Q1 Resumes
Colapinto headed out on track ahead of the rest of the grid, with the two Kick Saubers close behind. Verstappen, Hadjar and Sainz stayed on their used tyres from earlier in the session.
With six minutes of Q1 to go, Max Verstappen tops the time sheets with a 1m 15.175s lap.
Heartbreak for Colapinto.
With just a handful of seconds left of Q1, Franco Colapinto spun into the barriers at Tamburello. After dipping a wheel onto the grass, his car spun out of control and into the wall. He hit the wall frontwards, so hopefully his gearbox won’t be damaged. As a new driver for the Alpine F1 team, Colapinto has already proven this weekend that he is not afraid of pushing his car to its limits.
Franco Colapinto found himself at the centre of some mid-session confusion and frustration just before the incident. Colapinto misinterpreted a radio message, and lined up in the fast lane before officials announced a restart time.
Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer stated that “Its unlikely to matter in Francos first race”.
Knockout Confusion
Q2 faced heavy delays after confusion over the results of the prior qualifying round. Initially, they showed Ollie Bearman in P12, before he suddenly dropped to P19, knocking him out.
After talking to his team, it was determined that Colapintos crash had brought out the red flag just as Bearman completed his lap.
Gabriel Bortoleto was nervously waiting for a decision. If Bearmans lap had counted, Bortoleto would have dropped out in Q1.
It was determined that Ollie Bearman did not complete his lap before the red flag, leaving him knocked out in Q1, along with Liam Lawson, Nico Hulkenburg, Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda.
Q2 Gets Underway!
Bortoleto was the first to make his way out of the pits. Officials gave him the green light after a nail biting wait securing his place in the second section of Qualifying at the 2025 Imola GP. There were only 14 cars on track for Q2, after Colapinto did initially make it into the round before his accident.
Heartbreak for Italy!
A heartbreaking session for the home team, as both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton found themselves knocked out in Q2. Italian driver Kimi Antonelli also found himself knocked out, which will be heartbreaking for him at his home grand prix. Bortoleto and Colapinto were also knocked out.
Q3 Commences
It was an epic fight for pole this afternoon in Imola. Both Aston Martins and both Williams cars found themselves neatly placed into Q3.
Verstappen was fastest with 6 minutes to go, before coming into the garage of new soft tyres to complete the session on.
A Tense Fight For Pole
Oscar Piastri clinched a sensational pole position at the end of Qualifying at the 2025 Imola GP, edging out Max Verstappen in a tense battle. Despite his efforts, Verstappen could not improve his time enough for pole, and had to settle for second place on the front row. George Russel delivered a strong performance to secure third, whilst Lando Norris lost crucial time in the third sector and had to settle for fourth.
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Feature image credit: EverythingF1