Max Verstappen claimed a dramatic pole position after a hectic qualfying at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The session had five red flags, numerous driver errors and we had no Mercedes in Q3 for the first time since 2012.
It sets us up perfectly for a fascinating Sprint race tomorrow with Ferrari possessing the pace while Red Bull did well be in the right place at the right time.
A special mention for Kevin Magnussen who came home in a fantastic fourth place after almost crashing in Q3.
The McLaren resurgence also continues with both drivers performing well to get third and sixth on the grid respectively.
Q1
The pit lane burst into life from the word go as the drivers completed their first laps of the weekend on dry tyres.
No sooner had the session started that it was stopped however.
A red flag came out in dramatic fashion after Alexander Albon’s car caught on fire, bringing his session to an abrupt end.
it’s the second time in a row he’ll start from the back of grid. He’ll need another clever strategy from the Williams team if he is to fight for points again.
Things didn’t get much better on the other side of the garage, with Nicholas Latifi spinning it on an outlap.
He’ll line up in 18th just ahead of Esteban Ocon. It was a difficult session for the Alpine driver as he seemed unable to hook up a clean lap.
The car clearly possessing some pace with his teammate, Fernando Alonso through comfortably.
It was also a difficult session for Alpha Tauri. Their headquarters in Faenza is only 11 miles from Imola, but this was no happy homecoming.
Both cars were knocked out in Q1. The only silver lining being a surprising win for Yuki Tsunoda in the inter-team qualifying battle.
He’ll line up in 16th just ahead of Pierre Gasly and maybe showing signs that he is finally ready to challenge his teammate in Formula One.
Q2
With rain threatening, it was a fast start to Q2 with all the drivers hoping to get a quick lap in.
However just like in Q1, there was an early session incident.
There would have been a collective groan amongst the Tifosi as Carlos Sainz Jr – fresh from signing a two year contract extension – spun it into the wall on his second flying lap.
It’s another mistake from the Spaniard on a weekend he had a great chance to be on the front row.
It also caused complications for those outside of the top 10 with the rain continuing to fall as the stricken Ferrari was salvaged.
A tough break for the likes of Lance Stroll, Mick Schumacher and Zhou Guanyu who had all looked strong on Friday, but were unable to improve in the worsening conditions.
They were joined by the two Mercedes cars in the Q2 drop zone. The first time there was no Mercedes in the last part of Qualifying since Japan 2012.
It honestly didn’t come as much of a surprise with it being marginal whether they would have got through on pace alone.
“It is unbelievable to see how that Mercedes is struggling out there.” summed up 2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg after Q1.
Q3
The continued rainfall meant the drivers were back on the intermediate tyres for Q3.
However, it seemed that the F1 gods didn’t want this session to end.
Another qualifying session, another red flag.
Kevin Magnussen put a wheel on the white lines at Acque Minerali sending his Haas skating off into the gravel.
The Dane showed he’d lost none of his sharpness though, with a clever use of the throttle pedal allowing him to escape by the skin of his teeth – to the delight of his mechanics.
These guys may be the best in the world, but the conditions were clearly causing problems.
Alonso ran wide, lap times were deleted and inevitably, another red flag came out in response to Valtteri Bottas beached Alfa Romeo.
Not a crash this time, with the Finn stopping at the side of the track with an issue.
A disappointing end to Qualifying for the Italian outfit with the conditions giving them a chance of having both drivers fighting at the front.
Keep an eye on them as they look to make up places before the race on Sunday.
It was also tough luck for Max Verstappen – he’s had enough of that this year.
He went to the top of the timing sheets, but had to back off losing time when going through the yellow flags brought out by Bottas.
The session resumed with only enough time for one flying lap for each driver. A fitting end to the session in this years first Sprint event.
However, in keeping with the disjointed nature of the day, there was only way this could truly end.
Lando Norris went into the barrier at Turn 12 bringing out the fifth red flag of the session.
That meant Max Verstappen took an unlikely pole ahead of Charles Leclerc, while the McLaren will start third despite putting it in the barriers.
I hope you’ve had time to digest all of that?
It’s sure to be a blockbuster Saturday and Sunday in the fourth round of this 2022 season.