Five winners and five losers from F1 Emilia Romagna GP qualifying

There were two red flags and plenty of drama in an exhilarating qualifying session at the F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Here are our biggest winners and losers from a disrupted and unpredictable qualifying at Imola…

Winner - Max Verstappen

It might seem harsh not to put Oscar Piastri here, but given how competitive McLaren have been all weekend, pole position for the Australian wasn’t exactly a shock.

However, given where Max Verstappen and Red Bull were just 24 hours ago, Saturday qualifying marked a huge turnaround in fortunes as the four-time world champion produced another sublime lap to maximise his result.

Verstappen only missed out on what would have been a fourth pole of the season by 0.034s, leaving him in a position to challenge for an unlikely win.

Loser - Ferrari

An absolute disaster on home soil for Ferrari, as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton slumped to a woeful double Q2 elimination.

Leclerc and Hamilton will only start 11th and 12th on the grid at Imola in front of an expectant but ultimately disappointed Tifosi. Despite bringing upgrades, the SF25 has looked a real handful so far this weekend with both drivers struggling.

Huge pressure and scrutiny surrounded Ferrari heading into this weekend, and the team have just suffered their most embarrassing moment of the year.

Winner - Aston Martin

The surprise of qualifying was the performance of the Aston Martin team.

Aston Martin have brought a major upgrade to their AMR25 at Imola and it appears to be working well on the evidence of qualifying, with Fernando Alonso securing the team’s best result of the season with fifth place.

Teammate Lance Stroll backed up Aston Martin’s gains by also making the top 10 in eighth place, giving the Silverstone-based squad a real opportunity to land a morale-boosting result and potentially turn the page on a dismal start to 2025.

Loser - Lando Norris

While F1 championship leader Piastri continued his purple patch of form by delivering when it mattered to grab another pole, the same could not be same for McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

Norris had to settle for only fourth on the grid after being outpaced by Verstappen’s Red Bull and Mercedes’ George Russell as he failed to nail both of his laps in Q3.

Staring at a 16-point deficit to Piastri, that one is going to hurt for Norris, who continues to make mistakes in high-pressure moments. 

Winner - Williams

Another impressive performance in qualifying from Williams, with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon taking sixth and seventh place on the Imola grid respectively.

Williams translated their promising pace throughout practice into an excellent starting position the team will be looking to convert into what would be a third consecutive double points finish.

Loser - Yuki Tsunoda

Yuki Tsunoda walked away from a horror crash in qualifying during a chaotic and truncated Q1.

Tsunoda lost control of his Red Bull at the Villeneuve chicane before dramatically somersaulting his car into a roll and hitting the barriers and catch fencing in what was an enormous shunt.

Thankfully, Tsunoda was unharmed in the terrifying accident, but the Japanese racer will be consigned to the very back for Sunday’s grand prix.

Winner - Isack Hadjar

Isack Hadjar continues to star for Racing Bulls as he reached Q3 and set the ninth-fastest time.

The 20-year-old French rookie continues to lead the charge for Red Bull’s sister team, once again outperforming his more experienced teammate Liam Lawson, who was eliminated in Q1 in a lowly 16th.

Hadjar’s performances will be making Red Bull take note, particularly with Tsunoda still struggling to get on top of the RB21.

Loser - Kimi Antonelli

The Italian fans had very little to cheer about on Saturday, as Bologna native Kimi Antonelli suffered a hugely disappointing qualifying at his home track.

Antonelli hoped to be challenging for a ‘dream’ debut heading into the weekend but will line up for Sunday’s grand prix from a lowly 13th, while teammate Russell starts 10 places higher in third, underlining what the Mercedes was capable of. 

Winner - Pierre Gasly

In a season of turbulence for Alpine, Pierre Gasly represents a major pillar of consistency. He has been one of the standout performers this season as he leads Alpine’s charge while his teammates chop and change.

The Frenchman was thrilled to end FP2 P3 as he hailed Alpine’s “best Friday of the year”. He knew such a result would be near impossible to replicate come qualifying, but to round out the top-10 marked an excellent effort.

Gasly was narrowly pipped by Hadjar but otherwise extracted what was realistically the best possible result for Alpine on this day.

Loser - Franco Colapinto

It was an Alpine qualifying debut to forget for Franco Colapinto, who had a massive crash in his first competitive outing for the French squad since being parachuted in to replace Jack Doohan.

Colapinto was unhurt following a trip to the medical centre for precautionary checks but was unable to take part in Q2 after his big shunt right at the end of Q1.

To rub salt into the wounds, Colapinto has been hit with a one-place grid penalty for being released into the pit lane before the session had officially restarted following an earlier red flag.

Penny for Doohan’s thoughts…