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Tag: Max Verstappen
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Starting from P17, Verstappen takes stunning win; enhances title chances
Sao Paulo, 3 Nov 2024: Max Verstappen took a stunning win at the São Paulo Grand Prix, climbing from 17th place on the grid to take his eighth victory of the season almost 20 seconds clear of the chasing pack. Behind the three-time champion, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly took a surprise double podium for Alpine.
On the formation lap ahead of the start, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll crashed and Race Control indicated an aborted start. That should have signalled the drivers to remains on the grid after the formation lap to await further instructions. Norris, however, pulled away and a number of other drivers followed the pole sitter. Another formation lap was the result and Norris and several others were informed that the incident would be investigated agfter the race.
When the light eventually went out, front row starter Russell reacted best and he stole the lead on the run to Turn 1 ahead of Norris. RB’s Yuki Tsunoda held his starting third place ahead of Ocon, while Ferrrari’s Charles Lecler moved ahead of RB’s Liam Lawson to take fifth.
Further back, Verstappen made a brilliant start from P17, and as the field exited the Senna S, the Dutchman charged around the outside to climb to P11 behind Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. And at the start of lap 2 the Dutchman dived down the inside of the Mercedes to climb into a points-paying position.
Verstappen wasn’t done, though, and after picking off Alpine’s Pierre Gasly’s Alpine at the start of lap 3, he muscled his way past Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso on the following lap. He then chased down Oscar Piastri and Lawson and by the end of lap 11 he was a remarkable sixth.
At the front, on lap 20, Russell still led, just under a second ahead of Norris. Eight seconds behind the top two, Tsunoda headed a DRS train consisting of Ocon, Leclerc and Verstappen.
On lap the shape of the race changed. In worsening rain, Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg went wide in Turn 1 and stopped at the edge of the track. The VSC was deployed, sparking a flurry of pit stops.
With the aid of marshals, Hülkenberg was able to rejopin – a move that ultimately led to him being black-flagged – and just as the VSC ended, the top three of Russell, Norris and Tsunoda dived into the pits for more Inters. That promoted Ocon into the lead, with Verstappen in P2 ahead of Gasly.
With the VSC spell complete, Norris eased past Russell to claim fourth place but with the conditions worsening badly, the Safety Car was eventually deployed. And when Williams’ Franco Colapinto lost control in Turn 12 and hit the barriers, the red flags came out and the race was halted.
At the restart, Ocon held his lead over Verstappen and Gasly, but behind them Norris went wide and Russell was able to sneak through to P4. On lap 40, though, Sainz, who had been trying to catch Pérez, crashed at Turn 8 and the Safety Car took to the track for the second time.
The restart took place at the end of lap 42 and this time Verstappen judged it perfectly. He stuck with Ocon and when the Frenchman tried to pull away, Verstappen stayed close enough to dive down the inside into Turn 1 and steal the lead.
Behind them Gasly managed to hold onto third but Russell, Leclerc and Norris were all jockeying for position. Desperate to avoid a collision, Norris locked up behind Russell and dropped back to P7 behind team-mate Piastri. The Australian, facing a time penalty for a collision, would later wave the Briton through to P6.
At the front, Verstappen began to stretch away from the pack and with 20 laps remaining the Dutchman had pulled out a five-second gap to Ocon, with Gasly three seconds further back in third.
In the closing stages, Verstappen took complete control and after posting a staggering 17 fastest laps that earned him a bonus point the Dutchman crossed the line to take his eighth win of the season and his first the Spanish Grand Prix in June.
Behind the champion Ocon and Gasly completed a shock double podium for Alpine, while Russell took fourth ahead of Leclerc. Norris, facing an investigation for breaching starting regulations when the original start was aborted, finished sixth ahead of Tsunoda and Piastri while Liam Lawson made it a double points finish ahead of Hamilton.
2024 FIA Formula 1 São Paulo Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 69 2:06’54.430
2 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 69 2:07’13.907 19.477
3 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 69 2:07’16.962 22.532
4 George Russell Mercedes 69 2:07’17.695 23.265
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 69 2:07’24.607 30.177
6 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 69 2:07’25.802 31.372
7 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 69 2:07’36.486 42.056
8 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 69 2:07’39.373 44.943
9 Liam Lawson RB/Honda RBPT 69 2:07’44.882 50.452
10 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 69 2:07’45.183 50.753
11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 69 2:07’45.961 51.531
12 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 69 2:07’51.515 57.085
13 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 69 2:07’58.018 1’03.588
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 69 2:08’12.479 1’18.049
15 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 69 2:08’14.079 1’19.649
Carlos Sainz Ferrari 38 – 31 laps
Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 30 – Retirement
Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 0 – Not started
Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 0 – Not started
Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 30 – DSQ -
Carlos Sainz powers to sixth career pole: Mexico City GP
Mexico City, 26 October 2024: Carlos Sainz powered to his sixth career pole position beating Max Verstappen and Lando Norris by more than two tenths of a second to claim top spot on the grid for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix. At the other end of the timesheet, though, there were shock Q1 exits for McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and for home hero Sergio Pérez.
“A great couple of laps,” said Sainz of his final runs at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. “A lot of times around Mexico you always have the feeling like you cannot put a lap together and it’s extremely difficult with how much sliding there is. But today, honestly, my two laps of Q3 were pretty much identical, almost perfect. And yeah, I just put two really solid laps in Q3, enough for pole.”
Earlier at the start of Q1, there was drama in the closing moments when Piastri and Pérez were both dumped out of the session. For Pérez the issue was a lack of confidence under braking and ahead of the final runs the Mexican found himself rooted to the bottom of the timesheet. In normal circumstances, a final run would have provided the platform for a vault to safety, but this time Pérez failed to make the jump and he exited in P18.
Piastri, meanwhile, had a late lap time deleted and then, during a last-ditch final flyer, the Australian made a mistake on his final run, taking too much kerb in Turn 12, It was an error the McLaren driver said cost him “a second” of time and he was ruled out in P17.
At the top of the timesheet, Norris looked to have pace in hand as he beat Sainz and Verstappen by almost three tenths of a second. And the McLaren driver carried that good form into Q2. He again went quickest, this time eclipsing Verstappen and Sainz by two tenths, with Charles Leclerc fourth ahead of the Mercedes cars of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
Behind them, in the final seconds of the session, Yuki Tsunoda lost control of his RB and the Japanese driver spun into the barriers. The crash brought out the red flags and the clutch of drivers behind Tsunoda were all denied a final run.
It meant that Tsunoda exited in P11, but his crash also denied 12th placed team-mate Liam Lawson another attempt and the New Zealander dropped out ahead of fellow hopefuls Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas.
At the start of Q3 Verstappen went out on track early and the Dutchman posted a good time of 1:16.368. However, within moments the Red Bull driver’s lap was deleted for going beyond track limits in Turn 2 and he dropped to P10. Norris, meanwhile, had a poor opening and ahead of the final runs he sat in fifth. Sainz though was on fire and the Spaniard took provisional pole with a lap of 1:16.055, a sizeable 0.360s ahead of Leclerc, Russell and Hamilton
Verstappen went late at the end of Q3 but though the Dutchman found an improvement and crossed the line in 1:16.171 it wasn’t enough to deny Sainz who took a superb pole as the only man to dip below 1m16s with his P1 time of 1:15.946. Norris also improved, but with the McLaren driver later saying he had found the limit of his car in Q1 and Q2, he had to settle for third.
Leclerc, who suffered a snap of oversteer on his final lap, was left with fourth ahead of Russell and Hamilton, while Kevin Magnussen is set to start seventh for Haas ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Williams’ Alex Albon and the second Haas of Nico Hülkenberg.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:15.946 – –
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:16.171 0.225
3 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:16.260 0.314
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:16.265 0.319
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:16.356 0.410
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:16.651 0.705
7 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:16.886 0.940
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:16.892 0.946
9 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:17.065 1.119
10 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:17.365 1.419
11 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:17.129 1.183
12 Liam Lawson RB/Honda RBPT 1:17.162 1.216
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:17.168 1.222
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:17.294 1.348
15 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:17.817 1.871
16 Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 1:17.558 1.612
17 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:17.597 1.651
18 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:17.611 1.665
19 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:17.617 1.671
20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:18.072 2.126 -
Lando Norris takes pole ahead of Verstappen; Hamilton takes p3
Singapore, 21 Sept. 2024: Lando Norris took his fifth pole of 2024 in Singapore, beating championship leader Max Verstappen by just over two tenths of a second as Ferrari endured a tough outing with Carlos Sainz crashing at the start of Q3 and Charles Leclerc having his final lap time deleted for a track limits infringement. Lewis Hamilton was third for Mercedes.
“It was tough,” said Norris afterwards. “Especially through qualifying, I was finding it a little difficult to progress much and to get a lot of lap time and all the guys around seemed to get quicker and quicker, so it put me under a little bit more pressure, and especially with just one lap at the end. But it was good enough for pole. I’m happy with that, especially here in Singapore. So a good feeling. I felt good all weekend. I felt confident. Maybe not so much in quali, but we got the job done.”
In Q1, Norris took top spot with a lap of 1:30.724 ahead of Leclerc. Oscar Piastri took third ahead of Sainz and Alex Albon. With 12 minutes left in the session, Verstappen at last joined the action but it proved worth the wait as he jumped from the bottom of the table to P2 thanks to a lap of 1:30.854, 0.130s off Norris. Leclerc then found slightly more time on his second run to demote the Dutchman to third.
With three minutes left the final runs got underway and Norris immediately tightened his grip on P1 with a lap of 1:30.002 on used tyres. Verstappen also bolted on a new set of C5s and he lit up the timing screens as he jumped from P8 to P2 at the flag. The Dutchman went through to Q2 just 0.155s behind Norris. Piastri took third ahead of Hamilton.
There was no place in the second session for RB’s Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian was eliminated in P16, just over a tenth off Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. Behind Ricciardo, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll exited in P17 ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the Sauber’s of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.
At the start of Q2 Verstappen took P1 with a lap of 1:30.371, but a snap in the final corner sent him over the kerbs and his time was subsequently deleted for track limits. It was left to Hamilton to lead the way with a lap of 1:29.929, 0.078 ahead of Norris and with George Russell in third place in the other Mercedes.
With six minutes left on the clock, Verstappen headed out for a final run on a largely clear track and thanks to a strong lap of 1:29.680 and a purple middle sector the Dutchman jumped to top spot, 0.289s clear of Hamilton. Piastri had pace in hand, however, and he bumped the Dutchman back to P2 as he claimed top spot with a lap of 1:29.640. Leclerc slotted into third ahead of Hamilton and Norris, who backed out of his final run.
Outside the top 10, Williams pair Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto were eliminated in P11 and P12 respectively, ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen dropped out in P14 ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.
At the start of the top-10 shootout, Verstappen was one of the first out on track and the Dutchman posted a lap of 1:29.791. However, just as he was coming to final corners, ahead of him on track Carlos Sainz lost control in the final corner and slid backwards into the wall. Verstappen slowed and crossed the line before the red flag, but with double yellows already in place, his time was deleted.
The red flag for Sainz meant that the only drivers to put times on board were Piastri, who took P1 on 1:30.037 and Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg, who was eight tenths off the McLaren. The rest were faced with a single run for glory.
And in the final runs Norris was imperious. The McLaren drivers were first on track and Norris established what became an unbeatable benchmark of 1:29.525 ahead of Piastri. Behind them, Leclerc had his lap time deleted as Hülkenberg took P3, and then Hamilton vaulted to the front row on a time of 1:29.841.
It was left to Verstappen to challenge Norris’ time but though the Red Bull driver gave it his all his 1:29.728 was only good enough to hand him a first front row since his home race at Zandvoort.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:29.525 – –
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:29.728 0.203
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:29.841 0.316
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:29.867 0.342
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:29.953 0.428
6 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:30.115 0.590
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:30.214 0.689
8 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:30.354 0.829
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari – – –
10 Carlos Sainz Ferrari – – –
11 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:30.474 0.949
12 Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 1:30.481 0.956
13 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:30.579 1.054
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:30.653 1.128
15 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:30.769 1.244
16 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:31.085 1.560
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:31.094 1.569
18 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:31.312 1.787
19 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:31.572 2.047
20 24 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:32.054 2.529 -
Max Verstappen takes pole in wet conditions at Spa: F1
27 July 2024: Max Verstappen dominated a wet qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by almost six tenths of a second, with under pressure Sergio Pérez putting in a good performance to take third. However, with Verstappen set for a 10-place grid penalty for the race, Leclerc grabs pole for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix.
“It was a nice qualifying. It was raining a little bit but we could do a decent qualifying,” said Verstappen, who will start the race from P11 after taking a fifth ICE of the season this weekend. “I know that I have to start 10 places back so this was the best I could do today. We’ll go from there. I don’t know how quick we are going to be but I hope that we can be in the mix to try to move forward.”
The opening session of qualifying began on a damp track, on Intermediate tyres but with no rain falling and Verstappen was quickly to the fore. The Red Bull driver posted a lap of 1:56.003 on his opening lap to take top spot from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with Pérez in third.
With a little less than seven minutes remaining, Piastri jumped back to top spot with a lap of 1:55.549, 0.454 ahead of Verstappen who was starting another flyer. And when the Dutchman crossed the line, he returned to the top of the leaderboard with a time of 1:54.938, six tenths ahead of Piastri.
In the final minutes, Piastri once again stole top spot with a lap of 1:54.835. Verstappen went for a last attempt but the Dutchman came across a slow Guanyu Zhou on his flyer and as Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took P2, Verstappen eased through in third place having used just one set of Inters during the session, with Pérez in fourth.
At the other end of the table, Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen were ruled out in 16th and 17threspectively, with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda exiting in P18 ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant and the Sauber of Zhou.
Alex Albon kicked things off in 1:54.724, but he was swiftly demoted by Lando Norris who went almost three tenths of a second quicker than the Williams driver. Verstappen, though, was going even quicker and he jumped to top spot with a lap of 1:53.857, six tenths ahead of Norris and eight clear of Albon.
Verstappen then shaved two hundredths of a second off his first flyer to cement himself into P1 but further back, Pérez, was flirting with trouble.
The Mexican bolted on more fresh Inters and jumped to fourth but as the track improved further and better times flooded in elsewhere, he began to slide down the timesheet. And when the order settled after the final shake-up, the Mexican scraped through to Q3 in tenth place, just 0.003s ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon who was eliminated ahead of Gasly, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Stroll.
At the start of the top-10 shootout, the Red Bull pair were last out on track and on new Inters Verstappen powered to the top of the order with a lap of 1:53.159, six tenths of a second ahead of Pérez who put in a strong lap on used tyres to post a lap of 1:53.765. That put the Mexican over two tenths clear of Hamilton who was on fresh tyres.
And with only the Ferrari cars with fresh inters for the final runs, Verstappen’s opening time proved untouchable as claimed top spot in qualifying, meaning that after his penalty for taking a fifth ICE of the season, the champion will start from 11th place on the grid.
Behind him, Leclerc, one of the few to have a fresh set of Inters for his final run, edged ahead of Pérez by 0.011s in the final moments to claim P2 and a front-of-the-grid start for the race. Pérez, third in the session, will line up on the front row for the first time since the Chinese Grand Prix in April.
Behind Checo, Hamilton qualified fourth ahead of Norris, with Piastri in sixth place. Russell took seventh in the second Mercedes ahead of Sainz, while Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso ended the session in ninth place ahead of Ocon.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’53.159
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1’53.754 0.595
2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’53.765 0.011
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’53.835 0.081
5 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1’53.981 0.227
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1’54.027 0.273
7 George Russell Mercedes 1’54.184 0.430
8 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1’54.477 0.723
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’54.765 1.011
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1’54.810 1.056
11 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1’54.473 0.719
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1’54.635 0.881
13 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1’54.682 0.928
14 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1’54.764 1.010
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’55.716 1.962
16 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1’56.308 2.554
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1’56.500 2.746
18 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1’56.593 2.839
19 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1’57.775 4.021
20 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1’57.230 3.476 -
Max Verstappen takes pole, less than half a second ahead of Lando Norris: F1
Spielberg, 29 June 2024: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen powered to an emphatic eighth pole position of the season four tenths of a second clear of McLaren’s Lando Norris. George Russell qualified third for Mercedes after Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren had his final lap of Q3 deleted for a track limits violation.
Verstappen was first out on track at the start of Q1 and with used Soft tyres on board he set the pace at 1:06.054, with team-mate Sergio Pérez in P2. Both were shuffled back as better times came in and Verstappen dropped to sixth.
However, a second run on used tyres again jumped Verstappen to the top of the order with a lap of 1:05.336. Once again though better times began to come in and this time the Red Bull driver dropped to third behind new P1 man Carlos Sainz and second-placed Piastri.
Comfortable with their efforts, the top three chose to stay in the garage for the final runs, and though there were a slew of improvements the order at the top stayed the same. However, at the bottom of the order there was no place in Q2 for Williams’ Alex Albon who went out in P16 ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and the Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu who were split by the second Williams of Logan Sargeant.
In the first runs of Q2, Verstappen, now with new tyres onboard, gave a first indication of the pace in the RB20 and he powered clear of the field with a time of 1:04.577, almost a full second clear of Leclerc whose opener had been completed on used rubber. Russell jumped ahead of the Ferrari driver but the gap only closed to 0.491. Sainz then jumped to second on fresh tyres, six hundredths of a second quicker than Russell, but there was still a yawning gap to the championship leader to overcome.
And it widened in the final runs of Q2. Verstappen improved once more, closing out the middle session with a P1 time of 1:04.469. Sainz, with only two fresh sets of Softs in reserve, chose to sit out the final runs, but when none of the Spaniard’s rivals was able to eclipse his run one time, the Ferrari driver went through in P2 ahead of Russell, Hamilton and Piastri.
Eliminated at the end of Q2 were RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, with the 11th-placed Australian missing out on the top-10 shootout by just 0.015s, along with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, the second RB of Yuki Tsunoda and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
In the first runs of Q3, Verstappen shaved four hundredths of a second off his Q2 best to take provisional pole, 0.351s ahead of Norris who slotted into second ahead of Russell and Leclerc who was on used tyres. In the final runs Verstappen was untouchable and once again he improved, this time by over a tenth of a second to take his 40th career pole position with a lap of 1:04.314, 0.404 clear of Norris, with Russell in third place. The Mercedes man might have been beaten by Piastri but the Australian’s final flyer was deleted for a track limits violation at Turn 6 and he slid back behind Sainz, Hamilton and Leclerc, who went off at the final corner, and qualified in P7 just ahead of Pérez, Hülkenberg and Ocon.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’04.314 – –
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1’04.718 0.404
3 George Russell Mercedes 1’04.840 0.526
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1’04.851 0.537
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’04.903 0.589
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1’05.044 0.730
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1’05.048 0.734
8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’05.202 0.888
9 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1’05.385 1.071
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1’05.883 1.569
11 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1’05.289 0.975
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1’05.347 1.033
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1’05.359 1.045
14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1’05.412 1.098
15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’05.639 1.325
16 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1’05.736 1.422
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’05.819 1.505
18 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1’05.847 1.533
19 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1’05.856 1.542
20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1’06.061 1.747 -
Max Verstappen to start Sprint race on pole ahead of Lando Norris: F1 Austrian GP
Spielberg, 28 June 2024: Max Verstappen will start the Sprint at the Red Bull Ring from the front of the grid after the championship leader beat McLaren’s Lando Norris to top spot in Sprint Qualifying but less than a tenth of a second.
At the start of SQ1, after Lewis Hamilton had his first lap of 1:06.416 deleted for track limits at Turn 6, it was George Russell who set the early pace with a lap of 1:06.765.
Verstappen soon beat that, however, and the Dutchman stole top spot with a lap of 1:05.690, 0.074 ahead of the Mercedes driver. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz sat in third place, ahead of Norris, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in fifth ahead of the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
The order at the top remained static in the final runs, but at the other end of the timesheet there was no place in the second session for RB’s Daniel Ricciardo who was bumped from P15 into the drop zone by a good final lap from Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who jumped to P11, two places ahead of the fortunate Lewis Hamilton who managed to recover to P13 thanks to a lap of 1:06.504.
Ricciardo was edged out just over two hundredths of a second behind team-mate Yuki Tsunoda who had a lurid off on his final flying lap when he put a wheel into the new gravel strip at the exit of Turn 9 and spun through the run-off at the final corner. The Japanese driver was able to recover, however, and progressed in P15.
Eliminated along with Ricciardo were Haas’ 17th-placed Nico Hülkenberg, Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, Williams’ Alex Albon in P19 and the last placed second Kick Sauber of Zhou Guanyu.
Verstappen and Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez were first on track at the start of SQ2 and Verstappen set the pace at 1:05.186, with Pérez crossing the line more than half a second behind.
That left the door open for Russell to take second place with a lap of 1:05.325 and he was followed by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who took third ahead of Sainz, Leclerc, Hamilton and Norris, who shuffled Pérez, down to eighth place. With the first runs completed, the Mexican was the last man to have posted a time, with the remaining drivers targeting a single run in the session.
The top four drivers elected to stay in the pit lane for the final runs and with Leclerc, Hamilton, Norris and Pérez all failing to improve or backing out of their final runs it became a battle for the final two SQ3 spots.
And it was Alpine that made the best of the final laps. Esteban Ocon went through in eighth place with a lap of 1:05.686, just over three hundredths of a second behind Pérez. Gasly took the final SQ3 spot 0.071s behind team-mate Ocon.
Behind them, out went Haas’ Kevein Magnussen in P11 along with the Astons of Stroll and Alonso in P12 and P13 respectively, while Tsunoda exited in 14th ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant.
Brinkmanship in SQ3 saw all 10 drivers hold station in their garages until the last possible moment and with drivers seeking a gap to the car in front, it meant that the last in the queue were in danger of not having enough time to make it round to start a final flyer.
That was the case for Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari was one of the last in line and when his car went into anti-stall in the pit lane he was halted long enough to then take the chequered flag first as he tried to start his final flying lap.
Ahead, it was Norris who looked to have enough pace to take top spot with the McLaren driver jumping to P1 three tenths clear of team-mate Oscar Piastri. All day long, though, Verstappen had just enough in the tank to edge ahead of the Briton and it was the case once again as the championship leader to P1, 0.093 clear of his chief rival.
Behind the top three Russell was fourth ahead of Sainz, with Hamilton in sixth. Pérez finished seventh in the second Red Bull, with Ocon in P8 ahead of Gasly and the unfortunate Leclerc.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:04.686 – –
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:04.779 0.093 0.144
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:04.987 0.301 0.465
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:05.054 0.368 0.569
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:05.126 0.440 0.680
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:05.270 0.584 0.903
7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:06.008 1.322 2.044
8 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:06.101 1.415 2.187
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:06.624 1.938 2.996
10 Charles Leclerc Ferrari – – –
11 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:05.806 1.120 1.731
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:05.847 1.161 1.795
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:05.878 1.192 1.843
14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:05.960 1.274 1.970
15 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes – – –
16 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:06.581 1.895 2.930
17 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:06.583 1.897 2.933
18 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:06.725 2.039 3.152
19 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:06.754 2.068 3.197
20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:07.197 2.511 3.882 -
Verstappen holds off Norris to win Spanish GP; Hamilton takes first podium of the year
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen seized an early lead and held off a determined late-race charge from pole sitter Lando Norris to take a third consecutive Spanish Grand Prix win ahead of the McLaren driver, as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton claimed his first podium of the year with third place.
Norris made a poor start from pole and though the lead was stolen by Mercedes’ George Russell in Turn 1, Verstappen quickly closed on and took the lead at the start of lap three. Norris slipped to third but charged back in the closing stages to beat both Mercedes and then put pressure on Verstappen in the final laps. The Dutchman was able to resist, however, and he crossed the line 2.2 seconds ahead of the McLaren man to take his seventh win of the season.
“Lando and McLaren were very, very quick today,” Verstappen admitted . “But I think we did everything well. We drove quite an aggressive strategy, and luckily it paid out till the end. It was quite close till the end, but very happy to win here.”
When the lights went out at the start, Verstappen made a good start from the clean side of the track, but as he powered towards Turn 1 he was squeezed towards the edge of track by Norris who got away badly. The tussle between the two allowed fourth-place starter George Russell to swoop around the outside of both to take the lead in Turn 1.
Verstappen reacted quickly and as Norris slipped to third, the Red Bull driver tucked in behind the Mercedes man and when DRS was activated the Red Bull drivers moved to the outside and swept past the Briton to take the lead. With the lead secured, Verstappen began to carve out a small gap and by lap 10 he was two seconds clear of Russell.
Russell was the first of the frontrunners to box at the end of lap 15 but the Mercedes driver’s switch to Mediums was slowed by a problem with the right rear wheel and he dropped to seventh place.
Verstappen made his first stop, also for Mediums, on lap 18 and after a 1.9s halt and he rejoined in fourth, behind Norris, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri who had yet to stop. Verstappen quickly reeled in Piastri and on lap 21 he powered past the McLaren to take P3, just over seven seconds behind Leclerc.
Norris, though, was trying to eke out a tyre advantage over the Mercedes driver and Verstappen and when he pitted at the end of lap 24 for Medium tyres he emerged in P6 behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Leclerc was the last of the leaders to pit and once all the frontrunners settled into their second stint, Verstappen took the lead once more, almost six seconds clear of Russell, with Hamilton in third ahead of Sainz and Norris.
Norris had fresh tyres, however, and on lap 27 he used DRS to power past Sainz to take fourth place, nine seconds behind race leader Verstappen. The McLaren driver’s next target was Hamilton and he powered past the Mercedes under DRS on lap 32. Then after a lap-long battle with Russell on lap 35, Norris at last muscled his way through to take P2, nine seconds behind Verstappen.
Norris then began to close in on Verstappen, and as the race hit two thirds distance the gap shrank to below five seconds. The race leader made his second visit to the pit lane on lap 44 and after a good 2.8s switch for new Soft tyres Verstappen rejoined in third place, behind Leclerc.
Norris, in the lead and in clear air, was told it was his chance to build a gap and over the following laps the McLaren driver pushed his advantage over Verstappen to more than 17 seconds. The champion responded though and on lap 46 he pumped in a race fastest lap to stay in touch.
Norris made his final stop at the end of lap 47 and in a 3.6s stop he took on Soft tyres and as Verstappen swept back into the lead the McLaren driver just managed to stay ahead of the Mercedes cars to slot into second place, eight seconds behind race leader Verstappen.
Verstappen was told that the McLaren driver was “pushing hard, not saving tyres, all corners” and over the following two laps the gap between the leaders fell to 5.7 seconds and with 15 laps left Verstappen was told he needed to “push to the end”.
The champion responded and over the final 10 laps he did enough to keep Norris at bay and to take a controlled seventh win of the season, 2.2 seconds clear of the McLaren and with Hamilton a further 15 seconds back in third. Place.
Fourth place went to Russell, with Leclerc in fifth ahead of team-mate Sainz. Piastri took seventh in the second McLaren and after a three-stop race Sergio Pérez passed Pierre Gasly in the closing stages to take eighth place ahead of the Alpine driver and his team-mate Esteban Ocon.
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Max Verstappen overcomes rain and safety cars to take a special victory: Canadian GP
Montreal, 9 June 2024: Max Verstappen navigated rain showers and Safety cars, and made the right call on a move to slick tyres to take his third straight Canadian Grand Prix win at the end of an enthralling race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Second place went to McLaren’s Lando Norris, while George Russell took Mercedes’ first podium of the year with third.
“It was a pretty crazy race. A lot of things were happening, and we really had to be on top of our calls,” said Verstappen afterwards. “As a team, we just did really well today. We remained calm. I think we pitted at the right time. Of course, the Safety Car worked out nicely for us, but even after that, I think we were managing the gaps quite well. I love it. That was a lot of fun. Those kind of races, you need them once in a while.”
When the lights went out at the star, pole sitter Russell got away poorly on the wet track and for a moment it looked like Verstappen might steal the lead on the run to Turn 1. However the Mercedes driver recovered and he held the lead through the following corners ahead Verstappen, Norris and the second McLaren of Piastri.
Rain then began to fall and while bulk of the field tiptoed around on Inters, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg, who had gambled on full wets, began to charge through the order.
By lap six Magnussen had climbed from 14th on the grid to fifth place and was putting pressure on Piastri. Hülkenberg, meanwhile, was in P8 after starting from 17th and he was all over the back of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes.
However, after seven laps the shower halted. The Intermediate runners began to find more pace and the Haas drivers’ brief cameo came to a swift end as Magnussen pitted and Hülkenberg’s march slowed.
At the front, after 10 laps, Russell held a 1.2s advantage over Verstappen who had pulled out a nine-second gap to Norris. Verstappen then began to reel in Russell and the tussle allowed Norris to narrow the gap. And when Max went wide at Turn 1 at the start of lap 18, it suddenly became a three-way fight.
At the end of lap 20 the Dutch driver was ambushed by Norris who powered past under DRS on the run to the final chicane. The McLaren driver then passed Russell at the same place. The Mercedes driver tried to fend off the attack but as Norris took the lead Russell was forced to cut the chicane and as he rejoined, Verstappen swept past to take second place.
On lap 25, Williams’ Logan Sargeant spun into the barriers in Turn 4 and the Safety Car was deployed. Norris was immediately picked up by the SC and stayed out on track. However, Verstappen, Russell and Piastri pitted, with all three fitting new Intermediates. McLaren brought Norris in at the end of the following lap, but the delay behind the SC cost the Briton dearly and as he exited the pit lane Max powered past to take the lead ahead of Russell, with Norris slotting into third.
When the Safety Car left the track Verstappen held his held butat the end of lap 41, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly sparked a move to slick tyres. Hamilton was the first of the leaders to switch, and at the end of lap 45 Verstappen pitted, fitting Mediums. Norris, however, stayed on track to try the overcut and at the end of lap 47 the Briton made his move.
Norris’ stop was solid but he rejoined just as Verstappen was entering Turn 2 and the Duxcthman was able to power into the lead. Then, as Norris struggled to get temperature into his tyres, Russell also closed in and when Norris went marginally wide at the hairpin on lap 49, the Mercedes driver passed the McLaren on the way to the final chicane. On lap 51 though, Russell ran wide and jumped the kerb and Norris was able to slide past to take P2 again.
Soon after, Carlos Sainz made a mistake in Turn 6 and as he spun he hit the Williams of Alex Albon. Both were forced out of the race and with Albon’s car stuck by the barrier the SC was deployed again.
Verstappen again controlled the restart well and with the lead secured he quickly dropped the McLarens.
Thereafter, it was comfortbale for the championship leader and with Norris locked in second and with Russell, Piastri and Hamilton squabbling over third, the champion took the flag for his sixth win of the season.
Behind the top two the battle was more fierce. Russell and Piastri clashed, resulting in the Mercedes driver dropping behind team-mate Hamilton.
Hamilton got past the struggling Piastri and in the final stage Russell passed both to claim a hard-won podium finish. Hamilton was left with fourth place ahead of the second McLaren, while Fernando Alonso claimed sixth place ahead of Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll. Daniel Ricciardo took a solid eighth place for RB ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the final point went to the Frenchman’s team-mate Esteban Ocon.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 70 1:45’47.927
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 70 1:45’51.806 3.879
3 George Russell Mercedes 70 1:45’52.244 4.317
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 70 1:45’52.842 4.915
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 70 1:45’58.126 10.199
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 1:46’05.437 17.510
7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 1:46’11.552 23.625
8 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 70 1:46’16.599 28.672
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 70 1:46’17.948 30.021
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 70 1:46’18.240 30.313
11 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 70 1:46’18.751 30.824
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 70 1:46’19.180 31.253
13 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 70 1:46’28.414 40.487
14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 70 1:46’40.621 52.694
15 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 69 1:46’41.455 1 lap /53.528
Carlos Sainz Ferrari 52 1:19’48.472 Accident damage
Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 52 1:19’49.040 Accident
Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 51 1:18’30.768 Accident damage
Charles Leclerc Ferrari 40 1:04’03.308 Retirement
Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 23 36’04.519 Accident -
Verstappen continues his winning run: F1
Imola, 19 May 2024: Max Verstappen withstood a determined late-race charge from Lando Norris to take his fifth victory of the season at the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc finishing third for Ferrari.
After a strong start in which Verstappen took the lead from pole and then ruthlessly controlled the bulk of the race, it looked like a third Imola win in a row was a certainty. However in the final 10 laps, the Red Bull driver’s Hard tyres began to fade badly and Norris smelled blood. However, despite the gap falling to less than a second, Verstappen held on for a hard-won victory.
“The whole race I had to push flat out,” said Verstappen. “On the Medium tyres, we were quite strong. On the Hard tyres, it was just a bit more difficult to manage, and especially the last 10 or 15 laps, I had no grip anymore. I was really sliding a lot. I saw Lando closing in. So the last 10 laps it was just flat out. I couldn’t afford to make too many mistakes. Luckily, we didn’t and I’m super happy of course to win here today.”
When the lights went out at the start, Verstappen got away well to take the lead from pole as the field powered into the Tamburello chicane. Behind the top two Leclerc held third place ahead of the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
At the front, with clear air ahead, Verstappen began to pull away from Norris and with seven laps on the board the Dutchman was almost two-seconds clear of the McLaren and as the first stint evolved the Red Bull driver worked his way to a five-second lead over Norris.
At the end of lap 23, Norris made his sole pit stop of the race and after switching to Hard tyres, the McLaren emerged behind Sergio Pérez who was running a long opening stint on Hard tyres. However, with older rubber onboard, the Mexican couldn’t keep the Briton at bay and he surrendered the position at the start of the following lap.
Verstappen then made his pit stop and after a 2.6s switch to Hard tyres he rejoined in fourth place, behind Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. And as new leader Leclerc, second-placed team-mate Carlos Sainz and Hamilton cycled through the pit lane for their stops Verstappen once again took the lead, 6.3s ahead of Norris.
Behind the top two Leclerc was again third, but Piastri had undercut the late-stopping Sainz to steal fourth place. Pérez, meanwhile, was now in sixth place on starting Hard tyres and with his pace flagging he soon dropped back to eighth behind the Mercedes drivers.
At the end of lap 37 Pérez at last headed into the pits to move to Medium tyres and though he initially dropped back to his starting position of 11th, the pace advantage afforded his new Medium tyres allowed to swiftly reel in the drivers ahead.
On lap 39 he powered past the RB of Ricciardo and a lap later 40, with aid of DRS, breezed past Hülkenberg on the run to Tamburello. His next target was the second RB of Tsunoda and on lap 43 he again used DRS to steam past the Japanese driver on the pit straight to move up to P8.
At the front, things appeared to be going smoothly for Verstappen but with 10 laps remaining he came on team radio to complain that “my tyres don’t work” and over the following laps a 6.0s gap to Norris crumbled to four and then two seconds.
Despite the limitations, Verstappen stayed cool and though the gap dropped towards DRS range in the final three laps, the champion held on to take the chequered flag just 0.7s ahead of the McLaren.
With Norris second and Leclerc taking the final podium position, fourth place went to Oscar Piastri with the Australian driver finishing ahead of Sainz and the twin Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
Pérez then crossed the line in P8 to take four points at the end of a good recovery from 11th place at the start. Ninth place went to Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and the final point was claimed by Tsunoda.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 63 1:25’25.252
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 63 1:25’25.977 0.725
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 63 1:25’33.168 7.916
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 63 1:25’39.384 14.132
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 63 1:25’47.577 22.325
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 63 1:26’00.356 35.104
7 George Russell Mercedes 63 1:26’12.406 47.154
8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 63 1:26’20.028 54.776
9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 63 1:26’44.808 1’19.556
10 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 62 1:25’43.108 1 lap /17.856
11 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 62 1:25’50.529 1 lap /25.277
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 62 1:25’51.686 1 lap /26.434
13 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 62 1:25’52.913 1 lap /27.661
14 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 62 1:26’09.159 1 lap /43.907
15 Zhou Guanyu Kick Sauber/Ferrari 62 1:26’10.185 1 lap /44.933
16 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 62 1:26’14.967 1 lap /49.715
17 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 62 1:26’16.303 1 lap /51.051
18 Valtteri Bottas Kick Sauber/Ferrari 62 1:26’21.595 1 lap /56.343
19 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 62 1:26’40.376 1 lap /1’15.124
Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 51 1:13’07.729 Withdrew -
Verstappen bounces back to take pole ahead of McLarens
Imola, 18 May 2024: Max Verstappen bounced back from a difficult build-up to take pole-position for the 2024 FIA Formula Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in a tight qualifying session at Imola in which he beat McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris by less than a tenth of a second. There was disappointment for Piastri after the session, however as the Australian was handed a three-place grid penalty by the race stewards for imnpeding Haas’ Kevin Magnussen earlier in the session.
In Friday’s practice sessions Verstappen had branded his RB20 car “difficult” and the Red Bull driver went into Saturday looking for dramatic improvements in balance and performance. Those seemed to be materialising in the morning’s practice session, but crashes for Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez derailed that process and Verstappen went into qualifying largely blind. However, throughout qualifying Verstappen found more and more pace until the final run of Q3 when he improved marginally on his provisional pole time to seal his eighth consecutive pole and his seventh of 2024 seven hundredths of a second ahead of Piastri.
“I felt more comfortable,” Verstappen said afterwards. “I could attack corners finally a bit more and it all started to come together and it really came together in Q3. It was just following the track, to be honest. A really difficult weekend so far, even this morning, so I’m incredibly happy to be on pole here.”
At the beginning of the one-hour session it was Esteban Ocon who set the pace in Q1, with the Alpine driver posting a lap of 1:16.645 on Soft tyres to top the timesheet ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. Charles Leclerc then beat Ocon by just 0.002, though the fact that the Monegasque driver did so on Medium tyres boded well for Ferrari’s hopes in the session. Norris then took over at the top thanks to a lap of 1:16.194 on Soft tyres. Verstappen then vaulted to the top of the order with a lap of 1:16.013. His stay in P1 was brief, though, as first Piastri and then Norris moved ahead with the latter taking top spot with a time of 1:15.915.
In the final moments of the session, Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg sprung a surprise by posting a lap of 1:16.841 to take P1. Verstappen was on another run, however, and the Dutchman claimed the best time of the session with a lap of 1:15.762. Behind him, Leclerc put in another lap on Mediums and he took second place, just five hundredths off Max.
There was no place in Q2 for Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu or for Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso or Williams’ Logan Sargeant.
The Bulls were out early in Q2, with Verstappen posting a lap of 1:15.386 to take P1 ahead of Pérez whose lap of 1:15.853 put him second. However, the Red Bulls were then split by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who stopped the clock at 1:15.702 and Leclerc then claimed the quickest time of the session with a lap of 1:15.328. There as also a second surprise of the session when RB’s Yuki Tusnoda jumped ahead of Verstappen to take P3 three hundredths of a second ahead of the Dutchman.
In the final runs, Verstappen took top spot with a lap of 1:15.176, ahead of Leclerc and Tsunoda. Behind them, improvements were being made and RB’s Daniel Ricciardo scraped into the top 10 with a lap of 1:15.691. That left Pérez in P11 and though the Mexican was just starting his final flyer he couldn’t find the necessary pace and he slipped to his first Q2 exit of the year, 0.015s off Ricciardo and ahead of Ocon, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly.
At the start of the top 10 shootout took provisional pole with a lap of 1:14.896, 0.073s ahead of Norris, with Leclerc in third, a further seven hundredths back. And in a tense sequence of final runs, the Dutchman grabbed his eighth consecutive pole, recording a best time of 1:14.746, just 0.074 ahead of Piastri, with Norris also within a tenth of the champion in third place.
Verstappen’s achievement equals the consecutive poles record held by Ayrton Senna who death 20 years at Imola is being marked this weekend.
“It’s very special,” said Max of equalling Senna’s record. “It’s 30 years since he passed away at this track, so of course I’m very pleased to get pole here. In a way, it’s a nice memory to him. He was an incredible Formula 1 driver, especially in qualifying laps as well. So, yeah, a great day for me, a great day for the team!”
Following the session, the stewards summoned Piastri over his incident with Magnussen at the end of Q1 and after hearing from both drivers and their teams, Piastri was given a three-place grid penalty for tomorrow’s race. It means that Norris advances to the front row alongside Verstappen, with Leclerc in P3 ahead of Sainz and then Piastri. George Russell will start sixth for Mercedes ahead of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and the second Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, while Daniel Ricciardo will start at the front of row five ahead of P10 qualifier Nico Hülkenberg.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:14.746 – –
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:14.820 0.074
3 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:14.837 0.091
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:14.970 0.224
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:15.233 0.487
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:15.234 0.488
7 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:15.465 0.719
8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:15.504 0.758
9 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:15.674 0.928
10 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:15.980 1.234
11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:15.706 0.960
12 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:15.906 1.160
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:15.992 1.246
14 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:16.200 1.454
15 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:16.381 1.635
16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:16.626 1.880
17 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:16.834 2.088
18 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:16.854 2.108
19 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:16.917 2.171
20 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes – – –
