F1 qualifying

Unlucky twist left Ricciardo 'hurt'; full extent of Mercedes nightmare — F1 Qualifying Analysis.

Norris credited a second straight strong qualifying session to the climatic conditions rather than the car, and on one level that makes sense. It’s much more difficult to pass at Imola compared to Interlagos, however, and that will be particularly true if the track is in any way damp to make deviating from the racing line treacherous. Haas will be the team’s chief rival, with Kevin Magnussen taking a sensational fourth. The car doesn’t like big braking zones, and the reduction in speed in the wet effectively took the bite out of the biggest stops around the track. With the improvements on the second lap, I really feel I could be significantly further up, but that’s alright.” Russell’s car was porpoising so badly during that hour that the floor stays, designed to help with the problem, snapped. Carlos Sainz re-signed with Ferrari during the week, but the Spaniard couldn’t convert that confidence into a qualifying result, crashing out of Q2 in what he described as surprising snap from the car at the end of a lap on which he wasn’t pushing particularly hard. To date sprint races have needed a focal point, and two cars starting out of position will be key excitement generators. If Verstappen can hold position off pole, even the Ferrari’s car superior corner-exit traction may not be enough for Leclerc to overcome him in the sprint, which doesn’t feature pit stop strategy to shake up the order. Things were only marginally better for Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull Racing car. A dry track combined with frequent bursts of rain made the session challenging for drivers. In wet practice everything was coming up Ferrari, with the red cars more almost 1.5 seconds quicker than anyone else.

Formula 1 world championship leader Charles Leclerc says the wrong run plan choice for qualifying at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix left him unhappy to be ...

So let’s keep pushing but for now we have the potential to do so [win].” We'll learn from it and, at the end, P2 is not a disaster.” So it is like this.

Live updates, highlights and results from the first Formula 1 Sprint race of the season, at F1's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

15 mins to lights out: There are a few drivers who will be looking to make up places as they qualify for the full length race tomorrow. Of the cars with medium tyres, Magnussen is the furthest forward. He came together with Gasly, who gets new parts in the pits and will rejoin the back of the pack. Some teams struggled to get heat in their tyres yesterday, and they'll be hoping for a more driveable circuit today. Lap 12: Sainz gets past Magnussen, to cheers from the home fans. Perez is up to P4, and it's Lando Norris separating Perez from his teammate in P2. Formation lap: A mix of soft and medium tyres, as the teams begin the formation lap. Fernando Alonso is slow off the mark, with a couple of cars overtaking him. It was an interesting choice from Haas to go with the medium tyres. Lap 19: LeClerc's tyres have looked in poor condition for the last few laps. The Haas strategy might be paying off, as Mick Schumacher gets past Vettel. Lap 20: Verstappen takes the lead!