Max Verstappen claimed pole position for the Sprint after a crazy qualifying at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
In changeable conditions, the session at Imola set a new record for most red flags with five, three of which came during Q3.
The reigning champion though set his best time at just the right moment to secure P1 on the grid for Saturday’s 21-lap dash.
Q1
As the track dried from earlier rain, some drivers chose intermediates and others slicks for their first runs.
Problems struck for Alex Albon, with a left-rear brake fire and explosion on his car causing a red flag, meaning the Williams driver will start at the back of the grid for the second straight race.
? RED FLAG ?
Debris scatters across the track as Alex Albon’s rear brakes overheat. He’s limped back to the pits and the fire is out. #ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/WujhKc6pp9
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 22, 2022
Lap times plummeted when the session resumed as track conditions improved with Leclerc setting the pace for Ferrari.
The battle to avoid elimination was fierce as both Mercedes’ found themselves in the bottom five.
George Russell made it through in 11th while Lewis Hamilton claimed P15, just 0.004s ahead of Yuki Tsunoda who was knocked out in 16th.
Pierre Gasly was also eliminated in 17th on a terrible day for AlphaTauri at their home circuit with Nicholas Latifi 18th.
An issue for Esteban Ocon meant he was stuck in the pits and starts 19th and Albon will bring up the Sprint race grid after his brake failure.
Q2
With a threat of rain, disaster struck for Carlos Sainz who crashed out at the final corner resulting in a red flag.
Sainz surveying the damage after skidding off at the final turn in Q2#ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/hYuEc3htbz
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 22, 2022
As his Ferrari was being recovered, the weather did change with rain arriving around the circuit, preventing anyone from improving their times when the session resumed.
This meant Russell was only 11th and Hamilton 13th, resulting in both Mercedes cars failing to make Q3 for the first time since Japan 2012.
Mick Schumacher was also unlucky to miss out in 12th as was Zhou Guanyu in 14th, this after the Chinese driver had been P4 in Q1.
Lance Stroll brought up the top 15 in the Aston Martin.
Q3
With the circuit wet again, all drivers headed out on intermediates to assess the conditions.
Kevin Magnussen caused a red flag after going off at Acque Minerali but was able to recover and returned to the pits.
When the green light was shown, the Haas set the first flying lap before Verstappen and Leclerc went P1 and P2.
? RED FLAG (again!) ?
This time it’s Bottas who has slithered off track #ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/W76s89hbCi
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 22, 2022
An issue for Valtteri Bottas saw him pull off exiting the Variante Alta triggering a red flag just after the Dutchman went quickest with less than three minutes to go.
Though the session resumed, another off at Acque Minerali, this time for Lando Norris, led to a session-ending red flag that secured P1 on the Sprint grid for Verstappen and his first pole position of the season.
Leclerc will start alongside in second ahead of Norris and Magnussen, who will start on the second row despite both having incidents in Q3.
Fernando Alonso was fifth, Daniel Ricciardo sixth and Sergio Perez seventh after a tricky first run.
P8 went to Bottas ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who gave Aston Martin their first top 10 of the year in P9.
Sainz will be P10 despite his crash in Q2.
Full results from qualifying can be seen below:
QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION ?#ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/bsxwHoXTAh
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 22, 2022