Max Verstappen overcame an intense threat from McLaren at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix to claim a record-equalling eighth consecutive Formula 1 pole position.
Verstappen recovered from various troubles with his Red Bull car to better Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, with less than a single tenth covering the top three drivers.
McLaren had prevented Ferrari from boasting a practice clean sweep, with Piastri leading Norris in the earlier one-hour session that was disrupted on two occasions.
But while Red Bull had still lagged behind the two teams residing behind it in the championship, Max Verstappen had appeared more comfortable in his RB20 in FP3.
The Dutchman maintained that momentum through to the crunch moment, producing a barnstorming last effort to set a 1:14.746s and go 0.074s quicker than Piastri.
One driver who seemed to not be in contention as the session began was Fernando Alonso, whose Aston Martin car was being repaired amid a crash in final practice.
But a monumental effort from the Aston Martin crew managed to get the Spaniard out on track with over 10 minutes of Q1 remaining, although his first lap was slow.
As he strived to haul his AMR24 out of the drop zone, Alonso got out of shape on the exit of Tamburello on his second attempt and took a grip through the gravel trap.
The two-time F1 champion would be called back to the garage with an undiagnosed issue, curtailing his involvement in the session and resigning him to a tough race.
Along with Alonso, Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, Williams’ Logan Sargeant, Guanyu Zhou and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, who moaned over Piastri impeding him at the death.
There were more positive vibes on the opposite side of the Haas garage as Nico Hulkenberg soared to the top in Q1 until Verstappen and Charles Leclerc pipped him.
Sargeant would drop below Alonso in the timing charts when the American, who is under pressure to retain his drive for next term, had his lap deleted for track limits.
Progressing into Q2, Leclerc held top spot following the initial runs, with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda putting in a stellar lap to elevate his car to second. 0.03s off the best time.
Along with the Ferrari and the RB – both Italian representatives on home soil – Red Bull and McLaren ensured there were four Constructors inside the top four positions.
As the seconds counted down, Daniel Ricciardo put Sergio Perez under threat of elimination, and that was realised as the Mexican was relegated to a Q2 exit in 11th.
Perez became the latest victim of the condensed field over a single lap in 2024, with the Red Bull driver having lapped under four-tenths behind second-placed Leclerc.
However, Red Bull still had Verstappen in the game and the reigning champion was in the hunt at the front as he made it two sessions out of two at the top of the times.
However, the top-10 shootout was poised to be the Dutchman’s toughest fight for pole yet this term, with McLaren and Ferrari looking every bit as quick as the Red Bull.
Verstappen’s initial time was 1:14.869s, with Norris slotting in seven hundredths in arrears after his first run. Meanwhile, Leclerc had done enough to split the McLarens.
Verstappen would improve further with a scintillating run to reduce the benchmark to 1:14.746s, with Piastri and Norris coming up less than a tenth each on pole position.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz managed fourth and fifth in front of the Italian crowd amid troubles in Sector 1, with George Russell leading the Mercedes charge in sixth.
It was an impressive qualifying for RB, with the Faenza-based squad thriving at its home venue with Tsunoda beating Lewis Hamilton to seventh and Daniel Ricciardo ninth.
Hamilton conceded that he was unable to match his team-mate’s time as his one-lap struggles continued in 2024, with Hulkenberg once again making Q3 and ending 10th.
