IMOLA, Italy — Max Verstappen drove his Oracle Red Bull machine to the top qualifying spot for Saturday’s F-1 Sprint race that will set the grid for Sunday’s Emila Romagna Grand Prix at the famed Imola circuit.
Verstappen turned a best lap of 1 minute and 27.999 seconds to claim the top spot ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
“It was good out there today but also very easy to make mistakes, so luckily we mainly stayed out of trouble,” Verstappen said. “We started on the slicks initially and then it started raining again, making the right call on how you wanted to prep your laps was key today and ultimately we chose the right one, so I’m of course very pleased with that.”
Leclerc, who won two of the first three races of the season, was among the drivers hampered by a red flag late in the qualifying session.
Lando Norris will start third in Saturday’s Sprint race for McLaren, while Kevin Magnussen turned the fourth fastest time of the day for Haas F1.
“First of all, what a result. It’s great, it feels amazing, I can’t really believe it – it’s that close to top three,” said Magnussen. “P4 is the best qualifying for Haas ever, so I’m really proud of that and the team. I went off, lost the car and went all the way through the gravel. I managed to just keep it going and do a bit of a four-point turn and get back on track. The car was just phenomenal, and I can’t believe we’re P4. It’s looking like it’s going to be dry tomorrow so we’ll just do the best we can, I don’t know what to expect. We’ll go and have fun and give it everything we’ve got like we did today.”
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso was fifth for Alpine
The best seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton could muster was 13th on the grid.