Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Verstappené is the first grid in the sprint race

The defending World Cup champion won his first pole position this year and the 14th pole position of his career. Behind him, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), the leader in the points race, from Monaco finished second, while the British Lando Norris can start from the third place with McLaren.

Compared to the usual qualifying session on Saturday, the biggest excitement in the first third of qualifying, in addition to the ignition of Alex Albon's (Williams) right rear brake - which stopped the circuit for several minutes - was the passage of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) by just four thousandths of a second. past.

In the second stage, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. - who was second in the morning free practice - made a mistake during an acceleration and crashed into the rubber wall. As it rained during the red flag stage, no one attempted a fast lap, so the Spanish driver's time was enough to get into the third stage. Neither Hamilton nor his team-mate George Russell succeeded in doing so.

In the third part, the competitors were not in a hurry to roll onto the track, Kevin Magnussen (Haas) finished the time trial prematurely on the transitional tires in the gravel bed, so another red flag stage followed. Three minutes before the end, Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) also slipped out, and due to Norris' mistake, no one had the opportunity to make the last fast laps, so Verstappen finished in the lead with his driving time in the first half of the third stage.

The first sprint race weekend of this year's Formula 1 season will be held in Imola, out of the three previously planned, in Saturday's race the competitors will have to cover 100 kilometers. There is no mandatory pit stop in the short-distance race, but unlike last year, this year not only the first three, but the first eight places will receive world championship points in a distribution of 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. According to the final result of the sprint race, the competitors will line up on the grid for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix starting at 15:00 on Sunday.

This arrangement allows only two free practice instead of three, the second one will be held on Saturday, before the sprint race. Last year, the first place on the grid was awarded to the competitor who triumphed in the sprint race, but this year, this has also been changed, the pole position in the official statistics will go to the fastest driver of Friday's time trial.

The full starting order:

Line 1:

Max Verstappen (Dutch, Red Bull)

Charles Leclerc (Monaco, Ferrari)

Line 2:

Lando Norris (British, McLaren)

Kevin Magnussen (Denmark, Haas)

Line 3:

Fernando Alonso (Spain, Alpine)

Daniel Ricciardo (Australian, McLaren)

Line 4:

Sergio Pérez (Mexican, Red Bull)

Valtteri Bottas (Finnish, Alfa Romeo)

Line 5:

Sebastian Vettel (German, Aston Martin)

Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spain, Ferrari)

Line 6:

George Russell (British, Mercedes)

Mick Schumacher (German, Haas)

Line 7:

Lewis Hamilton (British, Mercedes)

Chou Kuan-yü (Chinese, Alfa Romeo)

Line 8:

Lance Stroll (Canadian, Aston Martin)

Juki Cunoda (Japan, Alpha Tauri)

Line 9:

Pierre Gasly (French, Alpha Tauri)

Nicholas Latifi (Canada, Williams)

Line 10:

Esteban Ocon (French, Alpine)

Alexander Albon (Thailand, Williams)

The additional program:

Saturday:

2nd free practice 12.30 p.m

sprint race 4.30 p.m

Sunday:

race 15.00

(Source: Source: sportrajongo.hu, mti/Photo: pixabay)