2025 F1 Imola GP Qualifying Results: Full Starting Grid for the Race
Formula 1 is in Italy for the first Italian race of the season — the Imola GP or the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. After Friday's Free Practice sessions, the drivers took to the track for Saturday's qualifying, as championship leader Oscar Piastri of McLaren clinched the pole position ahead of reigning champion Max Verstappen.
The qualifying session at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari saw multiple ups and downs as both the Ferrari drivers failed to make it to Q3, while Aston Martin had a brilliant resurgence. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton could only make P11 and P12, respectively, whereas Fernando Alonso fetched the top five, and Lance Stroll found himself in P8.
Williams continued to show their improvement with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, whereas Yuki Tsunoda had an enormous shunt in Q1. Local boy Kimi Antonelli also had an outing to forget as he was out in Q2 as well.
Piastri pulled off a brilliant qualifying lap of 1:14.670 to put himself on the front for Sunday's Imola GP. He denied Verstappen the pole by 0.034. George Russell of Mercedes got the better of Lando Norris. Fernando Alonso had a surprising outing with P5 on Saturday, ahead of Sainz.
Albon and Stroll qualified in P7 and P8, while Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly wrapped up the top ten. Franco Colapinto of Alpine received a one-place grid penalty. Colapinto will start Sunday's race from P16, behind Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson, and ahead of Kick Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.
Here's how the grid looks for Sunday's Imola GP:
#1 Oscar Piastri - McLaren
#2 Max Verstappen - Red Bull
#3 George Russell - Mercedes
#4 Lando Norris - McLaren
#5 Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin
#6 Carlos Sainz - Williams
#7 Alex Albon - Williams
#8 Lance Stroll - Aston Martin
#9 Isack Hadjar - Racing Bulls
#10 Pierre Gasly - Alpine
#11 Charles Leclerc - Ferrari
#12 Lewis Hamilton - Ferrari
#13 Kimi Antonelli - Mercedes
#14 Gabriel Bortoleto - Kick Sauber
#15 Liam Lawson - Racing Bulls
#16 Franco Colapinto - Alpine
#17 Nico Hulkenberg - Kick Sauber
#18 Esteban Ocon - Haas
#19 Oliver Bearman - Haas
#20 Yuki Tsunoda - Red Bull
Max Verstappen expects 'different story' against McLaren at Imola GP
Max Verstappen, the reigning champion and the defending race winner, expects McLaren to turn up stronger on Sunday than they were on Saturday at the Imola GP. Even though the Papayas are brilliant in terms of qualifying, their race pace is also top notch, reckons Verstappen.
"The race will be a different story as McLaren’s advantage is in the race on the long runs and they are good at keeping the tyres under control."
"We will see where we are with the pace but we will just focus on ourselves. We will aim to extract the most that we can out of the car and hopefully come away with a good result," he further added (via Junaidsamodien_ on X).
Verstappen is currently trailing Piastri and Norris in the Driver's Standings. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren are also the leading force, followed by Mercedes and Red Bull.