F1: Who starts where for the Emilia Romagna GP

This weekend sees Formula One cars once more, three weeks since they left a brilliant Bahrain. The Imola circuit is one notorious for being difficult to overtake on, so qualifying is important. Throughout practice Mercedes seem to have found some pace, and Red Bull struggled with pace and reliability.

The qualifying was also moved earlier so it can be finished before the funeral of HRH Prince Phillip. The weather, however, wasn’t as we would have expected in Italy, with temperatures barely reaching double figures, and the track being below 30.

Q1 started with both Haas drivers going out, and the first action was Sebastian Vettel carrying too much speed into Aqua Minerale, understeering off the track. A red flag soon followed, with Tsunoda half spinning into the tyre wall, destroying the rear of the car in the process.

Q1 ended with Williams getting both their cars into Q2, seeing both Alfa Romeo’s and both Haas getting knocked out. Both Mercedes topped the times.

Track limits continued to play a part, with drivers struggling to keep their cars within the limits, and Sergio Perez going out on softs for his Q2 time, compared to most others going out on mediums, showing Red Bull and Perez not having true confidence.

Fernando Alonso finished Q2 out of the top 10, 15th overall, proving Alpine are still a bit away from their ideal performance, but most importantly, he finished behind both Williams, with George Russell qualifying 12th and Nicholas Latifi finishing 14th. The biggest shock was Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari, only managing 11th.

Q3 was hectic, with lap times coming in and being deleted quickly. Hamilton set the pace early, and it seemed no one could match it, with Lando Norris seeming to grab second, only to have exceeded the limits. Surprisingly, Sergio Perez out qualified his teammate and finished second, and Bottas only managing eighth, ahead of Occon and Stroll, who didn’t set a time. Norris ended up behind his team mate Daniel Ricciardo in seventh position, with Gasly finishing a string fifth and Leclerc finishing fourth, three tenths behind the top 3.

Full Grid for the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

[table id=59 /]

The Grand Prix starts at 15:00 Local Time (14:00 UK)