Oscar Piastri claims pole for F1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
17th May 2025McLaren’s Oscar Piastri has claimed pole position for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.
Feature image credit: Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
Oscar Piastri has taken his third pole position of the season, and of his career, in Imola for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix as he narrowly pipped Verstappen for the top spot.
The first qualifying session in Europe was not plain sailing for the pack, with two incidents causing red flags in Q1. Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda crashed early on with a horrifying crash at the Villeneuve chicane, followed by the late crash of Alpine’s Franco Colapinto on the exit of Tamburello.
Despite this, Piastri managed to pip his rivals by 0.03s, over Verstappen, to take his first pole position since the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Mercedes’ George Russell made a late lunge for third place on the grid as the Briton improved on Medium compound tyres to snatch a top-three finish in qualifying.
As a result, this demoted Lando Norris to fourth for the race as the #4 McLaren finished qualifying nearly three tenths off the back of his pole-sitting teammate.
It was also a disappointing session for the Italian fans as both Ferraris were eliminated from qualifying in Q2. Charles Leclerc pipped his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, in 11th and 12th, respectively.
Additionally, Mercedes’ Italian driver, Kimi Antonelli, could only best 13th in the final runs of Q2.
The race will get underway at 3pm local time (2pm BST) with Piastri now starting on pole ahead of Verstappen and Russell.
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
