Max Verstappen qualified on pole for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, but he was pushed all the way by the upgraded McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
The paid of papaya cars - now with matching upgrades after they were added to Piastri's car this weekend - finished less than a tenth of a second behind the reigning world champion, who was audibly relieved in his post-session radio message to his team.
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Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Perez was eliminated by the VCARB of Daniel Ricciardo in Q2, failing to improve sufficiently on his earlier lap time to escape the drop zone, while Fernando Alonso was the shock early casualty in Q1.
Both VCARB drivers qualified in the top 10 for Sunday's race, a rare occurrence but one in line with the team continuing to improve in recent weeks, with Yuki Tsunoda even beating Lewis Hamilton.
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F1 Qualifying Results: Emilia Romagna Grand Prix 2024
1. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] - 1:14.746sec
2. Lando Norris [McLaren] - +0.091sec
3. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] - +0.224sec
4. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] - +0.487sec
5. Oscar Piastri [McLaren] - +0.074sec (three-place grid drop for impeding)
6. George Russell [Mercedes] - +0.488sec
7. Yuki Tsunoda [VCARB] - +0.719sec
8. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] - +0.758sec
9. Daniel Ricciardo [VCARB] - +0.928sec
10. Nico Hulkenberg [Haas] - +1.234sec
ELIMINATED IN Q2
11. Sergio Perez [Red Bull]
12. Esteban Ocon [Alpine]
13. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin]
14. Alex Albon [Williams]
15. Pierre Gasly [Alpine]
ELIMINATED IN Q1
16. Valtteri Bottas [Kick Sauber]
17. Zhou Guanyu [Kick Sauber]
18. Kevin Magnussen [Haas]
19. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin]
20. Logan Sargeant [Williams]
How does F1 Qualifying work?
The qualifying session is split into three finite windows, which provide a dramatic prelude to Sunday's race.
The bottom five drivers are eliminated at the end of Q1, with a further five eliminated after Q2.
Then, Q3 gives us a shootout between the remaining 10 drivers in the battle for positions at the front of the grid.
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