Max Verstappen has secured his 39th career pole, with penalties shaking up the starting grid for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
While Friday practice sessions were dominated by Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc leading both runs and Oscar Piastri putting on a strong showing in Saturday's FP3 for McLaren, qualifying threw a curveball at the iconic Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit.
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Verstappen, who had been struggling throughout the weekend to find a comfortable setup in the upgraded RB20, grabbed a surprising pole position with a stunning lap time, edging out Piastri by a narrow margin of 0.074 seconds.
However, McLaren's young gun was dealt a three-place grid penalty for impeding Haas driver Kevin Magnussen during qualifying, dropping him down to P5.
The Dutchman will now be joined by Lando Norris in the second McLaren, with both Ferrari drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, looking to secure a home victory for the Scuderia from P3 and P4 respectively.
Further down the grid, George Russell secured a P6 for Mercedes, while Yuki Tsunoda, who has impressed so far this season, managed to split the Silver Arrows with Lewis Hamilton starting in P8.
Daniel Ricciardo managed ninth, while Nico Hulkenberg found himself just behind in tenth.
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F1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix 2024 starting grid
1. Max Verstappen [Red Bull]: 1:14.746sec
2. Lando Norris [McLaren]: +0.091sec
3. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari]: +0.224sec
4. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari]: +0.487 +0.487sec
5. Oscar Piastri [McLaren]*: +0.074sec
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
11. Sergio Perez [Red Bull]: +0.960sec
12. Esteban Ocon [Alpine]: +1.160sec
13. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin]: +1.246sec
14. Alex Albon [Williams]: +1.454sec
15. Pierre Gasly [Alpine]: +1.635sec
16. Valtteri Bottas [Kick Sauber]: +1.880sec
17. Zhou Guanyu [Kick Sauber]: +2.088sec
18. Kevin Magnussen [Haas]: +2.108sec
19. Logan Sargeant [Williams]*
Pit-lane start: Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin]
Note: Sargeant will start the race despite failing to set a lap time within 107% of the fastest lap in Q1, while Piastri's P2 finish was dampened by a three-place grid penalty for impeding Magnussen, dropping him to P5.
Alonso will start from the pit-lane following suspension changes made by Aston Martin during Parc Fermé.
When is the 2024 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix?
Lights out in Imola set for 3pm local time on Sunday, May 19. This translates to 2pm in the UK, 9am EDT, 8am CDT, and 6am PDT, as well as 11pm in Australia and 3pm in South Africa.
READ MORE: F1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix weather forecast - latest today from Imola
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