Verstappen bounces back to match all-time Senna record with Imola pole

Max Verstappen bounced back from a troubled Emilia Romagna Grand Prix practice to secure an eighth straight pole position - and equal Ayrton Senna's all-time record.

After a torrid day on Friday, Verstappen showed improved performance throughout practice, and topped Q2 to go into the pole position shootout as favourite for pole. 

His eventual pole time of a 1:14.746 was just enough to keep the Red Bull driver ahead of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, as Ferrari's challenge faltered in Q3. 

Charles Leclerc was fourth ahead of Carlos Sainz, with Lewis Hamilton only eighth for Mercedes as Sergio Perez fell in Q2 and will start 11th. 

Q3

After the first Q3 runs, Verstappen held P1 with a 1:14.869s, 0.073s ahead of Norris with Leclerc 0.147s behind the world champion, seeking to emulate Senna's run of eight straight poles set from the 1988 Spanish to the 1989 Phoenix Grands Prix.

Going purple through Sectors 1 and 2 on his final lap, Verstappen shaved 0.123s off his time to post the 1:15.746 that earned him an eighth straight pole, stretching back to the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

In beating Piastri by 0.074s, Verstappen also equaled Alain Prost's record of seven straight poles from the start of the season, set by the Frenchman in 1993.

Piastri shaved Norris for a front-row berth by 0.017s as Ferrari could not live with the Red Bull or McLaren in Q3, falling away to fourth and fifth. 

George Russell was sixth, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and Hamilton, with Daniel Ricciardo filling in ninth place.

Nico Hulkenberg will start 10th after making Q3 yet again for Haas.

Perez dumped in Q2

The major talking point in Q2 was that Perez was eliminated in Q2, falling 0.015s short of overhauling Ricciardo.

The Red Bull driver was safe after the first runs, but slipped back as Hulkenberg, Russell, Hamilton and Ricciardo all improved on their final laps. 

It would be Sainz however who pushed Perez into the drop-zone with his final lap, with it either being Perez or Ricciardo who would advance through to Q3.

By the narrow margin of 0.015s, it was the RB driver, making both cars into the top 10 shootout after Tsunoda's stunning lap to place third in the segment. 

Elsehwere, Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly were also eliminated as Verstappen topped the segment with the fastest time of the weekend at the time.

Alonso out in Q1

The big shock of Q1 was that Fernando Alonso was eliminated after provsionally being slowest of all after a tricky session. 

The Aston Martin racer was late onto the track following repairs following his FP3 crash, with the team only getting the AMR24 late on. 

On his first flying lap, he skated through the gravel at Tamburello and then aborted a later lap with a 1:16.917 being his best attempt, but it was 20th and slowest. 

Elsewhere, Valtteri Bottas, Logan Sargeant, Zhou Guanyu and Kevin Magnussen were also eliminated as Hamilton survived by 0.022s from Bottas.

Sargeant's lap-time was promptly then deleted for track limits, dropping him to last and requiring permission from the stewards to race.

The Ferrari drivers were the only two to set a lap-time on the medium tyres, advancing through on the rubber to save a set of softs, in second and seventh with Leclerc and Sainz.

Russell also used mediums for one lap, scrubbing the set before pitting for a change to softs.

Hulkenberg appeared to be fastest with a late 1:15.841s to pip Norris and Piastri, but Verstappen and Leclerc both beat the Haas driver in the final Q1 standings.