Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen will share the front-row for the Emilia Romagna

Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen will share the front-row for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with Lando Norris only fourth.

Piastri pipped Verstappen by 0.034s to land Imola pole, with Norris being bumped by George Russell to third.

The Ferrari drivers are a lowly 11th and 12th, after Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were dumped in Q2.

Elsewhere, Franco Colapinto received a penalty for a qualifying blunder following Yuki Tsunoda’s huge accident, and will now start 16th, with Liam Lawson shuffling forward one place.

Tsunoda must report to the stewards for formal permission to race, having not officially set a lap time before his enormous accident at the Villeneuve chicane.

Max Verstappen has revealed his disbelief at the scale of Yuki Tsunoda’s accident in Emilia Romagna Grand Prix qualifying.

Tsunoda destroyed his Red Bull early in Q1 at Imola, and clipping the kerb at the Villeneuve chicane and being spat into the barriers, where he flipped multiple times.

Fortunately, he escaped without injury, but there was a lengthy red flag for barrier repairs, with Verstappen, who went onto qualify in second behind pole-sitter Oscar Piastri explaining his shock at the scale of the smash.

“Well, first, of course, I asked if he’s OK,” Verstappen told media.

“And I heard yeah, he’s OK. But then I saw the replay — I’m like, “Jesus, is he really OK?”

“It was a big impact, with a lot of damage as well.

“But the most important thing is that Yuki is okay.”

Pole-sitter Piastri added that whilst drivers would take notice of the accident, it was important not to be distracted.

“Obviously, when there’s a shunt that big, it’s hard to not look at it,” he said.

“But I think generally in racing — and in a lot of things in life — when you start to second-guess or doubt what you’re doing, that’s when things go wrong.

“You need to commit, especially on a track like this. So, of course, you probably think about it a little bit, but by the time you get to the corner, you’re back in the groove of doing what you’ve done the rest of the weekend.”

Position Driver Team
1st Oscar Piastri McLaren
2nd Max Verstappen Red Bull
3rd George Russell Mercedes
4th Lando Norris McLaren
5th Fernando Alonso Aston Martin
6th Carlos Sainz Williams
7th Alex Albon Williams
8th Lance Stroll Aston Martin
9th Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls
10th Pierre Gasly Alpine
11th Charles Leclerc Ferrari
12th Lewis Hamilton Ferrari
13th Kimi Antonelli Mercedes
14th Gabriel Bortoleto Stake
15th Liam Lawson Racing Bulls
16th Franco Colapinto – PENALTY Alpine
17th Nico Hulkenberg Stake
18th Esteban Ocon Haas
19th Oliver Bearman Haas
– Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull.