Hamilton claims F1 pole number 99 ahead of Perez and Verstappen
Hamilton claims F1 pole number 99 ahead of Perez and Verstappen
Lewis Hamilton claimed the 99th pole position of his Formula 1 career, landing a surprise ahead of favourites Red Bull
Seven-time F1 champion Hamilton posted a time of one minute 14.411secs at Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, pipping Red Bull's Sergio Perez by just 0.035s.
While not quite the perfect result for Red Bull, it is the reason why the team signed Perez, with the Mexican finishing 0.052secs ahead of team-mate Max Verstappen, who made a small mistake on his final run.
For Hamilton, it is the 30th different track at which he has claimed pole, while in stark contrast, it is the first time Perez will start a race from the front row in his 193rd grand prix.
Hamilton and Verstappen, however, do hold an advantage as they start on Pirelli's medium-compound tyres, while Perez lines up on the softs.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc starts fourth ahead of AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly to give Italy something to cheer, while McLaren duo Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris line up sixth and seventh.
Norris had a time on the final run that would have been good enough to start third, only to have it deleted for exceeding track limits at one stage.
Valtteri Bottas, who was on pole at Imola in mid-November, will start a lowly eighth by his and Mercedes' lofty standards, with Alpine's Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin lining up ninth and 10th respectively.
With Leclerc third quickest in Q2, it is a surprise team-mate Carlos Sainz starts 11th, with the Spaniard almost four-tenths of a second behind the Monégasque and missing out on the top-10 shoot-out by 0.061s.
Williams' George Russell starts a superb 12th, with team-mate Nicholas Latifi 14th as the duo made it into Q2 for only the second time in 19 races as a pairing.
Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel is sandwiched between the Williams, with Fernando Alonso down in 15th in his Alpine and out-qualified by a team-mate for the first time in 27 races since the Malaysian GP of 2017.
After just six minutes of Q1, Yuki Tsunoda destroyed the rear of his AlphaTauri in a crash at the Variante Alta chicane.
Tsunoda, who had earned plaudits for his performances in pre-season testing and again in Bahrain, will start at the back of the grid, or potentially from the pitlane.
The Japanese driver, who had pounded out numerous laps at Imola in older cars in the build-up to his debut F1 season with the team's factory a handful of kilometres away, misaligned his AT02 on entry into the right-left hander.
Emerging out of it, Tsunoda was unable to correct his line, resulting in the car careering backwards into a barrier, leaving the team with considerable work to do in repairs and the 20-year-old with an uphill climb to salvage points given the notorious difficulties in overtaking at this track.
With 12 minutes of the opening session remaining, and with only five drivers setting a time at that stage, it resulted in a hectic run for all once the track reopened.
Ahead of Tsunoda on the grid after their Q1 exits are the Alfa Romeo pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi, along with Haas duo Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, with half-a-second separating the latter pair.
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Red Bull to lose F1 MVP as true cost of Horner saga hits
- 44 minutes ago
F1 pundit reveals the thing about Wolff that ANNOYS Horner
- 1 hour ago
Newey exit DATE revealed as Red Bull F1 chief set to leave
- 2 hours ago
F1 News Today: Red Bull star set to QUIT team as F1 legend reveals flood of death threats
- Today 06:27
Audi agree STAR driver contract as Mercedes driver tipped for new F1 seat THIS season - GPFans F1 Recap
- Yesterday 23:57
Ferrari show off new-look drivers following HUGE announcement
- Yesterday 22:57
Related news
F1 reveal remarkable 109m TV audience for Hamilton Verstappen Abu Dhabi showdown
Masi made the right decision in 'heart-pumping' finale - Grosjean
F1 battle of the team-mates
F1's best moments from a chaotic and controversial 2021
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860