Verstappen takes Red Bull’s 75th pole, Mercedes’ 187-race Q3 streak ends and Magnussen records Haas’ best-ever qualifying result. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix!
VERSTAPPEN TAKES POLE FOR F1 SPRINT
Max Verstappen set the fastest lap time in Friday qualifying, securing pole position for Saturday’s F1 Sprint. He becomes the 14th driver to be credited with pole position at the Imola circuit.
Verstappen took Red Bull’s 75th pole position in Formula 1. The team become the sixth to have recorded 75 poles in F1. They are the first team to reach the milestone since Mercedes at the 2017 Chinese Grand Prix.
With a 0.779 second margin, Verstappen took pole position for the F1 Sprint at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix by the second-largest margin ever seen at Imola. The only larger pole margin at the track came in 1992, when Nigel Mansell secured pole position by 1.053 seconds.
THE TOP 10 ON FRIDAY
Both McLaren drivers qualified in the top six for the first time since the 2021 Russian Grand Prix. It’s the first time since 2022 that both McLaren drivers have qualified in the top six at Imola.
With fourth place, Kevin Magnussen recorded the Haas team’s best-ever qualifying result. Magnussen also equalled the best qualifying result of his career, having also qualified fourth at the 2014 Australian and German Grands Prix. 2022 is the first time that a Haas driver has made it out of Q1 at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Mick Schumacher also reached Q2.
Sebastian Vettel reached Q3 for the first time since the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix. Qualifying in ninth place, this was the first time that Vettel has qualified in the top ten at the Imola circuit. He recorded the Silverstone-based team’s best qualifying result at Imola since they were in their Jordan guise in 2001.
Fernando Alonso maintained his 100% Q3 appearance record in 2022. He qualified in fifth place, equalling his best qualifying result since the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are the only other drivers to reach Q3 at every race so far this year.
MERCEDES FAIL TO REACH Q3
Both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were eliminated in Q2, making this the first time since the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix that neither Mercedes driver reached Q3. It ended an almost decade-long run of 187 consecutive Q3 appearances for the Mercedes team.
The 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is only the sixth time since Mercedes’ return to F1 that neither of their drivers has reached Q3.
OUT IN Q1
Both Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda were eliminated in Q1. It marked the first time that AlphaTauri have seen both their drivers out in Q1 since the team was competing as Toro Rosso at the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix.
Pierre Gasly recorded his first Q1 elimination since the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix. He was out-qualified by Tsunoda for only the second time during their 26 races as team-mates.
A gearbox issue meant that Esteban Ocon was unable to set a second lap time in qualifying. He therefore recorded his first Q1 exit since the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix and qualified on the back row for the first time since the 2017 Chinese Grand Prix.
Qualifying in 18th place, this was the first time in 2022 that Nicholas Latifi has not qualified on the back row of the grid. However, neither Esteban Ocon nor Alex Albon set a competitive lap time.