Qualifying for the 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix got underway on Saturday at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy with points leader and three time World Champion, Max Verstappen of Red Bull, taking the pole position; improving on the weekend practice sessions where the Dutch racer ran no quickest than fifth.

"This weekend has been tough and we have been lacking pace and balance within the car, however we kept on working at it and trying to improve," said Verstappen. "When we went into qualifying, the balance of the car felt a lot better, so it was a great turnaround."

"It was an outstanding Saturday here in Imola, especially after we struggled yesterday," said Red Bull Team Principal, Christian Horner. "The team did a really good job overnight, with Seb Buemi, Jake Dennis and everyone in Milton Keynes working into the early hours on the simulator, and we kept improving the car as we saw the results of in Q3."

"Max had to deliver and he really pulled it out of the bag with a great performance, and you can tell how much it meant to him to be on pole today. That's 8 poles in a row, equalling the great Ayrton Senna and doing it here in Imola making it all the more poignant," added Horner.

Verstappen's teammate, Sergio Perez, did not make it out of Q2 on Saturday.

Second year racer, Oscar Piastri of McLaren, who has never raced in F1 at Imola, qualified outside the pole but was dropped three positions for impeding Kevin Magnussen in Q1. This moved his teammate, Lando Norris, the winner of the previous Grand Prix in Miami, to the outside pole position.

The SF-24's of Ferrari will fill out the second row (Leclerc, Sainz) on Sunday.

McLaren dominated the early Free Practice Session at Imola; running the top two quickest lap times (Piastri, Norris). Ferrari were third and fourth quickest in FP3 (Sainz, Leclerc).

"We were competitive in the practice sessions and also this afternoon until Q3, where we did not progress as expected," said Fred Vasseur, Ferrari Team Principal. "We cannot be happy with the final outcome as here overtaking is quite difficult and I would have preferred to have been further up the grid."

The W15's of Mercedes will start sixth and eighth (Russell, Hamilton).

RB Visa driver, Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo, will start seventh and ninth, respectively. Tsunoda has qualified in the Top 10 in all but two Grand Prix's this year.

"It was a really good and positive day from a team's point of view," said Ricciardo. "We are happy as both of us managed to get into Q3. Yuki's doing a good job and he's driving well all weekend, feeling really comfortable in the car from FP1."

Nico Hulkenberg, who has had outstanding qualifying sessions for Haas in 2024, starts tenth.

Starting Grid Summary - Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Oscar Piastri, George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda, Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez, Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll, Alexander Albon, Pierre Gasly, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, Kevin Magnussen, Fernando Alonso, Logan Sargeant

FP3 Results Summary - Piastri, Norris, Sainz, Leclerc, Russell, Verstappen, Albon, Ocon, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Ricciardo, Perez, Tsunoda, Bottas, Sargeant, Magnussen, Hamilton, Alonso, Gasly Zhou

Imola Starting Grid

POS	NO	DRIVER			CAR		TIME

1	1	Max Verstappen		RED BULL 	1:14.746
2	4	Lando Norris		MCLAREN 	1:14.837
3	16	Charles Leclerc		FERRARI		1:14.970
4	55	Carlos Sainz		FERRARI		1:15.233
5	81	Oscar Piastri		MCLAREN 	1:14.820
6	63	George Russell		MERCEDES	1:15.234
7	22	Yuki Tsunoda		RB 		1:15.465
8	44	Lewis Hamilton		MERCEDES	1:15.504
9	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB 		1:15.674
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg		HAAS 		1:15.980
11	11	Sergio Perez		RED BULL 	1:15.706
12	31	Esteban Ocon		ALPINE 		1:15.906
13	18	Lance Stroll		ASTON MARTIN 	1:15.992
14	23	Alexander Albon		WILLIAMS 	1:16.200
15	10	Pierre Gasly		ALPINE 		1:16.381
16	77	Valtteri Bottas		KICK SAUBER 	1:16.626
17	24	Zhou Guanyu		KICK SAUBER 	1:16.834
18	20	Kevin Magnussen		HAAS 		1:16.854
19	14	Fernando Alonso		ASTON MARTIN 	1:16.917
20	2	Logan Sargeant		WILLIAMS 

Imola FP3 Results

Pos	Driver		Team		Tyre	Time		Gap

1	Piastri		McLaren		S	1:15.529	145.393 mph
2	Norris		McLaren		S	1:15.829	0.300
3	Sainz		Ferrari		S	1:16.067	0.538
4	Leclerc		Ferrari		S	1:16.087	0.558
5	Russell		Mercedes	S	1:16.095	0.566
6	Verstappen	Red Bull	M	1:16.366	0.837
7	Albon		Williams	S	1:16.470	0.941
8	Ocon		Alpine		S	1:16.481	0.952
9	Stroll		Aston Martin	S	1:16.543	1.014
10	Hulkenberg	Haas		S	1:16.547	1.018
11	Ricciardo	RB		S	1:16.560	1.031
12	Perez		Red Bull	M	1:16.631	1.102
13	Tsunoda		RB		M	1:16.668	1.139
14	Bottas		Stake		S	1:16.695	1.166
15	Sargeant	Williams	S	1:16.794	1.265
16	Magnussen	Haas		S	1:16.923	1.394
17	Hamilton	Mercedes	S	1:16.960	1.431
18	Alonso		Aston Martin	H	1:17.339	1.810
19	Gasly		Alpine		M	1:17.361	1.832
20	Zhou		Stake		S	1:17.891	2.362

(image provided by Aston Martin F1 Media)