It is the first European race of the 2024
Formula 1 season. After a tricky Friday,
Max Verstappen will start on pole for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix around the iconic
Imola circuit.
Lando Norris will start alongside the Dutchman on the front row. The two Ferraris are on the second row of the grid, with
Charles Leclerc and
Carlos Sainz starting P3 and P4, respectively.
Oscar Piastri, although he qualified second, was given a three-place grid penalty for impeding, meaning he starts in P5. Will Verstappen be victorious on European soil? Will
McLaren make it back-to-back race wins? Or will the newly upgraded
Ferrari send the Tifosi wild? Follow the liveblog below for all of the important updates during the race at the Miami International Autodrome.
This weekend has been far from ideal for
Max Verstappen. All three practice sessions did not run smoothly for the three-time World Champion, and it looked like the Red Bull was not the fastest car of the weekend. However, when it mattered most, Verstappen pulled it out of the fire in Q3, as
Oscar Piastri and
Lando Norris in P2 and P3 missed out by just a tenth of a second. However, Piastri impeded
Kevin Magnussen in Q1, meaning there was a three-place grid penalty for the Australian.
As a result, the two Ferraris are line astern on the second row of the grid, with
Charles Leclerc lining up in P3 ahead of teammate
Carlos Sainz in P4, with Piastri dropping back to fifth with his penalty. However, after Leclerc topped both FP1 and FP2 on Friday, he would have been hoping for more glory, which he will hope he can find in the race. Behind the Ferraris is
George Russell in P6, and
Yuki Tsunoda in the Racing Bull in P7, who qualified the best of the rest with a great performance.
Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Riccciardo and
Nico Hulkenberg round out the top ten. Verstappen's teammate
Sergio Perez had a poor session as he was knocked out in Q2 and will start P11, and Fernando Alonso was the biggest shock of the day, as he will start from P19 after his Q1 elimination.
Updates, updates, updates
A key aspect of tomorrow's race will be whose updates that have been brought to
Imola will give them the edge over their competitors. The upgraded
McLaren of Norris showed that the papaya-coloured team have the pace with their new upgrades.
Ferrari have also brought a lot of changes to their car, and they will hope thy can bring joy to the Tifosi after a positive showing on Friday. Red Bull have also brought some updates to their RB20 as the F1 circus enters Europe, as have
Mercedes, but they have not seemed to be as effect as Ferraris and McLarens just yet.