Category News

Grand Prix Emilia-Romagna

Imola Date: May 18 Start time for the race: Sunday at 14:00 BST

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to pole position at the Grand Prix Emilia-Romagna in a qualifying session that featured an enormous accident for Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda.

Despite encountering traffic in the final two corners and failing to improve his time in the final sector, Piastri edged Verstappen by 0.034 seconds.

Lando Norris of Verstappen and McLaren’s final races were punctured by George Russell of Mercedes, who placed fourth.

And the surprise of qualifying was Ferrari’s failure to topple any of its rivals, as well as Aston Martin’s team’s performance.

Fernando Alonso placed fifth in the Aston Martin team’s best performance of the season, while team-mate Lance Stroll placed eighth in order.

At Ferrari’s opening home race of the season, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were unable to finish in 11th and 12th, underscoring their ongoing struggles.

The second red flag for a terrifying accident for Tsunoda was during the session, which was the Villeneuve chicane’s car being launched into the air from the tyre barrier.

It savaged and turned around before reversing upon landing. The Japanese were unharmed and able to leave the collision.

He claimed that the crash was “just really stupid, pushing unnecessarily hard” at the time when the setup had undergone a number of significant adjustments following a challenging final practice session.

Franco Colapinto, an Alpine debutant, also spun into the barriers, this time at the Tamburello chicane, making it even more impressive.

Verstappen and McLarens always appeared to be competing for the pole position, and the Red Bull driver ran the fastest on the first runs of qualifying for pole.

Piastri was leading the final two laps after the first two sectors, but as he approached the two Rivazza left-handers that ended the lap, he noticed a run of about five cars preparing for the final lap.

Although he could not have improved his time in Verstappen’s lap, his first two sectors had been sufficient to put him ahead of him.

The Dutchman did improve on his final lap, but only by 0.07 seconds, and he only managed to finish second.

Russell used the medium tyres on his final lap, akin to Aston Martin’s more frequent use of mediums throughout the session, but Norris, who was third fastest on his first run, was unable to improve.

“Very tough session with the red flags and the tires,” Piastri said. Today, the C6 (compound, soft) was a real mystery.

The team did a good job of putting the car in a good position. The final turn was good; however, I only had four cars in the final corner, which didn’t help.

Verstappen once said, “Everything was going really well, just the softest compound,” and it’s very difficult to keep them alive in the lap. The tires fell off me after Sector One, which was good. George sat down for a medium. For this track, the softness was perhaps a little too soft.

In an effort to stop the race from being the locked-in one-stop strategy it has always used at Imola, Pirelli brought the three softest tyres of their range to this race.

Aston Martin leaned into it throughout qualifying, but that seems unlikely to work given how well the medium compound is.

This weekend, the Aston Martin received a significant upgrade, including new floors and engine covers inspired by design legend Adrian Newey, who became the team’s managing technical partner in March.

As they turned to them for their final runs in each session, Alonso and Stroll made it obvious that they were using the mediums.

Alonso rose from the seventh place he had secured with soft tyres on his first run to an excellent fifth on his second run despite the team’s lack of brand-new mediums for the top 10 shootout.

Alonso said, “It’s a little bit better than expected, both cars in Q3, and it felt competitive.” We’ll see how things turn out tomorrow. Without a doubt, the new components we brought here are performing well.

Ferrari’s final run in the second session was delayed by failing to fit their new tires into the appropriate temperature window.

Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix

Venue: Imola Date: 18 May Race start: 14:00 BST on Sunday

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to pole position at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in a qualifying session that featured an enormous accident for Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda.

Piastri edged Verstappen by 0.034 seconds despite encountering traffic in the final two corners and failing to improve his time in the final sector.

Both Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris fell short on their final laps, and the Briton was demoted to fourth by Mercedes’ George Russell.

And the surprise of qualifying was both the performance of the Aston Martin team and the failure of Ferrari to get either car into the top 10.

Fernando Alonso took Aston Martin’s best result of the season with fifth place, team-mate Lance Stroll also making the top 10 in eighth place.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton could manage only 11th and 12th places at Ferrari’s first home race of the season, underlining their continuing struggles.

The session featured two red flags, the first for a terrifying accident for Tsunoda, who lost control on the entry to the Villeneuve chicane and spun across the gravel before the car was launched into the air off the tyre barrier.

It somersaulted and landed upside down, before righting itself upon landing. The Japanese was uninjured and able to walk away from the crash.

He said the crash was “just really stupid, pushing unnecessarily hard,” at a time when he was not familiar with a number of significant changes made to the set-up after a difficult final practice session.

Tsunoda was not the only driver to hit the barriers, as Alpine debutant Franco Colapinto also spun into the barriers, this time at the Tamburello chicane.

The pole fight always looked to be between the McLarens and Verstappen, and the Red Bull driver laid down the gauntlet with the fastest time on the first runs in final qualifying.

Piastri ran first on the final runs, and was looking good after the first two sectors, only to come across a run of about five cars preparing their laps as he reached the two Rivazza left-handers that end the lap.

He could not improve his time in that sector of the lap but the first two sectors had been enough to vault him ahead of Verstappen.

The Dutchman did improve on his final lap, but only by 0.07secs and he just fell short of pole.

Norris, third fastest on his first run, was unable to improve and was leapfrogged by Russell, who used the medium tyres on his final lap, echoing the wider use of mediums by Aston Martin through the session.

Piastri said: “Very tough session with the red flags and also the tyres. Today the C6 (compound, the soft) was a real mystery.

“The team did a nice job getting the car into a good place. The last lap was good, I had about four cars in the last corner which didn’t help but it was enough.”

Verstappen said: “Everything was going really well, just the softest compound, it is very difficult to keep them alive around the lap. Sector one was good and then the tyres fell away from me. George set his time on a medium. The soft was maybe a bit too soft for this track.”

Pirelli brought the three softest tyres of their range to this race in the hope of preventing the race being the locked-in one-stop strategy it has traditionally been at Imola.

That looks unlikely to work, with the medium compound working well, and Aston Martin leaned into it throughout qualifying.

The Aston Martin has a major upgrade on it this weekend, with a new floor and engine cover influenced by design legend Adrian Newey, who joined the team as managing technical partner in March.

Alonso and Stroll clearly had a strategy to use the mediums, as they turned to them for their final runs in each session.

Even though the team had no brand new mediums to use in the top 10 shootout, Alonso vaulted up from the seventh place he had secured with soft tyres on his first run to an excellent fifth on his second.

Alonso said: “It is a little bit better than expected, both cars in Q3, the car felt competitive so let’s see tomorrow. Definitely the new parts we brought here are performing well.”

Ferrari suffered from failing to get their new tyres into the right temperature window for their final run in the second session.

Grand Prix Emilia-Romagna

Imola Date: May 18 Start time for the race: Sunday at 14:00 BST

Lando Norris said he was “just not good enough” after qualifying fourth for the Grand Prix Emilia-Romagna with his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri on pole.

On an Imola track where overtaking is infamously difficult, Norris was 0. 292 seconds slower than Piastri.

After the first six races of the season, Briton Norris is 16 points adrift in the championship.

In my final lap of “quali,” Norris declared, “Never good enough.” “Everyone moves more quickly, and I always move more slowly.”

Norris’ depressing assessment of his own performance was consistent with his difficulties in qualifying for this year.

In 2024, the Briton was only defeated four times by his team-mate, who had previously dominated Piastri.

Piastri has turned the tables when combined with what team principal Andrea Stella refers to as a “relatively numb” front axle, which is not providing Norris with the “cues” he needs to drive at the limit.

His third pole in seven races was his, a total that was equal to Norris’, which was Max Verstappen’s total in Imola. Norris has won just one of the six grand prix thus far, compared to Pirassic.

Norris remarked, “I’m not going to just put the car on the brakes.” Not me, that’s. The entire weekend, I felt good. In both Q1 and Q2, I felt well. There was some melancholy there.

However, it just doesn’t go when I attempt to do lap time. Evidently, a lot has changed since last year.

Qualifying has been my biggest strength throughout my entire career. It’s just not coming my way this year.

However, Stella pointed out that Piastri finished third in the previous race in Miami before winning.

Our car, which is a very competitive car, is not the easiest to drive in qualifying conditions when you have to go for the last millisecond, according to Stella, who has been speaking since the start of the season.

“Imola, and there is now a focus on Lando’s P4, but let’s go one race back and ask the winner of the Miami race.

Oscar was actually Oscar, but I don’t think we talked much about his race winning status.

Norris said he needed to rely on strategy to find a way to win the race because it would be “tough” for him.

The Spaniard’s performance was his team’s best performance so far in what has been a difficult year, and it is the result of a significant improvement that has, at least partially, been influenced by their new managing technical partner, Adrian Newey, the design legend who came in March.

Lance Stroll, Alonso’s teammate, placed eighth in the standings.

Alonso said, “To be with both cars in Q3 really lifts a little bit of pressure from the shoulders of everyone in the team.”

You never know until you reach qualifying, according to the package we introduced yesterday, which had some positive results.

We must maintain the foot on the ground, and perhaps the track characteristics, which aid the Aston, so we must watch Monaco and Barcelona closely during the upcoming races. But so far, we’re pleased with the improvement.

The 43-year-old, however, emphasized that while being “happy to be fifth,” his or the team’s goals were far away.

Alonso stated, “I want to win the race when I’m in Australia (at the start of the season) next year.

“It’s going to be a tactical race,” he declared. It’s challenging to overtake in Imola, as always. Everyone is able to make fewer stops, which would prevent overtaking.

Let’s see the pace, and I anticipate a good start and good strategy. I’m prepared to lose a few positions, at least not too many, because I don’t believe it to be as good as P5.

Piastri praised his will to keep the lead at all times.

He said, “As long as I can get a good start, then I’m confident,” It’s challenging to overtake on the track. Our pace was quick. Yesterday’s long-run pace appeared very encouraging. So, yes, as long as I can start well and do a good first lap, that would be good.

Verstappen said: “I’ll just try to do a good start and see where I’m at with the pace because yesterday wasn’t particularly good in the long run also. He claimed his car was better balanced than it was on Friday.

Betfred Super League

Hull KR (4) 34

Tries: Mourgue 5, Lewis, May, Tanginoa, and Burgess 2, respectively.

With a comfortable win over Huddersfield Giants, Hull KR resurrected their position at the top of the Super League.

The Robins did what was required after Wigan Warriors defeated Leigh Leopards on Friday to overtake them.

Joe Burgess scored the only goal of the first half before Mikey Lewis, Tyrone May, Kalepi Tanginoa, Jack Brown, and Burgess once more crossed.

The atmosphere at Sewell Group Craven Park was lively and Burgess walked over in the corner as the Challenge Cup final was about to come to an end at Wembley on June 7th.

Lewis’ second try was cut short as a result of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves’ sin-binned attempt on Matty English was lost.

When these teams met in March, they were hiding at John Smith’s Stadium until just before the hour mark, and they held on until the halfway point.

Before half-back partner May followed him on the scoresheet moments later as a dummy and with too much determination, Lewis, the Man of Steel of the previous season, brought things to life with his second try.

Tanginoa and Brown went over before Burgess, who had some more Lewis magic, scored the game’s best try.

Willie Peters, the head coach of Hull KR, told BBC Radio Humberside:

“The outcome is good to me. Because they have essentially put their squad back together, we knew Huddersfield would turn up today.

We faced off against a team that was ready to play after a busy few weeks.

Interchanges: Leyland, Brown, Tanginoa, Luckley

Sin-bin: Waerea-Hargreaves (25)

Huddersfield: Flanagan, Swift, Milne, Halsall, Gagai, Rush, Clune, Wilson, Woolford, Greenwood, Hewitt, Bibby, Cudjoe, and others

Exchanges: Rushton, King, English, Golding,

Betfred Super League

Hull KR (4) 34

Tries: Mourgue 5, Lewis, May, Tanginoa, and Burgess 2, respectively.

With a comfortable win over Huddersfield Giants, Hull KR resurrected their position at the top of the Super League.

The Robins did what was required after Wigan Warriors defeated Leigh Leopards on Friday to overtake them.

Joe Burgess scored the only goal of the first half before Mikey Lewis, Tyrone May, Kalepi Tanginoa, Jack Brown, and Burgess once more crossed.

The atmosphere at Sewell Group Craven Park was lively and Burgess walked over in the corner as the Challenge Cup final was about to come to an end at Wembley on June 7th.

Lewis’ second try was cut short as a result of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves’ sin-binned attempt on Matty English was lost.

When these teams met in March, they were hiding at John Smith’s Stadium until just before the hour mark, and they held on until the halfway point.

Before half-back partner May followed him on the scoresheet moments later as a dummy and with too much determination, Lewis, the Man of Steel of the previous season, brought things to life with his second try.

Tanginoa and Brown went over before Burgess, who had some more Lewis magic, scored the game’s best try.

Willie Peters, the head coach of Hull KR, told BBC Radio Humberside:

“The outcome is good to me. Because they have essentially put their squad back together, we knew Huddersfield would turn up today.

We faced off against a team that was ready to play after a busy few weeks.

Interchanges: Leyland, Brown, Tanginoa, Luckley

Sin-bin: Waerea-Hargreaves (25)

Huddersfield: Flanagan, Swift, Milne, Halsall, Gagai, Rush, Clune, Wilson, Woolford, Greenwood, Hewitt, Bibby, Cudjoe, and others

Exchanges: Rushton, King, English, Golding,