Oscar Piastri set the benchmark in today's incident-filled qualifying session at the Made in Italy e dell’Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix to secure his third career pole position after his results earlier this year in Sanghai and Sakhir. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo delivers teams' and drivers' reactions.

McLaren

"It's always a great feeling to be on Pole. It was a really good session, tougher with the Red Flags, but I am very happy with the job we've done. The tyres have been trickier today, but the team did a fantastic job to get the car into a nice window. I'm excited for tomorrow."

"A frustrating day for me, the car was good so it’s disappointing not to qualify higher. I'll work hard tonight with the team to see where we can fight to create opportunities to move forward in tomorrow’s race.  We should have strong race pace and there’s still plenty to play for."

Red Bull

“First of all, the most important thing is that Yuki is okay, so that is good, especially after a crash like that happens. Today, to get P2 it was overall a good result and I think we improved a lot from yesterday. The car was a lot nicer to drive and we did some good work overnight and made positive developments.

"I am pretty happy with the balance of the car and we put it in a much better window and saw it really come alive. The tyres overheated a bit more than we would like; it was the first time with this tyre and they were a bit too soft for us which impacted our performance a bit.

"As we went faster, the more they overheated so we couldn’t optimise the performance of the car as much as we would have liked. However, it was a good start and I am pleased to be starting on the front row tomorrow. The race will be a different story as McLaren’s advantage is in the race on the long runs and they are good at keeping the tyres under control.

"We will see where we are with the pace but we will just focus on ourselves. We will aim to extract the most that we can out of the car and hopefully come away with a good result.”

“Thankfully, I am physically okay and feel fine. We made quite a lot of changes to the car from FP3 to Qualifying, I just overdid it and pushed too hard on the lap and took too much curb and lost the car. It is frustrating and unfortunately was a stupid mistake that has caused big work and effort for the mechanics.

"The car felt quick before and I know what went wrong and it's just an unfortunate situation to be in. Big apologies to the team, and we will look at the damage and hopefully the car will be good for tomorrow in the race."

Mercedes

"I am happy with P3 today. The car felt really strong out there and I know I could have done even better if I did not make a small mistake on my first lap of Q3. The team made a great call by choosing the Medium tyre for our second and final effort.

"Everything just came together on the lap, and I was able to put the tyres in the right window. There may have been a little more time out there, but I don’t think enough to challenge the two drivers ahead of us.

"This circuit is one of the narrowest tracks on the calendar and it will be really tricky to overtake tomorrow. Fighting with the McLarens ahead will not be easy but we showed solid pace on our long runs in practice. If we’re able to perform in a similar manner in tomorrow’s race, then there is every possibility we can fight for the podium."

"I am obviously a bit disappointed to qualify P13 for Sunday’s race. I really struggled to put everything together in my single laps on the Soft tyre and it just did not feel quite right. It was really tricky to get the tyres in the right window; I didn’t quite have enough grip, and I really struggled to get into a good rhythm.

"It is a real challenge to overtake on this track so P13 is not ideal. From what we experienced in practice though, I know that our long runs are strong. Hopefully we can utilise that pace to make up some positions and get into the points. We will be looking for any opportunities that may fall our way too.

"If we can take advantage of them, then we can still have a good afternoon. It is a shame to end today outside of the top 10 but the atmosphere has still been incredible. We will work hard overnight and come back stronger tomorrow."

Aston Martin

"Qualifying went better than we expected and it's a great result for the team to have both cars in Q3. We introduced a new package this weekend and so far the results have been positive. We were quite competitive on both the Medium and the Soft tyres, so we were able to try a different strategy throughout Qualifying.

"We have to keep our feet on the ground though and see how things go tomorrow in the race. I don't think we are as fast as P5, so let's see if we can keep these positions and score some points."

"A good day for us qualifying in P8. It all came together in these conditions; we made the right tyre choice with the Medium so that paid off and the nature of the track suits our car more.

"From what we can tell so far, the update looks like it's having a positive impact so it's an improvement, but there's still lots more performance for us to unlock. Tomorrow we will have a better idea of how we look in terms of true pace and if we can hold position."

Williams

Alex Albon, 7th, 1:15.473
"Not bad, but definitely not my best. I struggled today and didn’t feel comfortable with the car. I’m honestly happy that I finished P7, but I felt like I couldn’t push that much. It was really easy to overdrive and I lacked a bit of the confidence needed to tackle the issues, but even on days like today when the car doesn’t feel great, we’re still quick. It’s a good sign!"

"We had a really strong Quali today! This is a high confidence track and I’ve been happy with the car since Friday. The lap in Q2 is testament to that confidence and I went into Q3 wanting to improve even more.

"We were last in the queue for the last run, trying to get a slipstream and maximise track evolution, but unfortunately it didn’t pay off and my outlap was very compromised since we nearly didn’t make it to the start-finish line.

"Anyhow, I’m very happy with the overall situation and we need to feel proud of the performances we are showing as a team. We are in a good position for tomorrow; I hope we can fight as close to the top as possible and bring home some good points! Vamos!"

Racing Bulls

"It was a good day today until my last lap in Qualifying. I don’t know why I lost the car in Turn 3 as it didn’t seem I took much kerb. It’s really frustrating not having the possibility to do that last push lap, as I had one new set of soft tyres left and I felt there was more to come in a car that has been awesome and always nice to drive this weekend.

"I have a nice feeling around this track and I think P5 was definitely possible today. Looking at tomorrow, I’m sure we’ll have to fight a bit, but the target is to get some points. The race pace looks pretty good, but it’s one of those tracks where it’s difficult to overtake, so it will be important to get a good start and then make it pay off with the right strategy call.

"I’m really happy with the team’s progress, and I wish I could have brought home a better result today, but we’ll keep working tonight to find the last few details ahead of the race.”

Liam Lawson, 15th, 1:16.379
“Not getting to do the last lap was a shame. We unfortunately missed out due to the red flag and it ruined our Qualifying. We did one run with a compromised out lap and we never got the opportunity to go again, it’s just one of those sessions. It’s one of the toughest Qualis, when you put the car on the limit there is no run off and if you go over it there is a price to pay, which we saw today with Yuki, I’m glad he’s okay.

"This track is so exciting it raises the heart rate, it’s exciting for us to drive but it’s a compromised race now as it’s a hard track to overtake on. A straight forward strategy will be hard, we will try and make something happen but it’s going to be a tough race.”

Alpine

“I am happy to be back in Q3 today but not so happy that we did not maximise our final run in that session with traffic management, which compromised our out lap. So with all things considered, we probably left a little bit on the table. That said, these are fine details for us to work out as a team and there is definitely potential in our package. The car has generally felt good here, especially after Miami.

"We managed Q1 and Q2 well but then we did not execute a good final run in Q3. Being almost last out of the pit lane did not help the tyres on the out lap so we will learn together as a team and see what we can do better next time. We will take the fight to the cars ahead tomorrow. Strategy will be interesting and potentially quite varied up and down the grid. We will work out the numbers tonight and see what is doable on our side. We are in the mix from tenth place on the grid and the aim is to achieve some points by the chequered flag.”

Franco Colapinto, 16th, No time set in Q2
“It was a tricky Qualifying today and not what we wanted. It was the first time I really arrived at the limit of the car, and I was pushing the limits a bit more this time. I decided to use the kerbs more and to go for it, but it was just too much and I lost the rear. I’m very sorry to the team, it’s a lot of work in the garage tonight and it is obviously not great to start like this.

"However, overall, today I think the car was competitive enough to make it into Q3, I knew there was a lot more potential. I’ve been feeling more comfortable with the car and much more connected and I’ve really enjoyed working with the team. I’m learning more every lap I’m doing and tomorrow's race is another opportunity to do more laps and continue getting used to this environment."

Ferrari

"On a technical track like this one, everything has to be perfect, and today it showed. It’s disappointing, not just for us, but also for our Tifosi who come here to support us with so much passion.

"This gives us the motivation to come back tomorrow and give it everything. I’ll do a reset tonight and tomorrow I’ll fight to bring home the best result we can with what we have at the moment."

"A tough one today. The car felt good overall, but we just didn’t have the grip we needed on the final lap in Q2 and that cost us. This circuit makes overtaking a real challenge, so we know tomorrow won’t be easy, but we’ll dig deep as a team and explore every option tonight.

"To the Tifosi, we know this isn’t the performance we wanted at our home race, but we’ll give it everything we’ve got and see what we can do."

Kick Sauber

“For me it has been quite a challenging weekend so far. I did not find the right rhythm and connection to the car on Friday and Saturday which is crucial here at Imola. This old-school track is fun, but mighty fast and very unforgiving. If you touch the curbs just a little bit too much, the car gets unstable and you lose time.

"All things considered, my last lap was actually pretty good until the last sector, where my car snapped in Turn 17 and I went a little bit too wide. We will need some luck in the race tomorrow, because on a narrow track like Imola, overtaking chances are rare. We will look for any and every opportunity to maximise our potential, mindful of how unpredictable this race can be.”

“I’m really happy to have made it back into Q2 — it hasn’t been the easiest weekend so far. We’ve had clean sessions throughout, and unlike Miami, where we were confident about progressing, today was much more challenging.

"That said, everything came together for us. We maximised the car’s potential, stayed focused, and executed a clean run. Overtaking will be difficult here, so tomorrow’s race will come down to strategy — and maybe a bit of chaos up front. Either way, we’ll give it everything and see what we can achieve.”

Haas

“It’s been a frustrating weekend as a whole. We’ve done our homework in the best way possible, planned all the scenarios, and we were supposed to have a decent weekend here. We need to try and optimize things better, try and have smoother and cleaner weekends, and if we do so we should put the car back where it belongs which is in Q3 and fighting for points.”

“From our side, quali went well and I have no clue what happened for me not to be in Q2. I didn’t see a red flag before I crossed the chequered flag, and the team saw the same from all the views they had, so I don’t know why my lap time wasn’t reinstated.

"It’s a shame as we’ve brought an update to Imola – which has been months in the planning – and I’ve had good confidence in the car, and now we’re very much out of position. It’s tough to overtake here, so we’ll have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.”