LEWIS HAMILTON is on pole as he looks to make it two race wins out of two this season at Imola.
Joining him on the front row is Red Bull newcomer Sergio Perez, who caused a stir by finishing ahead of third placed team-mate Max Verstappen.
Meanwhile F1 have announced that a new street race will take place in Miami starting next season!
Here's the grid for Emilia Romagna today…
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
- Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
- Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
- George Russell (Williams)
- Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
- Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
- Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
- Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
- Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)
- Mick Schumacher (Haas)
- Nikita Mazepin (Haas)
- Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
Follow ALL the action from Italy with our live blog below…
- Jake Lambourne
MIAMI CONTINUED
Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula One, said: "We are thrilled to announce that Formula One will be racing in Miami beginning in 2022.
"The US is a key growth market for us, and we are greatly encouraged by our growing reach in the US which will be further supported by this exciting second race.
"We are grateful to our fans, the Miami Gardens elected officials and the local tourism industry for their patience and support throughout this process.
"We are looking forward to bringing the greatest racing spectacle on the planet to Miami for the first time in our sport's history."
- Jake Lambourne
MIAMI VICE
Formula One chiefs have struck a deal to host the Miami Grand Prix from next season.
The 10-year contract is a huge shot in the arm for the sport after a difficult 13 months due to the Covid pandemic.
F1 already has a race in the US in Austin Texas, but it has always been the sport's target to have more than one race in the States.
The track will be 5.41km long, have 19 corners, 3 straights and will race around the Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins.
- Jake Lambourne
RACE DAY
Who are you backing to win today's Grand Prix?
Vote below.
- Jake Lambourne
AL TO PLAY FOR
Alpine driver Fernando Alonso has revealed he wasn't happy after securing tenth place in qualifying.
He said: I was not good enough, that’s probably the easiest answer.
"I felt good in the car, I felt fast, the balance was good, but by the time I crossed the line it was not good enough to finish in the top 10.
“So I will analyse it. I will try to improve for next time, get better, but anyway the race is tomorrow, the points are gained tomorrow.
"In Bahrain, Saturday was good, on Sunday we had to retire the car, so hopefully here it is the other way around.
“Saturday so-so, tomorrow we are going to score points.”
- Jake Lambourne
POWER SERGE
Red Bull driver Sergio Perez believes he should be on pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton for today's Grand Prix.
He said: "I should have been on pole today. I did a mistake on my final corner."
Meanwhile his team-mate Max Verstappen – who will start third – remarked: "Q3 was a disaster.
"Even in the first lap my first sector wasn't good so I knew there was a lot of time there, so I pushed a little bit more but then ran wide at the exit of Turn 3, cut the grass a bit. It wasn't very lovely for the lap time.
"But sometimes that happens, you can't be perfect or near-perfect all the time. There are always things you can do better even when you say it's a perfect lap. But today was far from perfect.
"I was shocked myself that I had a lap like that because I would say I have been very good for a very long time in qualifying."
- Jake Lambourne
GOOD MORNING FORMULA ONE FANS
Lewis Hamilton has spoken of his delight at securing pole for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
The Brit qualified ahead of the Red Bulls of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola.
He said: “The day has been great. I definitely didn’t expect us to be ahead of two Red Bulls. They have been so quick this weekend. There were times when they were six tenths ahead, we didn’t really know where we would be.
“But the car has been feeling better from the beginning this weekend so respect to the team for the hard work to really narrow down the window.
“I love the challenge. I think it’s great finally we’ve got the two Red Bulls there. It’s definitely going to make strategy harder and it’ll be a real challenge because they have got great race pace.
“Their pace was a little bit stronger in the long run yesterday but I’m just so happy.
“The first lap was really nice, really clean. There were some improvements on the second lap but it wasn’t quite as good as the first one, but I’m really grateful. I came around the last corner and heard that I got the pole and I was very grateful.”
Meanwhile, Nikita Mazepin is 'trying too hard' at the start of his F1 career.
His Haas team boss Guenther Steiner said: “I said to him: ‘You need to keep your head high. These things happen and obviously in the moment he’s the beat-up boy, you know? Everybody beats up on him. That makes it tougher.“In the end you come out on the better side – but you just need to keep your head up, focus on your next race and keep on going.
“At some stage [the incidents] need to be reduced but he is trying very hard for that and I guess sometimes he is trying too hard.
“He needs to find that limit. But that’s for him to find, not us. We can help him in doing that.”
And finally, Williams Formula 1 driver George Russell revealed he had a “Pastor Maldonado moment” in qualifying.
He said: “It’s no secret that Mercedes are struggling a bit with the battery deployment, and every single metre gives you a metre at the end of the lap.
“So I wanted to go into that mode as late as possible, as in halfway through the corner, before I picked up the power.
“Tyres were a bit cold, I wasn’t fully concentrated. It contributed to a Pastor Maldonado moment!”
- Joe Brophy
NIK OF TIME
Nikita Mazepin is "trying too hard" at the start of his F1 career.
His Haas team boss Guenther Steiner said: "I said to him: 'You need to keep your head high. These things happen and obviously in the moment he's the beat-up boy, you know? Everybody beats up on him. That makes it tougher.
"In the end you come out on the better side – but you just need to keep your head up, focus on your next race and keep on going.
"At some stage [the incidents] need to be reduced but he is trying very hard for that and I guess sometimes he is trying too hard.
"He needs to find that limit. But that's for him to find, not us. We can help him in doing that."
- Joe Brophy
LEW BEAUTY
Lewis Hamilton has spoken of his delight at securing pole for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
He said: “The day has been great. I definitely didn’t expect us to be ahead of two Red Bulls. They have been so quick this weekend. There were times when they were six tenths ahead, we didn’t really know where we would be.
“But the car has been feeling better from the beginning this weekend so respect to the team for the hard work to really narrow down the window."
- Joe Brophy
MORE FROM RUSSELL
The 12th placed driver said: "I actually wanted to do my second set on the medium tyre because I was P10 at the time, or P11, with a medium, which was quite surprising.
"We obviously opted for the soft, and improved by three-tenths.
"It was still a very good lap, so all in all, really happy with Q2 to be in P12. It was better than expected before the session."
- Joe Brophy
DRIVE TO SURVIVE
Williams Formula 1 driver George Russell revealed he had a “Pastor Maldonado moment" in qualifying.
He said: "It's no secret that Mercedes are struggling a bit with the battery deployment, and every single metre gives you a metre at the end of the lap.
"So I wanted to go into that mode as late as possible, as in halfway through the corner, before I picked up the power.
"Tyres were a bit cold, I wasn't fully concentrated. It contributed to a Pastor Maldonado moment!"
- Joe Brophy
READY SET RACE
Lewis Hamilton secured pole but the competition is getting tougher…
- Joe Brophy
THOUGHTS FROM LEWIS
Hamilton said: "I did not expect to be ahead of two Red Bulls. They have been so quick, but the car was feeling a lot better from the beginning.
"I love it! I love the challenge and finally we have the two Red Bulls there and it will make it harder for me because they have great race pace.
"But I am just so happy. The first lap was clean and when I came around the last corner I was just super grateful.
"No-one in the team expected pole, but that was the tidiest lap I could put together. We are firing on all cylinders and I think we were fortunate.
"But it is milliseconds between us all. We can all say we can go faster, but it is what you do in those seconds which count."
- Joe Brophy
NUMERO UNO
SunSport's Ben Hunt says: "Lewis Hamilton had the competition licked as he scooped pole 99.
"It seems silly to say given his impressive tally of P1 starts, but this really was a shock as he qualified ahead of the Red Bulls of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola.
"The astonishment in the voice of his race engineer, Pete Bonnington, as the result was confirmed was enough to tell you this was a surprise to the team, despite their seven-year domination.
"And while no points are on offer for Saturday qualifying, Hamilton was ice-cool while Max Verstappen again melted away after another error."
- Jake Lambourne
MERC MY WORDS
It was some lap from Lewis Hamilton that secured pole position.
Take a look at it below.
- Jake Lambourne
QUALIFYING STANDINGS
Sergio Perez has qualified on the front row for the first time in his F1 career.
- Jake Lambourne
LEW BEAUTY
Lewis Hamilton has spoken of his delight at securing pole for Sunday's Grand Prix.
He said: "The day has been great. I definitely didn't expect us to be ahead of two Red Bulls. They have been so quick this weekend. There were times when they were six tenths ahead, we didn't really know where we would be.
"But the car has been feeling better from the beginning this weekend so respect to the team for the hard work to really narrow down the window.
"I love the challenge. I think it's great finally we've got the two Red Bulls there. It's definitely going to make strategy harder and it'll be a real challenge because they have got great race pace.
"Their pace was a little bit stronger in the long run yesterday but I'm just so happy.
"The first lap was really nice, really clean. There were some improvements on the second lap but it wasn't quite as good as the first one, but I'm really grateful. I came around the last corner and heard that I got the pole and I was very grateful."
- Ben Hunt
HAMILTON TAKES POLE – HIS 99th OF HIS CAREER
Perez in P2, Verstappen in P3. That was fantastic stuff. Leclerc in P4.
Norris unlucky in P7.
- Ben Hunt
LANDO NORRIS LOSES P2
The McLaren man gets his time deleted. Tough luck for the Brit.
- Ben Hunt
TRACK LIMITS COULD BE AN ISSUE
Hamilton could be in trouble,
- Ben Hunt
HERE WE GO – FINAL RUNS IN Q3
All 10 cars on track. Verstappen last to cross the line. This could be close.
- Ben Hunt
HAMILTON TAKES PROVISIONAL POLE
Verstappen P2. Bottas in P3 after their first runs.
- Ben Hunt
GREEN LIGHT – Q3 IS GO
Hamilton v Verstappen v Bottas for pole. Hamilton going for his 99th pole.
- Ben Hunt
ELIMINATED FROM Q2
Alonso, Latifi, Vettel, Russell and Sainz. That is a shock to see Alonso and Vettel done by their teammates. Sainz too will not be happy.
- Ben Hunt
GREEN LIGHT – Q2 IS GO
And Hamilton leads Verstappen while Bottas in in third. All three should get in to Q3.
It is all about who get's knocked out. Williams Alpine and Aston Martin looking vulnerable.
- Ben Hunt
THAT IS SOME RESULT FROM WILLIAMS
Remember, they have been the slowest cars on track for a few years. Not anymore.
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