'I'm just really stupid': Yuki Tsunoda walks away from monster crash as Oscar Piastri takes pole at Imola
Oscar Piastri has taken pole for Sunday night's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, but it was an enormous crash for Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda that took much of the focus.
Tsunoda barrel-rolled at the ultra-quick Villeneuve chicane early in the first part of qualifying, which triggered a lengthy delay as the barriers were repaired.
Even teammate Max Verstappen was surprised Tsunoda was able to climb out of the car and walk away under his own steam.
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Yuki Tsunoda suffered a massive crash in the first part of qualifying. FOX Sports
"At first I asked (over the radio) if he's OK, and I heard, 'Yeah, he's OK,' but then I saw the replay. I’m like, 'Jesus, is he really OK?'" Verstappen recalled.
"It was a big impact, a lot of damage as well, but most important is that Yuki’s OK."
Tsunoda returned to the paddock and offered the team an apology. He said he'd been pushing too hard, too early in the session.
The Red Bull team had made several set-up changes on Tsunoda's car after he finished the final practice session earlier in the day in only 17th position.
Tsunoda's destroyed car was returned to the pits on a flat bed. Getty
"Yeah, I'm just really stupid ... pushing like that," Tsunoda said per Motorsport.com.
"I mean, this is very hard and (we) made a lot of changes to the car. So, you know, pushing that hard without understanding enough about the car and just ... yeah.
"(It was) just very unnecessary, pushing that hard in the early stages."
The Japanese driver hadn't set a time when he crashed. The team are likely to build Tsunoda a new car, which would consign him to a pit-lane start for the race.
The Red Bull crew with a new monocoque Tsunoda's crash. Getty
Franco Colapinto, in his first race for Alpine after replacing Australian Jack Doohan, brought out another red flag in the dying moments of Q1 when he crashed on the exit of the Tamburello chicane.
Piastri took pole position for McLaren, ahead of Verstappen and George Russell.
Piastri admitted he "thought it was going to unravel" when he approached slower cars toward the end of his final qualifying lap but it proved enough as Max Verstappen fell just 0.034 of a second short of the Australian's time.
That gives the championship leader a big advantage in for the race at a track where overtaking is notably difficult.
"The lap was good. I had about four cars in the last corner, which didn't help, but it was enough," Piastri said. "Very, very happy with a job well done and excited for tomorrow now."
George Russell took third for Mercedes, pushing Piastri's McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris down to fourth. Norris was left to rue another underwhelming result in qualifying this year.
Oscar Piastri will start the race from pole position. NurPhoto via Getty Images
Italian fans hoping for a strong showing from their home heroes were lift disappointed, with neither Kimi Antonelli for Mercedes or the two Ferrari drivers making it through to Q3.
"My god, my god, my god," Leclerc repeated over the radio in obvious frustration. Brake and tire performance have been repeat concerns for Ferrari this week.
The Ferrari duo and Antonelli were caught out by rivals improving their times at the end of the second part of qualifying, with Leclerc 11th, Hamilton 12th and Antonelli 13th.
The race will start at 11pm (AEST) Sunday night.
