Oscar Piastri, currently leading the championship, secured pole position for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, narrowly edging out reigning champion Max Verstappen.
Piastri`s McLaren was just 0.034 seconds quicker than Verstappen`s Red Bull at the Imola circuit. The two drivers exchanged fastest times across the sectors of the three-mile track.
Speaking about his third pole of the season, Piastri commented, `It was a great session, but very challenging with all the delays, red flags, and the tyres. The tyres were particularly tricky today; after yesterday, we thought the C6 compound was okay, but today it was a complete mystery.`
He added, `The team did an excellent job getting the car into a good working window. We`ve been experimenting with a few different setups this weekend, and we found a strong setup for qualifying.`
Piastri described his lap: `The lap was good. I had about four cars in the final corner, which wasn`t ideal, but it was enough. I`m really happy with our work and excited for Sunday.`
Verstappen improved his time on his last run and was slightly ahead of Piastri`s time coming out of the final corner, but the McLaren had the advantage on the run to the finish line.
Lando Norris, second in the championship and 16 points behind Piastri, will start fourth. He was pipped to third place by Mercedes` George Russell in the closing stages of qualifying.
This result sets the stage for an intriguing race on Sunday. Piastri and Verstappen last shared the front row at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where the McLaren driver got ahead of Verstappen into the first corner despite starting second.
Fernando Alonso achieved his best qualifying result of the season, taking fifth place for Aston Martin. The team, which started the season struggling, introduced extensive updates this weekend and seems to have made considerable progress.
Carlos Sainz qualified sixth for Williams, placing ahead of his teammate Alex Albon in seventh. The second Aston Martin driver, Lance Stroll, secured eighth.
Isack Hadjar continued his impressive rookie season by qualifying ninth for Racing Bulls, just ahead of Pierre Gasly, who put his Alpine in 10th.
In a disappointing showing for the home crowd, both Ferrari cars were eliminated in Q2. Charles Leclerc will start 11th and Lewis Hamilton 12th, a result that continues the team`s recent run of poor form.
Over the team radio, Leclerc exclaimed, `My god, my god, my god,` upon learning he missed the top 10 by a mere 0.083 seconds.
Local fans faced further disappointment as Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the only Italian driver on the grid, qualified 13th for his debut home race. Gabriel Bortoleto will start 14th for Sauber.
Franco Colapinto`s first qualifying session driving for Alpine ended prematurely in the barriers following a significant crash at Imola`s Tamburello Chicane during Q1.
The Argentine driver was brought in for the weekend to replace Jack Doohan, who was demoted to reserve driver after competing in only seven races with the team.
He was attempting to improve his initial Q1 time when he went wide in the final part of the Tamburello Chicane, lost control of the rear of the car, and went through the gravel and into the barriers.
He had set the 14th fastest time when the session was red-flagged due to the incident, which meant he technically advanced to Q2 even though he couldn`t participate further.
Following an investigation after he was directed into the pit lane before the official session restart time, Colapinto was penalized and dropped a place, meaning he will now start 16th.
Yuki Tsunoda also survived a major accident in Q1. His Red Bull car barrel-rolled after hitting the barriers at the Villeneuve Chicane.
Tsunoda was on his first flying lap during qualifying when he hit too much of the curb at the first apex of the chicane, losing the rear of the car at around 120 mph.
As he spun through the gravel, he had no chance to slow down, resulting in a heavy impact with the barriers that sent the car airborne.
His car came to rest upright, allowing Tsunoda to get out of the wreckage before being taken to the medical center for standard checks.
Having failed to set a representative time, Tsunoda will start Sunday`s race from the back of the grid.
Liam Lawson will start 15th for Racing Bulls, ahead of Nico Hülkenberg. The two Haas drivers, Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman, will line up behind them.
Rupert Caldwell 
Tristan Blackwood