REPORT: In the Mix After Strong Imola Qualifying

It was another strong Saturday showing for the team in 2025, with our best Qualifying result at Imola since the circuit returned to the calendar in 2020.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon navigated a tricky three-phase session to secure P6 and P7 on the grid – all while conserving fresh medium tyres for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Q1 proved to be the most interrupted session of the afternoon, with Yuki Tsunoda spinning at the Villeneuve chicane and suffering a heavy hit into the barriers – this came with Alex in P1 and Carlos P4.

When the session resumed, both drivers progressed before a second red flag was triggered after Franco Colapinto found the wall at Tamburello. At the time, Carlos was P9 and Alex P12, safely advancing to Q2.

After two big hits, it was reassuring to see both Yuki and Franco walk away from their respective incidents.

Following a delayed start to Q2, Carlos delivered a standout lap, benefiting from a tow down the main straight to go quickest of the phase. Alex ensured both FW47s reached Q3 by placing P10 – knocking out both Ferraris in the process.

In Q3, Alex made it out cleanly, but Carlos was briefly held in the pit lane queue, leaving him tight on time for his final push. However, he still made it count, setting a 1:15.432 to take P6, narrowly ahead of Alex’s 1:15.473 in P7.

"We had a really strong Quali today!" Carlos reflected. "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!"

"Not bad, but definitely not my best," Alex commented. "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!"

James Vowles concluded by adding: "A really great day for us. We have two cars in the top 10 and Carlos did an absolutely incredible lap in Q2 to put the car first, which was great to see.

"We knew it was only temporary, but it was still a huge reward for us as an organisation. We go into tomorrow with a healthy amount of race tyres; let’s see if that can be used to great effect. Let’s continue as we started and bring some points home with both cars tomorrow."