Lance qualifies 15th in a disrupted Friday in Imola

Lance Stroll will begin the first Sprint of the 2022 Formula One season in 15th place after qualifying in Imola.

Constant rain meant FP1 began in soaked conditions, meaning Lance started on the Wet Pirelli tyre compound, setting an early benchmark of 1.48.849.

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As track conditions improved, Lance and team-mate Sebastian Vettel were the first to switch to Intermediate tyres, and quickly set faster lap times.

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As the session entered the final 10 minutes, Lance was pushed down into 14th as the rest of the pack made the switch to Inters and started putting in their best times.

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A brief red flag for Lando Norris halted running with just four minutes remaining, preventing Lance from improving, meaning he ended the session in 16th.

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Starting Q1 on the Soft tyres, Lance put in a 1.23.419 effort to take him to the top of the timings before an early red flag for Alex Albon stopped the session.

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Once qualifying resumed, Lance continued to improve on his lap time, reducing it to 1.21.287.

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Despite briefly being on the cusp of elimination, Lance was able to move into 10th and secured his place into Q2.

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With the impending rain, there was a small window to take advantage, and while Lance set his best lap time of 1.28.119, a red flag caused by Carlos Sainz Jr proved pivotal.

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With no time left to improve his lap time, Lance was resigned to an exit in Q2 and a starting position of 15th.

Lance Stroll – Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One™ Team Driver

“Despite the Q2 exit, I am positive about our performance today because we had good pace. We had a decent Q1 and finished inside the top 10, but Q2 was just very unlucky. After I locked up going into the chicane, we then had the unfortunately timed red flag, followed by rain, so I did not get another chance to improve. It is a shame we could not get it done on the track today, but I am hopeful for tomorrow.”

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