Verstappen equals Senna's record eight poles in a row

IMOLA, Italy :Red Bull's Max Verstappen found his speed when it mattered to equal Ayrton Senna's record of eight successive pole positions in qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola on Saturday.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri joined the Formula One championship leader provisionally on the front row, with the Australian summoned to stewards for possibly impeding Haas's Kevin Magnussen in the first phase.

"Incredibly happy to be on pole here. I didn't expect that," said Verstappen, who came close to the gravel on his final lap without paying a price.

Senna's run was set in 1988-89 with McLaren and Verstappen, like the late Brazilian a triple world champion, started his sequence in Abu Dhabi at the end of last season and has dominated qualifying in 2024.

Verstappen's 39th career pole came as Formula One marks 30 years since Senna, who had 65 poles, died in a crash at the Italian circuit on May 1, 1994.

"It's a great start to the year and very special," said the Dutch driver, who also matched Alain Prost's record 1993 seven successive poles at the start of a season.

"It's 30 years since he (Senna) passed away, so very pleased to get pole and in a way it's a nice memory to him. He was an incredible F1 driver, especially in qualifying," added Verstappen.

The champion's fastest lap of one minute 14.746 seconds was 0.074 quicker than Piastri's best and came after he had struggled through all three free practice sessions.

Ferrari had been on top on Friday and Piastri, who was 0.017 faster than third-placed Lando Norris in qualifying, had led a McLaren one-two earlier on Saturday.

"It was pretty good, a little bit of a scruffy last corner but here it’s so, so difficult to do a perfect lap," said the Australian.

"I’ve been really