Australian ace Oscar Piastri has suffered a wretched blow — just when he was expecting to line up on the front row of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.

Piastri had delivered one of the best qualifying performances of his fledgling F1 career on Saturday by finishing second behind Max Verstappen, leaving him dreaming of the prospect of a maiden triumph in Sunday's race.

But the delight turned to deflation within hours as he was penalised three grid places for impeding Haas driver Kevin Magnussen in the first session of qualifying, dropping him to fifth from second on the grid.

Instead, Piastri's teammate Lando Norris took his place on the front row, after his third-place qualifying finish.

The Melburnian's fine last-gasp lap had been bettered only by resurgent champion Verstappen, but Piastri was adamant afterwards that he could still go on to challenge the Dutchman.

"So, so close to pole, but very happy," Piastri said, after his final lap fell just 0.071 seconds slower than Verstappen's brilliant 1 minute 14.746 seconds.

Asked if he thought he could go one place better on Sunday and become the fifth Australian to win an F1 grand prix, Piastri answered in the affirmative.