The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton will be on pole for tomorrows Italian Grand Prix after pulling out an amazing lap around Monza to finish almost half a second faster than team mate Nico Rosberg.
Both Mercedes have looked to be in a class of their own all weekend. Dominating all three Free Practice sessions and Qualifying. Though it was the Mercedes of Hamilton who had the edge around the “Temple of Speed” in the end, and by quite some margin too. Monza is a track that traditionally sees small margins between team mates as a lot of the lap is run on full throttle. However, Hamilton was able to take pole for the fifth time around this track, by almost half a second from his team mate Rosberg. Which is impressive around a track of this nature.
“I was just not quick enough,” conceded Rosberg. “The problem was that he had the best qualifying l think he’s had in a long time.”
The Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel was only able to manage the 3rd quickest time behind the Mercedes, a whole eight tenths slower than Hamilton. Somewhere the team did not want to be at their home race in front of the Tifosi. Vettel can take some solace in the fact he was able to beat him team mate Kimi Raikkonen, who will line up in in 4th to secure an all Ferrari second row.
“It looks like they [Mercedes] are in a world of their own,” acknowledged Vettel. “We are further behind than we were last year.”
It was a much more positive Saturday for Williams than they have been used to recently, as their driver Valtteri Bottas will line up 5th for tomorrows race. The Williams have looked to have the edge over Force India around Monza, a track they have gone well at in the last few years, which will be all important as they fight to get 4th place in the constructors back. It wasn’t all good news for the team though. As Felipe Massa failed to improve on his time to get into the top 10. He will start the race from 11th, however one advantage is he will be free to start the race on a fresh set of tyres.
Following behind Bottas are the Red Bulls of Danial Ricciardo and Max Verstappen in 6th and 7th position respectively. The Red Bull team do not appear to be as well suited to the Monza track as their competitors and seem to have written this weekend off as damage limitation. Force India managed to get both their cars in the top 10, with Sergio Perez 8th and Nico Hulkenberg 9th. While the Haas of Esteban Gutierrez rounds out the top 10. It was an impressive drive from the young Mexican that will see the Haas manage their first ever top 10 start in just their first season of competing.
He wasn’t the only driver managing an impressive qualifying effort today, as Mercedes protégé Pascal Wehrlein managed to spilt the McLaren’s of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button in his Manor. He qualified 14th but will start 13th for tomorrows race following a five place gearbox penalty for Romain Grosjean. It was not such a fairy story for Wehrlein’s team mate Esteban Ocon. His car broke down on his first lap in the first part of qualifying. Resulting in him failing to set a time. As a result, he will start the race from last if nothing has to be replaced. Otherwise it will be a pit lane start for Ocon.
However, Monza is a cruel mistress, and has a habit of showing up the weaknesses the teams may have in their engines. Which is exactly what happened with the Renault team today. As Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer will start the race from 20th and 21st tomorrow. With Palmer out qualifying Magnussen for the fourth consecutive race.
The Mercedes drivers look to have this race in the bag tomorrow. However, as we saw in the GP2 this afternoon you shouldn’t count your chickens before they hatch. A simple mistake from either Mercedes will see the Ferrari’s and others ready to pounce on them. One of the interesting battles will be between the Force India’s and Williams’ cars over that all important 4th in the constructor’s championships. On paper a one stop looks to be the fastest rout to victory tomorrow, however that can all easily change around Monza.
Italian GP qualifying
Q3
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:21.135
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:21.613
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:21.972
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:22.065
5. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:22.388
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:22.389
7. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:22.411
8. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:22.814
9. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:22.836
10. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:23.184
Q2
11. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:22.967
12. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:23.092 (5 place grid penalty for a gearbox change)
13. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:23.273
14. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:23.315
15. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:23.399
16. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:23.496
Q1
17. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:23.825
18. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:23.956
19. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:24.087
20. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:24.230
21. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:24.436
22. Esteban Ocon, Manor, No time
Feature Image Credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Press Release
