Formula 1

Formula 1: Bottas takes pole for Monza Sprint Qualifying.

Featured Image Credit: @F1 Official Twitter

Half a week after being let go by Mercedes, Bottas stormed to the second ever sprint pole with a phenomenal lap around the temple of speed. Hamilton lines up alongside while Verstappen starts 3rd.

Q1

Sainz took the fastest time early on in the session to give the Tifosi something to cheer about. But, this was soon quelled by Verstappen and then Norris, finally showing a hint of McLaren’s true pace after a dire practice session. Mercedes then stamped their intent, eclipsing the times to take a solid -1-2.

Monza qualifying sessions have become famous for traffic jams in recent years, but normally at the end of Q3. This year they started early, causing havoc up and down the grid. With a minute to go, the back straight was almost gridlocked. The top 2 remained the same, but Norris squeezed into 3rd right at the death of the session.

A last surge of cars relegated both Williams to 16th and 17th. But, Tsunoda’s last laptime was penalised for track limits, promoting Russell into 15th and dropping the Alpha Tauri to 17th. Schumacher managed to finish ahead of Kubica while Mazepin bought up the back of the pack.

Eliminated:

  • 16th Latifi
  • 17th Tsunoda
  • 18th Schumacher
  • 19th Kubica
  • 20th Mazepin

Q2

As the second session started, the Television cameras were flanking Leclerc’s Ferrari, which clearly had an issue. However, the severity of this issue was not known. Leclerc would finally get out, but was not at all comfortable with his car.

Mercedes took the early advantage, yet again, while McLaren were the nearest challengers just over half a second behind. Verstappen was trailing by 0.7s.

As Q2 came to a close, Norris repeated his feat, taking 3rd away from Verstappen right at the end. Late minute moves, including Leclerc just scraping into the top 10, pushed out the Aston Martin duo. Alpine also suffered, not looking particularly quick at any point during the session. Russell took 15th after his late promotion. The track is not looking favourable to the Williams car.

Notably, Giovinazzi yet again made Q3 with a stunning laptime in front of his home crowd.

Eliminated:

  • 11th Vettel
  • 12th Stroll
  • 13th Alonso
  • 14th Ocon
  • 15th Russell

Q3

The initial runs were fascinating. Hamilton took the fastest time, following the tow of Bottas while Verstappen jumped to P2 by 0.017s. Just 0.065s behind Hamilton was Norris in 3rd with Ricciardo behind by 0.2s. Bottas, who looked strong, fell down to 5th.

Perez and Verstappen led the last runs with Verstappen receiving the tow. But, Verstappen was not able to improve. Bottas leapt to 1st, edging out Hamilton, while Verstappen fell back to 3rd. Norris and Ricciardo occupied 4th and 5th while Gasly was not able to capitalise on the tow provided by Verstappen. Sainz and Leclerc were next, not sending the Tifosi wild. Perez and Giovinazzi rounded out the top 10, with good opportunities to move through the field.

Top 10:

  1. Bottas
  2. Hamilton
  3. Verstappen
  4. Norris
  5. Ricciardo
  6. Gasly
  7. Sainz
  8. Leclerc
  9. Perez
  10. Giovinazzi

Mercedes have certainly capitalised on their performance here, but the Red Bull of Verstappen is certainly closer than expected. Just behind are the two McLarens, who desperately need a good result to catch the Ferraris in the constructor’s championship. Will they be the surprise for tomorrow?

Featured Image Credit: @F1 Official Twitter

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