Lando Norris makes it back-to-back pole positions as he goes fastest in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, ahead of his teammate in 2nd whilst Verstappen languishes in 7th.
Q1
Monza is a track where track position is key for qualifying, given the benefits of having slipstream down the long straights can provide drivers. It should therefore come as no surprise that there was a bit of chaos in the pitlane, which occurred when Oscar Piastri was unsafely released from his garage right in front of Max Verstappen as they went onto their final outlaps for Q1, almost causing a crash.
2nd Lesmo corner caught out a couple of drivers in Q1. Sainz ruined his first lap by running somewhat deep into the gravel, but had enough time to go on and set a representative lap. Franco Colapinto, however, was not as lucky. He did the same on his final lap time, getting himself knocked out in 18th for his first F1 qualifying session.
Kevin Magnussen has had a couple of issues crop up over the weekend, with technical gremlins arriving once again one his final lap in this session. He had already ran wide at the Ascari chicane, and then went very slowly and quite wide at Curve Alboreto Parabolica, brining out a short yellow flag, ruining the chance for the likes of Stroll and Tsunoda to improve..
ELIMINATED
16. Yuki Tsunoda – Alpha Tauri +0.044
17. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin +0.112
18. Franco Colapinto – Williams +0.160
19. Valtteri Bottas – Kick Sauber +0.200
20. Zhou Guanyu – Kick Sauber +0.544
Q2
In spite of the problems faced by Kevin Magnussen in Q1, he was able to get back going in Q2, and whilst he was able to compete, he would ultimately finish the session in front of the two Alpines. His teammate Hulkenberg, on the other hand, was able to set the fastest sector 1 of anybody, though his lap time fell away on the back half, but was still quick enough to get into Q3.
Alex Albon has provided Williams with some differing fortunes following on from Colapinto’s Q1 exit. With the team historically doing well at Monza, it is perhaps unsurprising then that Albon was able to get his car into Q3 for the 2nd race running.
Sergio Perez has looked almost a threat of being eliminated at times during both Q1 and Q2. Whilst Monza isn’t historically a strong track for the Mexican, he as been able to find himself in the final part of qualifying well enough, hoping to find himself in a good position to support Verstappen in tomorrow’s race.
ELIMINATED
11. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin +0.010
12.Daniel Ricciardo – RB +0.068
13. Kevin Magnussen – Haas +0.287
14.Pierre Gasly – Alpine +0.327
15. Esteban Ocon – Alpine +0.355
Q3
The gauntlet was thrown down early by McLaren, with Norris leading Piastri on the front row by a little over three hundredths of a second. Mercedes occupied the provisional 2nd row, and home favourites Ferrari occupying on the 3rd row, and Perez initially ahead of Verstappen in 7th and 8th. Should things stay the same on their final runs, then it would be a great qualifying for Norris’ outside chances at the championship, particularly as 15 of the last 24 Italian Grand Prix have been won by the pole sitter, a higher percentage than Monaco in that same timeframe.
Norris was able to extend his lead further to over a tenth of a second over Piastri, who was unable to improve on his lap time. The Tifosi would have been happy to see Carlos Sainz coming out of sector 2 faster than Norris, but it would seem that he used up his tyres too early in the lap, and the Spaniard would fall to 5th in the end.
Verstappen looked to be struggling on his final lap, coming out of sector 2 having not set a personal best up to that point in the lap. He was able to improve somewhat in sector 3, but it was only good enough to drag him up one position ahead of teammate Perez, who had gone wide at 2nd Lesmo.
George Russell was able to bring his Mercedes up to 3rd on the grid, whilst Hamilton would go on to be 6th fastest, sandwiching the Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz.
Qualifying results
1. Lando Norris – McLaren 1:19.327
2. Oscar Piastri– McLaren +0.109
3. George Russell – Mercedes +0.113
4. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari +0.134
5. Carlos Sainz – Ferrari +0.140
6. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes +0.186
7. Max Verstappen – Red Bull +0.695
8. Sergio Perez – Red Bull +0.735
9. Alex Albon – Williams +0.972
10. Nico Hulkenberg – Haas +1.012
