Charles Leclerc pipped his teammate Carlos Sainz and reigning World Champion Max Verstappen to the post on his final flying lap, to clinch the top time of Qualifying in Monza.
Ferrari’s fans, nicknamed the Tifosi, were out in full force in Italy as twenty cars battled it out on track to determine the starting positions for tomorrow’s race. However, this wouldn’t be a cut and dry Qualifying session; nine of the drivers have found themselves with grid penalties ahead of tomorrow’s race, and another will not make it to the track due to health issues. Therefore, the positions the drivers qualify in do not necessarily mean they will start from there.
Prior to Free Practice 3 this morning, it was announced that Alex Albon is suffering with appendicitis, and is unable to race this weekend. The second Williams car would be in the hands of reserve driver Nyck De Vries – former Formula 2 and Formula E champion.
The shake up of the Williams team is partnered by the shake up of the starting grid; Max Verstappen and Esteban Ocon have received 5 place grid penalties, Sergio Perez receives a ten place grid penalty, and Valtteri Bottas, Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen will start with 15 place grid penalties. Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda would start at the back of the grid. Read more about Quali below…
Q1
The first car on track in Q1 was Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, soon followed by the two HAAS drivers of Schumacher and Magnussen, and Yuki Tsunoda. Three of the four drivers on track will find themselves near the back of the grid tomorrow regardless of the times the post.
Most of the action in Q1 took place in the final stages; as the minutes in Q1 ticked down nearing ten minutes left, there was a flurry of action as the majority of cars – including last year’s Championship winner and current leader Max Verstappen – headed onto the track to post a flying lap. However, after posting the quickest lap time of the day so far, Verstappen was quickly demoted to fourth by the two Ferrari drivers Leclerc and Sainz, and George Russell.
With eight minutes remaining on the clock for Q1, both Alpines of Ocon and Alonso, both Alfa Romeos of Bottas and Zhou, and Pierre Gasly in the Alpha Tauri still had no time posted.
Verstappen replied to the Ferrari’s quick times with a flying lap of 1.20.922 which could not be matched by the end of Q1.
Q1 saw a host of seasoned drivers struck down; Nicholas Latifi narrowly missed progressing to Q2 with a P16 finish – his teammate, reserve driver De Vries, knocked him out to claim 15th in his first ever F1 Qualifying session. Sebastian Vettel’s last ever Qualifying run at Monza before retirement came to a sad ending as he was knocked out in Q1, qualifying in 17th place. Behind him was his team mate Lance Stroll, whose run of great Qualifying sessions in Monza came to an end in 18th. Magnussen found himself exceeding track limits on his final flying lap, having his lap time deleted, and leaving him in 19th position in front of his teammate Mick Schumacher, who posted the slowest time of the day of 1.23.005.
Q2
As the remaining 15 drivers headed back onto the track for Q2, it was Ferrari’s turn to top the tables as Sainz set a time of 1.20.878 on his first flying lap of the session. Leclerc, after a shaky start, pushed hard to the middle sector to leave him half a second up on his teammate, but failed to deliver the same standard by the end of the lap and found himself in second place. Verstappen was hot on their heels, with Perez waiting behind in fourth, 0.48 seconds off of the lead.
With four minutes to go, the track fell silent as every driver left in Q2 sat in the garages ahead of their final lap. Yuki Tsunoda still had not posted a lap in the second phase of qualifying with two and a half minutes to go. As the clock approached two minutes to go, the grid stormed onto the track for one more try at qualifying for Q3 – all except Tsunoda, who did not return to complete a single flying lap in Q2; it is expected that he’ll start at the very back of the grid tomorrow due to his qualifying position as opposed to the two others with the same penalty, who finished higher.
In the rush to hit the track, Lando Norris’ reactions were tested as Pierre Gasly was released into the path of the Briton, but luckily no contact was made. Both Norris and his teammate, last year’s winner here Daniel Ricciardo, improved on their lap times and made it safely into Q3.
For the first time in four races, Fernando Alonso outqualified his teammate to make it into Q3, but his teammate wasn’t so lucky; Esteban Ocon was unable to pull himself out of the elimination zone and qualified in 11th. Valtteri Bottas qualified in 12th, beating his rookie teammate Guanyu Zhou who finished in 14th. Nyck De Vries’ final lap unfortunately didn’t come to fruition as he found himself locking up the rear tyres heading into turn 4, ruining his final lap of his first Qualifying session and placing him in 13th. Yuki Tsunoda, who never left the pits, qualified in this session in 15th.
Q3
There were less than ten minutes left on the clock by the time the top ten headed out for an out-lap. Charles Leclerc was the first to start his flying lap, followed by Sainz and Verstappen. The tussle for the fastest sector continued throughout all three sectors, with Sainz and Verstappen posting the best times. By the end of the first flying lap, Sainz showed more pace than Charles Leclerc AND Max Verstappen and landed Q1, followed by Leclerc and the World Champion in third.
Alonso, however, claimed he felt no grip in the tyres and did not complete his lap – instead returned to the garage. He was then the first to leave the pit lane again for the final run, and received a slipstream from Sergio Perez as he began his flying lap. However, it didn’t prove helpful as his lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits and he finished in tenth place. Gasly also found himself with a lap time deletion, leaving him to qualify in ninth place.
At the top end of the times, Leclerc delivered when he needed to with a flying time of 1.20.161 – pipping his teammate to the post on the last lap. Max Verstappen split the two Ferraris. finishing in P2, and Perez rounded out the top 4. The two Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton qualified just behind, finishing 5th and 6th respectively. The Mclaren of Lando Norris was 7th fastest, with his teammate Daniel Ricciardo in 8th – a very good qualifying for the duo.