#ItalianGP Qualifying Report: @LewisHamilton blasts to #ItalianGP pole. #F1

Lewis Hamilton blasted to his 94th-career pole position in qualifying at the Italian GP ahead of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz.

BWT Racing Point’s Sergio Perez ended up fourth while both Ferrari’s were knocked out in Q2 and Q1, with Charles Leclerc 13th and Sebastian Vettel a low 17th.

Unlike last year’s event, where the final runs in Q3 did not feature chaotic scenes of drivers fighting over space trying to get space for a good slip-stream, but these actions instead took place at the end of the first qualifying stage – with Vettel caught up in the mess.

Hamilton was ahead of the initial runs in Q3, with the two Mercedes drivers not concerned about running a tow as Bottas ran clear from his team-mate and Hamilton towed the rest of the pack behind him.

Bottas needed to beat a 0.053 second gap in the final flyers, and although the Finn found time in all three sectors Hamilton went even quicker to post a 1:18.887 clinch his seventh Italian GP pole in qualifying.

The six-time world champion was a touch slower in the third sector on his final hot-lap on his last run, but it did not cost the Briton as he ended up 0.069 seconds ahead of Bottas.

Sainz relegated Perez to fourth as the Mexican was the sole driver not to post a personal best on his final flying lap in Q3.

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen complained that he was “losing time on the straights” even while running closer to other cars on his initial Q3 flyer, and although he improved on his final hot-lap, the Dutchman wound up fifth with McLaren’s Lando Norris taking sixth.

Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo qualified seventh as he could not recreate his impressive FP2 pace against his rivals, with the second Racing Point of Lance Stroll in eighth.

The other Red Bull of Alexander Albon did not have a time on the sheet heading into the final flying laps in the third qualifying stage due to an invalidated lap time on his initial run due to exceeding track limits at the Parabolica, but the Thai-Briton kept his second and qualified ninth, as AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly completed the top ten.

At the end of the second qualifying stage, several drivers improved at the end of Q2, where no drivers were able to get through on the C3 yellow side-walled mediums, meaning the top ten drivers will start on the C4 red-branded softer compounds.

AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat took 11th, with the other Renault of Esteban Ocon eliminated despite running behind team-mate Ricciardo early in his final Q2 flyer to try and take advantage of a slipstream.

But Ricciardo dipped his left-side wheels into the gravel as he exited the Variante Della Roggia Chicane and later slowed to abandon his lap, while Ocon finished his final hot-lap and could not improve.

Leclerc wound up 13th, saying “the best I can do”, as the Ferrari SF1000’s straight-line speed disadvantage continued to be exposed.

Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen and Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen progressed into the middle segment, but the latter ran wide into the gravel trap as he flew his VF-20 racer through the second Lesmo, which ruined his final flying lap in Q2.

In the first qualifying stage, Vettel was the biggest casualty of the race-like chaos on the final flyers in Q1, where a traffic-jam at the Parabolica meant a few drivers – including the four-time world champion battled for space at the final right-hander and main-straight.

Raikkonen and Ocon made it through into Q2, but came close to colliding as the Finn ran his Alfa Romeo C39 racer close to the Renault exiting the Curva Grande, with the former aborting his final flying lap in Q1.

The chaos meant, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi, who was also involved, running behind Raikkonen, Ocon and in-front of Vettel, was the only driver to post a personal best, although the Canadian still wound up 20th and at the rear.

Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean, qualified in 16th and ahead of Vettel, who abandoned his final hot-lap in the first qualifying stage due to the earlier chaos.

Behind Vettel was Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Williams Racing’s George Russell who qualified 18th and 19th respectively.

Russell was furious with his Williams team over the radio for getting involved in the mayhem – he followed Raikkonen and Ocon into the Variante Del Rettifilo – and not “capitalising” on their mess-ups.

Ocon, Raikkonen and Latifi are currently under investigation by the stewards.

The Top Three

Pole Position – Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, F1 W11 EQ Power+:

“Fantastic from the team today in terms of timing, when they put us out on track. It really demanded a clean lap, Valtteri was really, really close. I made some changes going into qualifying so I was a bit nervous about whether that was the right thing to do…”

2nd – Valtteri Bottas, #77, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, F1 W11 EQ Power+:

“I was running first [on track] this weekend, I don’t know about the tow, I didn’t have any. I didn’t get any gains in a straight line.”

3rd – Carlos Sainz, #55, McLaren Racing, MCL35:

“That last lap I nearly messed up, I had a big moment and I nearly lost it. I really went for it, I risked a lot and it paid off. When I braked into Ascari I was like ‘woah’ that was way too late!”

You can see the full Formula 1 Gran Premio Heineken D’Italia 2020 Qualifying Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2020/races/1052/italy/qualifying.html

In the earlier Free Practice 3 session, Bottas topped the time-sheets ahead of McLaren pairing Sainz and Norris who were second and third respectively with Ricciardo and Mercedes team-mate Hamilton rounding out the top five. You can see the full classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2020/races/1052/italy/practice-3.html

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