@Charles_Leclerc claims #ItalianGP pole after bizarre Q3 ending. #F1

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claimed pole position for the Italian Grand Prix after a bizarre ending to Q3, which saw rivals unable to start their final laps in time.

Leclerc clinched the pole after setting the benchmark of a 1:20.126 on his initial flyer, giving the Monegasque youngster a 0.039 second gap to Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

But with the slipstream crucial at Monza due to it’s long straights, ahead of their final runs, the top ten opted to do a “slow race” in jostling for ideal positions to start their last hot laps, with most failing to make it to the end of the line before the chequered flag waved.

This meant no one could improve on their second runs, with Hamilton reporting Ferrari drivers held everyone up and “timed everyone out”.

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, who completed his initial flyer before the red flags waved in the third qualifying stage due to Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen spinning into the wall at Parabolica, was third quickest and narrowly 0.004 seconds behind his team-mate.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was fourth fastest, a tenth adrift of Bottas and in-front of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo.

The other Renault of Nico Hulkenberg qualified sixth and ahead of McLaren’s seventh-placed Carlos Sainz, who was the slowest of the ten that posted a time in Q3.

Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon, Racing Point’s Lance Stroll and the aforementioned Raikkonen took eighth, ninth and tenth respectively. with all three not setting a time.

Raikkonen will drop a further five-places back after copping a grid penalty for a gearbox change, and while the Finn’s run crucially cost Hamilton time on his first flyer, Albon and Stroll could not complete their quick laps due to the closing-stage drama.

Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi showed how a big difference a little gap can make and was the quickest of the drivers who were eliminated in the second qualifying stage, despite lapping only 0.002 seconds slower than team-mate Raikkonen.

Giovinazzi eclipsed Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen with his final flyer, with the latter wounding up a tenth slower in 12th after not improving on his last run.

Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat was 13th quickest, with the rear of his Honda-powered STR14 stepping out at the exit of the Variante Della Roggia chicane on his final flyer and caused the Russian to take a dip into the gravel.

That was his best effort and enough to keep him ahead of both McLaren’s Lando Norris and Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly who did not attempt serious laps due to rear-of-the-pack penalties for power unit component changes.

The other VF-19 Haas of Romain Grosjean was fastest of the runners who did not make it out of the first qualifying stage, with the Frenchman taking 16th place despite lapping only 0.658 seconds adrift of Leclerc’s benchmark in Q1.

Grosjean was under threat after the initial runs during Q1 due to Racing Point’s Sergio Perez stopping on track, but managed to improve on his second run.

This temporarily put the Haas driver into the top 15, but improvements from Sainz and Stroll saw the Frenchman miss out on getting through after lapping 0.061 seconds slower than Kvyat.

Perez, came to an abrupt stop at the Curva Grande after his Mercedes power-train suffered a loss of power and ended up 17th.

The red flag did not cause any issue for the drivers as it came in-between the two runs in the session.

Vettel however, was on course to improve his time running the yellow-branded medium rubber, which he had to abort, and the German opted to head out on softs as a precautionary measure and then did not post a time.

The battle between the two ROKiT Williams Racing FW42’s saw George Russell get the better of team-mate Robert Kubica with the former lapping 0.556 quicker than the latter.

This put the pairing 18th and 19th respectively with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen not posting a time after reporting a lack of power from his new-spec Honda engine on his attempt.

The Dutchman was destined to start at the back of the pack thanks to being one of the three in the field having grid penalties along with Norris and Gasly.

The Top Three

Pole Position – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF90: “Of course, it felt amazing when I came out of the car and heard our tifosi cheering from the grandstands. On the other hand, it is a shame for Seb who had the potential to do first or second, and I think that as a team we deserved that today. It was quite a messy qualifying session, especially in Q3. In the last few minutes, we found ourselves in an odd situation at the exit of the second corner where two cars were blocking our way. Seb overtook me there, because I think that he was aware that we were tight on timing. After this, I tried to find the best tow and then overtook Seb before the last corner to give him the tow back, but unfortunately, it was too late to achieve what we had planned. Looking at the race, our pace looked quite strong in FP2 and the gap to our competitors is smaller than it was in Spa-Francorchamps. DRS and tow are very important here in Monza, so the target will be to create a gap in the first three laps that is big enough not to see them again!”

2nd – Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, F1 W10 EQ Power+: “We didn’t get pole but at the end of the day, Ferrari were always going to be strong here and Charles did a great job today. I was unfortunate with Kimi spinning off right in front of me, so I had to lift at the last corner on my first lap. The end of Q3 was a bit of an anti-climax; we couldn’t all go out and do that final lap, which is usually one of the most exciting parts of a race weekend. There was more time in the car, so it’s disappointing that we didn’t get to properly thrash that out on the final lap and see who had that little edge today. It’s great to be able to get on the front row and separate the Ferraris. Together we’ve got a good chance as a team to get that Ferrari, but let’s see tomorrow.”

3rd – Valtteri Bottas, #77, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, F1 W10 EQ Power+: “I think I was quite unlucky today with the yellow flag at the final corner on my first lap. Kimi went off and I had to lift. Even with that lap I was pretty close to Charles and Lewis, so it could have been an even better day for me. Then the final run was a bit of a mess for everyone. We just ran out of the time at the end of Q3. I got stuck in traffic and then it was too late to get to the line for a second quick lap. It’s a shame, we all would have liked to get that lap in and I’m sure everyone wanted to see that too; hopefully we can learn from this. But in general, the pace was good and I’m pleased with my performance today. I’m happy to be right behind the front row; we all know that it’s tomorrow that counts and you’ve always got a good chance starting in the top three here. Our race pace seemed good yesterday, so hopefully we can take the fight to the Ferraris tomorrow.”

You can read the full Formula 1 Gran Premio Heineken D’Italia 2019 Qualifying Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2019/races/1013/italy/qualifying.html

You can also read the race preview right here at the link: #F1 @Heineken #GranPremio D’Italia 2019 Preview – @F1