#Carlossainz55 snatches #ItalianGP pole from @Max33Verstappen by 0.013s. #F1

Sainz Italian GP Pole – Carlos Sainz clinched pole position in-front of the “Tifosi” at Ferrari’s home Italian GP, pinching pole from reigning world champion Max Verstappen by a very narrow 0.013 seconds as Charles Leclerc was a further 0.067 off in the other SF-23 entry as both Ferrari drivers escaped punishment for Q1 out-lap infringements.

The qualifying session at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza also followed the Alternative Tyre Allocation rules that required the 20 drivers to use the hards for Q1, mediums for Q2 and softs for Q3.

Both Ferrari drivers were to face a post-qualifying investigation by the stewards for failing to follow the race director’s instructions in terms of maximum lap-time, which had been set ahead of the action to avoid chaos during the session, based on the duration of their respective out-laps at the end of the opening segment. But just as qualifying ended, it was announced that there would be no further action on the Ferrari pairing.

In Q3, Sainz held provisional pole from the initial Q3 flying laps with a 1:20.532 and was a narrow 0.032 second ahead of team-mate Leclerc whilst Verstappen was a further 0.099 adrift in third after making a mistake by dipping his left rear wheels in the gravel trap at the exit of the Variante Della Roggia Chicane.

In the final Q3 flyers, Verstappen ran between the Ferrari duo – suggesting the slipstream at both Ferrari and Red Bull were not a major consideration. At this time, Leclerc lead the frontrunners and pushed to provisional pole with a 1:20.361 before Verstappen charged ahead.

But Sainz had something special in the bag – having been the lead Ferrari driver throughout practice and until team-mate Leclerc’s last hot-lap moments earlier – as the Spaniard flew through with an incredible late gain to clinch pole with a 1:20.294 and sent the Ferrari faithful into scenes.

Mercedes’ George Russell after his final improvement jumped to fourth, with Perez taking fifth in the other Red Bull RB19 entry as Alexander Albon placed sixth for Williams.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri qualified seventh and in-front of Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton who came eighth in the order as the other McLaren MCL60 entry of Lando Norris and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso completed the top ten.

In the second qualifying stage, which was topped by Verstappen, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda missed out on a Q3 appearance by a very narrow 0.013 seconds and ahead of team-mate Liam Lawson who was 12^th and Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg who took 13^th.

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant were the slowest on the Q2 runners in 14^th and 15^th respectively.

In the opening segment, which was topped by Verstappen, Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu was the quickest of the Q1 eliminatees in 16^th and in-front of Alpine F1 Team pairing Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon who were the shock of the session taking 17^th and 18^th respectively.

Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll brought up the rear.

You can see the full Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio D’Italia 2023 Qualifying Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2023/races/1218/italy/qualifying.html

2023 Italian GP Qualifying – The Top Three

2023 Italian GP Pole – Carlos Sainz, #55, Scuderia Ferrari, SF-23, 1:20.294:

“Honestly, it’s been such an intense qualifying, especially Q3. We all three went for it, all on the limit. Goosebumps since I crossed the finish line, getting out of the car and seeing [the crowd] – it’s incredible. It’s the best feeling you can have as a driver. Tomorrow, I’m going to hold on to that P1, I’m going to give it my all.”

2^nd Place – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing – Honda-RBPT, RB19, +0.013:

“It was good, we made some good improvements compared to yesterday. I’m happy to be second today. Of course, tomorrow we’ll try to win the race, we normally have a quick race car but let’s just enjoy today.”

3^rd Place – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, +0.067:

“My feeling can only be amazing with the Tifosi of course. On my side I’m disappointed, I obviously wanted to be first but to see Carlos is there for Ferrari… In Q3 I didn’t have the slipstream, and this cost us one position at least. I don’t smile very often when I’m P3 but being here and having this much support is an amazing feeling.”

In the earlier FP3 session Sainz topped the time-sheets for the Scuderia in-front of the team’s home “Tifosi” and ahead of Red Bull’s Verstappen who was second, Mercedes’ Hamilton who took third, his Ferrari team-mate Leclerc who placed fourth and Aston Martin’s Alonso who completed the top five. You can see the full Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio D’Italia 2023 Free Practice 3 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2023/races/1218/italy/practice-3.html

#ItalianGP FP2: @Carlossainz55 quickest ahead of @LandoNorris. #F1

#ItalianGP FP1: @Max33Verstappen tops time-sheets ahead of @Carlossainz55. #F1

#F1 @Pirelli #ItalianGP 2023 Preview. #Formula1 #ItalianGrandPrix