Italian GP: Leclerc Takes Pole Position, Russell on Front Row after Penalites

Charles Leclerc took pole position for Scuderia Ferrari for the Italian Grand Prix in front of the Tifosi on Saturday, the Monegasque racer edging out Max Verstappen at the end of Q3.

However, the grid will be jumbled up as nine drivers went into the Qualifying hour with grid penalties hanging over them, including four drivers that made it into the top ten shootout, including current championship leader Verstappen.

Q1 – Haas, Aston Martin Fall, de Vries gets through

Verstappen was quickest in the first session for Oracle Red Bull Racing, the Dutchman outpacing the Ferrari duo of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr.

At the other end of the grid, a mistake at the Rettifilo chicane cost Nicholas Latifi a chance to advance into Q2, but his Williams Racing team-mate for this weekend, Nyck de Vries, did advance as he took the place of Alexander Albon on Saturday morning after the Thai driver pulled out with appendicitis.

Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team saw their struggles this weekend continued as both Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll were eliminated, while the Haas F1 Team also struggled, Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher ending slowest of all in nineteenth and twentieth.

Q2 – de Vries Run Ends, Alfa Romeo’s and Ocon Eliminated

Esteban Ocon was perhaps the surprise casualty of Q2, with the BWT Alpine F1 Team driver missing out on the top ten by just 0.068 seconds, while Valtteri Bottas ended twelfth fastest for the Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN, a further 0.105 seconds back.

After starring in Q1, last minute stand-in de Vries saw his session ended in Q2, although the Dutchman ended an impressive thirteenth, ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu.

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda did not take part in Q2, the Japanese racer knowing he would be starting at the back of the grid this weekend following a myriad of grid penalties for engine component changes and other transgressions.

Sainz topped the session with a time of 1:20.878, three-tenths of a second ahead of Leclerc, with Verstappen third ahead of his team-mate Sergio Pérez.

Q3 – Leclerc Storms to Pole Position

Sainz was the quickest runner after the first runs, but it was his Ferrari team-mate Leclerc who took over when it mattered with a time of 1:20.161, while Verstappen also got ahead of the Spaniard.

Pérez was fourth ahead of the two Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team drivers, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.  Seventh and eighth were the two McLaren F1 Team drivers, Lando Norris ahead of last years’ Italian Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo.

Ninth went the way of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, the winner of this race two years ago, while the top ten was rounded out by the second Alpine of Fernando Alonso. Both Gasly and Alonso had their final laps in Q3 deleted due to exceeding track limits.

With penalties applied, Leclerc will be joined on the front row on Sunday by Russell, while Norris and Ricciardo will form an all-McLaren second row ahead of Gasly and Alonso.  Verstappen will line-up seventh ahead of the impressive de Vries, with Zhou and Latifi completing the top ten.

Italian Grand Prix Qualifying Result