Valtteri Bottas rose from fifth to first on the final lap of qualifying to edge Lewis Hamilton, and will start at the front for tomorrow’s F1 Sprint. However, the Finnish driver has a grid penalty on Sunday due to his Power Unit change. Max Verstappen will start third.
Italy’s national team are always under the microphone – and nowhere does that focus from their home support get more intense than at Monza.
Unfortunately, the “power-sensitive” Monza circuit was always to make the 2021 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix difficult for Scuderia Ferrari this year. The Maranello team, still down on power compared to their rivals, although not as much as last season, were never favourites to top the midfield with McLaren, Aston Martin and that man Gasly in the AlphaTauri all going well in practice earlier on.
Charles Leclerc, who had been complaining about engine braking issues since the start of the session, managed to put in a good lap with four minutes unil the end of Q1 to secure a place in the next round, just like Carlos. Nicholas Latifi, Yuki Tsunoda, Mick Schumacher, Robert Kubica and Nikita Mazepin were out after the first phase of qualifying.
Despite his car issues in Q2, Charles Leclerc was up in ninth after those first runs of Q2, while team-mate Carlos Sainz was 13th and needed to find a better lap to advance. It was clear that both Ferrari drivers needed something special on the last runs to be able to avoid the drop zone and despite the difficulties due to the usual Monza traffic mayhem, both Charles and Carlos made it into Q3 with some strong final laps, as Sebastian Vettel, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon and George Russell were eliminated.
In the final shootout for the Italian Grand Prix Sprint race on Saturday, it was always difficult for Ferrari to challenge Mercedes, Red Bull or even McLaren on this particular circuit. Finishing ahead of Giovinazzi and Gasly was the Maranello team’s realistic target for Q3 and eventually Carlos Sainz finished P7, with Charles just behind him.
Italian Grand Prix – Here are the complete results from qualifying ahead of tomorrow’s 2021 Sprint qualifying at Monza.
Results (Classification):
Q3:
Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:19.555
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.096
Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.411
Lando Norris McLaren +0.434
Daniel Ricciardo McLaren +0.440
Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri +0.705
Carlos Sainz Scuderia Ferrari +0.907
Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari +0.955
Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +1.056
Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo +1.253
Q2
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:19.936
Valtteri Bottas Mercedes +0.096
Lando Norris McLaren +0.123
Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.293
Daniel Ricciardo McLaren +0.499
Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri +0.718
Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo +0.790
Carlos Sainz Scuderia Ferrari +0.814
Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari +0.831
Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +0.946
Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin +0.977
Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1.084
Fernando Alonso Alpine +1.133
Esteban Ocon Alpine +1.167
George Russell Williams Racing +1.456
Q1
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:20.543
Valtteri Bottas Mercedes +0.142
Lando Norris McLaren +0.373
Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.492
Carlos Sainz Scuderia Ferrari +0.575
Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo +0.654
Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari +0.676
Daniel Ricciardo McLaren +0.749
Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +0.765
Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin +0.851
Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.872
Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri +0.897
Fernando Alonso Alpine +0.944
Esteban Ocon Alpine +0.957
George Russell Williams Racing +1.347
Nicholas Latifi Williams Racing +1.382
Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +1.430
Mick Schumacher Haas +2.352
Nikita Mazepin Haas +2.354
Robert Kubica Alfa Romeo +2.399
Leave a Reply