Italian GP – Qualifying comparative analysis: McLaren shines, Ferrari and Red Bull lose ground. Italian GP - Qualifying comparative analysis.

In Italy, we witnessed three exciting qualifying phases that kept us on the edge of our seats until the end of Q3. McLaren flexed its muscles only at the last moment, proving to be the fastest with a tenth of a second margin over the teammate and the following drivers. Norris took pole with a time of 1’19”327, while Carlos Sainz finished fifth with a lap of 1’19”467. Five drivers were within 140 milliseconds of each other, which says a lot about how tight the competition is on track. However, there are several points to discuss.

The first is that Red Bull was unable to improve on the times set during Q2. Max Verstappen’s best time in that session was 1’19”662, while in Q3, he lapped in 1’20”022, securing the seventh starting position on tomorrow’s grid. A disaster compared to last year’s result and the progress shown over the past 12 months. True, the track has changed, same layout, but new asphalt and curbs, especially at Ascari, but it’s the same for everyone…

2023-2024 Comparison

Last year, it was Carlos Sainz who took pole position with a lap of 1’20”294, with Verstappen just behind by only 13 milliseconds: 1’20”307. Why has the grid changed so much? Because over the course of 12 months, McLaren has managed to improve by almost 1.5 seconds, while Ferrari and Red Bull have remained well under a second in terms of progress. Mercedes also did well, securing third place thanks to a 1.115-second improvement.

On the other hand, Alpine’s 1.8-second progress over the year amounts to ‘nothing’ (so to speak). Despite being the best in terms of evolutionary step, they still remain outside the top ten with both cars. Interestingly, Williams, despite being the worst performer, managed to stay within the top 10 as it did last year. This only cost them 3 positions on the starting grid (Alex drops from P6 in 2023 to P9 this year).