For Scuderia Ferrari, the first day of the 2021 Italian Grand Prix weekend at Monza in front of the Tifosi ended with a result which pretty much matched expectations, on a circuit that, on paper, is not best suited to the characteristics of the SF21 car.
The unusually late afternoon qualifying session at Monza to set the grid for tomorrow’s Sprint Qualifying saw both drivers get into the top ten. Carlos Sainz was seventh in Q3 with a time of 1’20”462, just ahead of Charles Leclerc, eighth in 1’20”510.
“That was a very busy qualifying session, as is usually the case at Monza. It was made even more intense for us because of a problem with the electronic management of the engine braking on Charles’s car right from his very first run in Q1. We tried to find the cause and gradually the situation improved, but Charles definitely didn’t have an easy time of managing the afternoon! Having said that, this result, with both drivers on the fourth row of the grid for the Sprint Qualifying tomorrow afternoon, is in line with what we expected going into this weekend. We should not forget where we were in terms of outright performance at this track last year and, even with the limited opportunities for development this season, we have seen signs of progress. It’s still not enough for a team like ours, but here too we have been able to verify that we are working in the right direction. The weekend format doubles the opportunities for getting a good starting position for the race and that’s what we will try and do tomorrow afternoon.” – Ferrari Racing DirectorLaurent Mekies explained, as reported by the Maranello team’s official website at the end of the qualifying session for the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.
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