Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton was unbeatable in qualifying, setting impressive lap times in the Mercedes W07 Hybrid at the temple of speed.
Championship challenger and team-mate Nico Rosberg tried his best but had to settle with second position. Although the gap to Hamilton was telling… 0.478 seconds.
Sebastian Vettel leads division two, giving the Tifosi a little cheer at Ferrari’s home race. Kimi Raikkonen joins his team-mate with a red row two.
The Iceman was quicker than Vettel after their first runs in Q3, but failed to improve on his second set of tyres so slipped to fourth.
Valtteri Bottas was in fine form for Williams and pipped Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull to fifth by just a tiny margin of 0.001 second.
Max Verstappen rounded out the top seven, ahead of the Force India pairing of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg.
Esteban Gutierrez impressively got Haas into the top ten in qualifying for the first time, but then endured a scrappy Q3 session.
He ran off track at the Lesmos on his first Q3 run and failed to better his Q2 time on his second, which left him P10.
Felipe Massa failed to improve on his final run in Q2, so was bumped out of the top ten by a fine lap from Gutierrez, plus marginally better times by both Force India drivers, and the Red Bulls abandoning plans to progress on the soft tyre and then turning in quicker super-soft laps at the death.
Massa wounded up P11 in a car fast enough for the top six, while Romain Grosjean found nearly half a second on its second Q2 run but this was only good enough for P12.
The Haas driver will drop a further five places on the grid thanks to a penalty for changing his gearbox after the final practice session.
Pascal Wehrlein impressively split McLaren-Honda’s past world champions with P14, just 0.042 seconds slower than Fernando Alonso and 0.044 seconds quicker than Jenson Button.
Carlos Sainz managed to drag a sub-one minute, 23.5 seconds lap out of his underpowered Toro Rosso, but this was only good enough to make him the slowest driver in Q2, just under a tenth back from Button.
Daniil Kvyat joined the Saubers, Renaults and Esteban Ocon’s Manor in failing to escape Q1.
Kvyat swore furiously over team radio after missing the cut by just 0.042 seconds, as Toro Rosso team-mate Sainz, both McLarens and Wehrlein’s Manor all made it through with last efforts.
Felipe Nasr was P18 in the best of the Saubers, complaining an engine misfire cost him a shot at finding the two tenths he needed to make it through to Q2.
Team-mate Marcus Ericsson was just over a tenth slower in P19, ahead of Jolyon Palmer and Kevin Magnussen, who survived a big moment exiting the Ascari chicane on his final run.
Ocon’s car broke down on track for the second time this weekend, before he could set a time.
So a pure domination from Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton on pole position at the temple of speed. Can Nico Rosberg fight back? What about Ferrari? Can Sebastian Vettel or Kimi Raikkonen raise a cheer for the Tifosi? We shall find out on race at the legendary Monza circuit.
Qualifying positions, Monza:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m21.135s
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m21.613s
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m21.972s
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m22.065s
5 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1m22.388s
6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m22.389s
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Renault 1m22.411s
8 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m22.814s
9 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m22.836s
10 Esteban Gutierrez Haas-Ferrari 1m23.184s
11 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m22.967s
12 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1m23.273s
13 Pascal Wehrlein Manor-Mercedes 1m23.315s
14 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 1m23.399s
15 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m23.496s
16 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m23.825s
17 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1m23.092s
18 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 1m23.956s
19 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1m24.087s
20 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1m24.230s
21 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1m24.436s
22 Esteban Ocon Manor/Mercedes No time
Sebastian Vettel feels the Mercedes drivers are “in a world of their own” at Monza following qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg comfortably locked out the front row for Mercedes on Saturday, with Vettel best of the rest for Ferrari eight tenths adrift of pole.
With Ferrari only qualifying two tenths of a second down on Mercedes at this race last year, Vettel said it highlighted how well the world champion team has done to stay at the front of the pack.
“I’m not entirely happy as the gap is quite big to those guys ahead,” said Vettel.
“It’s like they are in a world of their own today.
“We’re not happy that we’re further behind than last year.
“We’re just not quick enough, there is no point making it super-complicated.
“The combination of car and engine, we’re still behind. It’s up to us to catch up.”
Vettel believes the gap to Mercedes could be exaggerated by the engine modes Hamilton and Rosberg are able to run for a single lap attempt in qualifying.
Ferrari brought its final engine upgrade of the year to its home race this weekend, and Vettel believes the race will be stronger than qualifying was for the Italian team.
“On the engine we did a step forward but others are improving as well,” he added.
“We were happy all weekend but in qualifying it could have been a bit better.
“It’s not a big surprise as Mercedes have been able to turn it up a bit more.
“In the race [the gap] comes down as they can’t run those modes the whole race.
“It wasn’t clean enough today, but tomorrow we can race with confidence.”
Raikkonen believes Mercedes’ performance this weekend is more representative of its advantage than qualifying was at Spa, where Rosberg took pole by less than two tenths around a much longer lap.
“They probably had some issues [at Spa] compared to here,” said the Finn, who will join Vettel on the second row of the grid.
“I expected them to be strong here. I expected them to be stronger at Spa, but people were struggling with the tyres there.
“Maybe we did a better job there. Here, the gap was bigger.
“Our car is behaving as well as it was at Spa but for whatever reason, it looks quite a lot different.”
Source: Autosport.com
Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo admits the team are on back foot following qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the full story.
Max Verstappen believes Formula 1 rivals Mercedes and Ferrari have “pulled away” at Monza as Red Bull’s straightline deficiencies have been exposed.
Red Bull’s Italian Grand Prix qualifying performance a year ago was a shocker as Daniel Ricciardo and then team-mate Daniil Kvyat finished over two seconds down.
A year on, Ricciardo and Verstappen managed to cut the gap, but they were still 1.2s adrift and will start sixth and seventh respectively on a track the Dutchman underlined was going to be Red Bull’s “worst of the season” due to its Renault engine’s power deficit.
“There has always been a gap, but I think we had a superb car, especially in Spa,” said Verstappen.
“As you could see in Spa we were struggling in the first sector, which is only one corner because Eau Rouge is flat.
“So there we did a really good job with the car, whereas here it’s just very difficult because at Spa you could find a compromise between running low downforce and medium downforce.
“But here everybody is running low downforce so you can’t take off your rear wing. So you have to find the right compromise in that.
“They have definitely pulled away a bit more, but this is also the worst track for us this season. I expect us to be very competitive again [at the next race] in Singapore.”
Renault is the only one of F1’s engine manufacturers that has not introduced an upgrade since the summer break, with Ferrari spending its last development tokens of the year for Italy.
Ricciardo, who missed out on fifth place by a thousandth of a second to Valtteri Bottas’s Mercedes-powered Williams, noted that Mercedes’ power advantage was allowing it to run relatively high downforce and still dominate.
“It looks like Mercedes has a pretty decent-sized rear wing as well,” said Ricciardo.
“It seems when they want they can turn it up, but then again here last year I remember Mercedes was on another planet.
“So we expected to be a little bit down here, and once we got a bit more drag on the car as well, that’s another element that hurts us here.
“Relatively, I still think our straightline speeds aren’t too bad. The question is are we using less downforce than everyone who is coming past? A little bit.
“If we can get into the top five here tomorrow we can walk away a bit happy.”
Qualifying review as reported by Formula1.com:
Championship leader Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday’s Formula 1 Gran Premio Heineken d’Italia 2016 from pole position after seeing off team mate Nico Rosberg by nearly half a second in qualifying at Monza. It was the world champion’s third successive pole in Italy and his seventh of the season, putting him firmly on course for a third straight win at the fabled ‘Temple of Speed’.
Home favourites Ferrari were once again Mercedes closest challengers, with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen the only drivers able to get within a second of the rapid Silver Arrows.
Williams’ Valtteri Bottas was best of the rest, ahead of the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen and the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg, with Haas’ Esteban Gutierrez completing the top ten.
Hamilton owned Q1 with a superb 1m 21.854s on supersofts, as Rosberg lagged in second on 1m 22.497s. Vettel was third on 1m 23.077s, but on the soft Pirellis.
Further back, Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat was bumped from Q2 by McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, leaving the Russian a frustrated 17th on 1m 23.825s. Felipe Nasr’s misfiring Sauber was next on 1m 23.956s from team mate Marcus Ericsson on 1m 24.087s, leaving the Renaults of Jolyon Palmer and Kevin Magnussen as the last cars with timed laps. Both got the Ascari chicane wrong when on target for better laps, but ultimately a lack of straight-line speed cost them. The Englishman thus had to rely on 1m 24.230s, the Dane 1m 24.436s.
Esteban Ocon’s Manor cut out again as it had in FP3, stranding him at the first chicane on his out lap. He thus did not record a time.
Hamilton went faster on softs in Q2 with 1m 21.498s – and it was a mark of his authority that his time on the yellow-marked rubber would have been good enough for pole, had it have been set in Q3. Rosberg also improved, to 1m 21.809s, on the same rubber, meaning Mercedes will be the only team in the top ten to start on softs, though Hamilton’s front right has a small flat-spot after some heavy braking for the first chicane.
Behind the lead two, Vettel went faster than he had in Q1 too, albeit on supersofts, with 1m 22.275s.
Sergio Perez was out of Q3, then jumped back in right at the end at Felipe Massa’s expense. That left the Williams driver 11th on 1m 22.967s. Romain Grosjean was next on 1m 23.092s, tricky since Haas team mate Esteban Gutierrez was a great seventh between the Red Bulls, but a penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change (the cause of his FP3 spin) drops the Frenchman to 17th.
The McLarens of Alonso and Jenson Button sandwiched Pascal Wehrlein’s Manor; the Spaniard lapped in 1m 23.273s, the German 1m 23.315s and the Englishman 1m 23.399s. Carlos Sainz was 16th for Toro Rosso, on 1m 23.496s.
Hamilton went back to supersofts to set the pace after the first runs in Q3, with 1m 21.346s to Rosberg’s 1m 21.646s, while Raikkonen aced Vettel with 1m 22.065s to 1m 22.347s. Then Bottas did 1m 22.457s to displace the Red Bulls of Ricciardo and Verstappen, who had done 1m 22.505s and 1m 22.621s apiece.
On the second runs Hamilton nailed it yet again with 1m 21.135s, leaving Rosberg on 1m 21.613s as Vettel improved to third with a decent 1m 21.972s. Raikkonen didn’t improve, and neither did Bottas, but Ricciardo lowered his time to 1m 22.389s, a thousandth behind the Finn, and went back ahead of Verstappen who had improved to 1m 22.411s.
Perez jumped Force India team mate Nico Hulkenberg for eighth with 1m 22.814s to 1m 22.836s, as Gutierrez made do with 1m 23.184s for 10th after going wide at the second Lesmo on his first run.
Thus, without any further penalties, the grid will line up: Hamilton, Rosberg; Vettel, Raikkoneen; Bottas, Ricciardo; Verstappen, Perez; Hulkenberg, Gutierrez; Massa, Alonso; Wehrlein, Button; Sainz, Kvyat; Grosjean, Nasr; Ericsson, Palmer; Magnussen, Ocon.