Carlos Sainz earned a popular pole position in front of the passionate tifosi at Monza. The Ferrari driver beat both world champion Max Verstappn and his Scuderia teammate Charles Leclerc to be the fastest and take P1 at the Italian Grand Prix.
The session at Monza also formed the second 2023 qualifying session run to the alternative tyre allocation rules that required the drivers to run the hards throughout Q1, mediums in Q2 and softs in Q3.
Both Ferrari drivers had faced a post-qualifying investigation for failing to follow the race director’s instructions in terms of maximum lap time that had been set ahead of Saturday’s action to avoid traffic chaos in this session, based on the duration of their respective outlaps at the end of Q1. But just as qualifying concluded, it was announced that there would be no further action required.
In Q3, Sainz led Leclerc after the first runs – with Sainz recording one minute, 20.532 seconds giving him the edge by 0.032 seconds over his teammate, who had led the way and provided a handy tow. Verstappen, running ahead of the pack and followed by Perez, ended up running slightly wide out of the Della Roggia chicane, as he trailed Sainz by 0.099 seconds.
On the second runs, Verstappen ran between the Ferrari pair – suggesting the tow factor at both Ferrari and Red Bull was not a critical consideration. Here, Leclerc led the way of the frontrunners and he went to provisional pole with one minute, 20.361 seconds before Verstappen went faster.
But Sainz would not be denied – having been the lead Ferrari driver throughout practice and until Leclerc’s final flying lap just seconds earlier – as he flashed through with an incredible late gain to claim pole with one minute, 20.294 seconds and send the home crowd into fever.
George Russell finished fourth, with Perez only fifth for Red Bull, while Alex Albon took sixth for Williams. Oscar Piastri ended up seventh for McLaren ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso.
Earlier, Verstappen led Q2, where Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson, Nico Hulkenberg, Valtteri Bottas and Logan Sargeant were knocked out.
The middle segment featured Lawson reaching that stage for the first time in his short Formula 1 career as Daniel Ricciardo’s injury substitute, while Hamilton needed a big final lap to jump from the drop zone after the first runs to progressing in Q2 sixth.
In Q1, which Verstappen topped despite losing his first lap to a track limits violation at the second Lesmo corner, Zhou Guanyu, Alpine pair Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen and Lance Stroll were eliminated.
Ocon had two dramatic moments in that session – nearly colliding with Norris when on a preparation lap and the McLaren was flying towards the Parabolica and then running into the gravel exiting the Ascari chicane mid-way through the opening segment.
So an incredible qualifying result for Scuderia Ferrari with Carlos Sainz taking pole position. The tifosi loved this moment and fingers crossed, Ferrari have the speed to beat Red Bull come race day.
Italian Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:20.204
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:20.307
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:20.361
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:20.671
5 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:20.688
6 Alexander Albon Williams 1:20.760
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:20.785
8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:20.820
9 Lando Norris McLaren 1:20.979
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:21.417
11 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:21.594
12 Liam Lawson AlphaTauri 1:21.758
13 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:21.776
14 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:21.940
15 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:21.944
16 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:22.390
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:22.545
18 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:22.548
19 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:22.592
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:22.860
Italian Grand Prix qualifying review as reported by Formula1.com.
Carlos Sainz came out on top at the end of a thrilling qualifying hour for the Italian Grand Prix as the Ferrari driver narrowly got the better of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and team mate Charles Leclerc to secure his first pole position of the season.
Sainz led the way after the first Q3 runs but improvements from Verstappen and Leclerc meant the Spaniard needed another gain of his own to get the job done – a 1m 20.294s giving him top spot by little more than one hundredth of a second.
Verstappen and Leclerc had to settle for second and third, with less than a tenth of a second covering the top-three positions, while Mercedes’ George Russell beat the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez for the ‘best of the rest’ spot.
There was some concern for Ferrari earlier in the session, as both Sainz and Leclerc came under the spotlight for potentially failing to follow the Race Director’s instructions regarding maximum lap time, but the stewards confirmed there would be no further action just as the pole shootout ended.
Alex Albon produced another fine qualifying display to take sixth for Williams, while McLaren pair Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris sandwiched Lewis Hamilton in positions seven to nine, and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso completed the top 10 places.
lphaTauri came close to getting into Q3 on their home soil, but ultimately had to settle for 11th with Yuki Tsunoda and 12th with Liam Lawson, the latter continuing to close on his team mate after a solid start to his F1 career in the Netherlands.
Nico Hulkenberg was the fastest of the Haas drivers on his way to 13th position, with Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Williams’ Logan Sargeant – via a costly mistake on his final lap – the other drivers to drop out in Q2.
Zhou Guanyu narrowly missed out on a Q2 spot in the other Alfa Romeo after losing a lap time for exceeding track limits, leaving him 16th, while Alpine followed up their podium finish at Zandvoort with a surprise double elimination in the opening phase – Pierre Gasly taking 17th after team mate Esteban Ocon experienced a wild moment at the Ascari chicane.
The final two spots on the grid for Sunday’s race go to the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, who felt the effects of missing FP1 to give reserve driver Felipe Drugovich a run in the AMR23 and then sitting out most of FP2 amid technical issues.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.sainz-pips-verstappen-and-leclerc-to-pole-in-ultra-close-italian-gp.5t2xjtK9BZFd081eMcgfSy.html
Charles Leclerc reckons he could have helped Ferrari lock out the front row of the grid for Formula 1’s 2023 Italian Grand Prix had he picked up a slipstream.
Having set the fastest middle sector of the Q3 shootout, Carlos Sainz led the Ferrari attack on home soil as the Spaniard bagged pole position at Monza courtesy of a 1m20.294s effort.
That placed him 0.013 seconds ahead of Red Bull’s defending two-time champion Max Verstappen, while Leclerc was 0.067s shy of top spot as he headed the second row of the grid in front of Mercedes racer George Russell.
To cement pole position, both Scuderia drivers also escaped a sporting reprimand from the FIA for exceeding the maximum permitted lap time for their slow out-laps during Q1.
But Leclerc reckoned the result could have improved further and he would have been able to leapfrog Verstappen had he gained a slipstream for his final flying lap, as Sainz did receive.
“My feeling can only be amazing with the Tifosi,” said the Monegasque.
“Of course, on my side I’m a bit disappointed. I obviously wanted to be first but seeing that Carlos is P1 is great for Ferrari.
“He has done an incredible job all weekend. I’ve been struggling quite a bit more: FP1, FP2, FP3 and qualifying I managed to put everything together, so I was really happy.
“Unfortunately, in Q3 I didn’t have a slipstream. That probably cost us one position at least, but it’s life. We should be happy, especially on my side. I’ve been struggling a lot.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/leclerc-slipstream-would-have-given-ferrari-f1-italian-gp-front-row-lockout/10515164/
Ferrari has explained why drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc escaped a sanction for driving too slow on out-laps in qualifying for Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix.
F1 drivers had been told ahead of qualifying at Monza that they had to maintain a maximum delta time for all of their laps throughout the three segments – not just the in-laps as is normally the case.
It was made clear that only in “exceptional” circumstances as accepted by the stewards would drivers escape being deemed to have committed an offence. The maximum time allowed between the two safety car lines was laid down by the FIA as 1m41s.
However, analysis of the lap times in Q1 showed that both Leclerc and Sainz delivered very slow out-laps prior to their final runs. Leclerc was measured as having completed a lap time that was 1m50.286s, while Sainz’s out-lap was 1m58.458s – so both almost certainly breached the time between the safety car lines at either end of the pits.
Although there has been no formal explanation from the FIA about the reasoning for its decision, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has explained why his duo was given the all-clear.
Speaking to Sky about what happened, Vasseur said: “It was by regulation. You are allowed to exceed if you slow down to let someone go. And it’s what’s happened.”
With Ferrari having taken a pole position on pure merit at Monza, Vasseur said there was every reason to be happy with the result. “It’s a good achievement in itself because the target of Saturday was the pole position,” he said. “We did it, but we have to keep in mind to stay calm. And the most important part of the weekend will be on Sunday.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ferrari-explains-why-sainz-leclerc-escaped-fia-sanction/10515176/
Max Verstappen says he “can’t complain” with second in qualifying for Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix as he believes Red Bull’s rear wing set-up will pay dividends in Sunday’s race.
Verstappen lost out on pole by 0.013s to Carlos Sainz, who sent the Ferrari tifosi into raptures with his fourth career pole and his first on the Scuderia’s home soil.
Ferrari brought a bespoke low-drag rear wing to its home track as it was keen to put on a strong display in front of its demanding fans, while Red Bull took a different approach with some Monza-specific tweaks that still prioritise strong race pace.
In fuel and tyre-adjusted race pace data from Friday Red Bull still appeared superior on longer stints, and Verstappen is confident that he is still well positioned to win his 10th consecutive grand prix on Sunday.
“It was not really surprising, they were quick also last year,” Verstappen said about Ferrari’s one-lap pace, with Charles Leclerc a close third.
“Also, when you look at their rear wing it seems like it’s quite well optimised for Monza, whereas our wing – especially for one lap – is maybe not the best optimisation.
“But the race normally should be better, so nothing too shocking to be honest.
“You could see in Q1, Q2, Q3… every run you could see that it was very closely matched.
“From my side, Friday was a little more tricky, but I think we can’t really complain.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/verstappen-red-bull-wing-set-up-should-be-better-for-monza-f1-race/10515236/