As the chequered flag flew over the Monza qualifying session, Bottas took first place for tomorrow’s sprint race. Hamilton completed the front row. Verstappen, who seemingly lacked pace today, will start third. Lando Norris will start alongside him.
Monza Qualifying – Traffic
Today’s qualifying session, which will set the grid for tomorrow’s sprint race, was dominated by Mercedes. Like every season thus far in the hybrid era, Red Bull unfortunately could not get faster lap times than the silver arrows at Monza.
That’s not to say, though, that this wasn’t an exciting qualifying. As usual, there were many queues just before the parabolica. These caused many incidents where drivers on fast qualifying laps had to slow down suddenly for the traffic in front. Initially Verstappen, Gasly and even Kubica had to quickly jump out of the way and had their laps ruined. Norris was lucky enough to navigate around all traffic, however had a close call before the parabolica turn.
There was also an incident in the pitlane, where Sebastian Vettel was released into the path of Lewis Hamilton. His teammate was also released but stopped just short of crashing into the Mercedes, Vettel and one of the Alpine mechanics. No damaged seemed to have been incurred on any car.
Vettel has been summoned by the stewards for the incident, which will now be looked at (after the session).
Aston Martin & Alpine Out at Q2
The session was not a lucky one for Aston Martin. Both drivers struggled with lap times, and could not get out of Q2. Alpine suffered the same fate, with Alonso not being able to put a lap in until the end of the session.
George Russell, who made yet another apparance in Q2 this season, was also eliminated. Russell, however, only made it into the second session after Tsunoda’s penalty, and it looks like the Williams cars are not comfortable with the Italian track. Latifi, Russell’s teammate, qualified P16.
McLaren & Ricciardo Finding Pace
It has taken some time for Ricciardo to find himself in the McLaren. The last few races, however, seem to show a much more comfortable Daniel, both in the car and in himself. He qualified in P4, behind his teammate Lando Norris, with just thousandths of seconds between them.
This is great news for McLaren fans, as both cars have a great shot at top five, or even top three finishes in tomorrow’s sprint. This would then qualify them in a great place for the race on Sunday. McLaren, who is in a tight battle with Ferrari for P3 in the Constructor’s Championship, will want all the point-scoring opportunities possible.
Lando has, once again, shown his fantastic form this season, and if his performances continue this weekend, he has great opporutnities for a podium finish on Sunday. The Brit, who has signed a contract extension this season, already has 3 podiums under his belt for the team.
Ferrari
The prancing horses didn’t amaze the crowd this season, which has become quite a recurrance over the last few years. There has been, though, a lot of visible progress, especially since the last monza qualifying session. In 2020, both cars were out by Q3.
Charles Leclerc had some issues in Q1 and Q2 with “inconsistent” engine braking, which he complained about throughout the sessions. Fortunately, the issue didn’t stop him from posting adequate times on the board and making it all the way into Q3. By that point the issues were resolved.
Carlos Sainz had a mostly uneventful day, finishing in P7, outqualifying his teammate by .1 of a second. Overall, a good result for Ferrari which will allow them to continue their fight with McLaren.
Perez (and Gasly) Saves Red Bull
While Sergio Perez may have not had the pace that Verstappen had from the get-go, his qualifying session seemed to have been compromised in favor of Verstappen. Perez was sent out first, allowing Max to get a “tow” from the Mexican driver, and thus getting him faster lap times on the board.
In Q1 and Q2 it seemed obvious that Red Bull was lacking in pace, compared to the Mercedes cars. McLaren also out-paced them in both sessions regularly. In Q3, however, a tow from Gasly and Perez allowed Max Verstappen to put in a good enough time, which would eventually land him in P3.
It seems that Red Bull are on the back-foot at the Italian track, which the Mercedes seems to excel on. In fact, this may be the first track where Mercedes completely out-performs the Red Bull cars this season without question.
Mercedes – The Real Winners
This track has always favoured the silver arrows, to the extent that even Verstappen hasn’t been able to step onto the podium in the Red Bull. As such, it came as no surprise to see Hamilton and Bottas domainted the field in Q1, with no team other than McLaren being close to them without a tow.
Bottas, however, put in a phenomenal and well-deserved lap for pole position. Hamilton was only a few hundreths of a second behind. As such, strategy may come into play for Mercedes, especially since Perez qualified P8.
Mona Qualifying – Sprint Race
This was no ordinary qualy, especially since it sets the grid for the sprint (race?) rather than the actual race on Sunday. Red Bull may just have another shot at potentially qualifying on the front row, and everyone will get a better idea where the pendulum falls.
The Sprint will start at 16:30 local time and will set the grid for the race on Sunday.
Your Take – Monza Qualifying
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