Italian Grand Prix: Pole for Carlos Sainz

Sunny. Dry. Air +28С, rail +41…39С

The weekend in Monza traditionally took place in September, but it turned out to be hot in the summer. Missing Formula 1, the Italians filled the stands and Carlos Sainz gave them hope on Saturday morning by setting the best time.

At Monza, Pirelli made an “alternative choice of tires” for the second time this season, reducing the number of sets from the usual 13 to 11 to be more environmentally friendly.

In the first part of qualifying it was possible to use only hard tires (in Monza they are C3), in the second part only medium (C4), in the final only soft tires (C5). There was no longer a mandatory requirement to only post new kits – teams could vary these as they wished.

On the long straights of Monza, some teams’ cars suffered build-up, not everyone managed to achieve stability under braking, but there were no serious incidents during practice.

Before the start of practice, Red Bull mechanics managed to replace the power plant of Perez’s car – during Saturday practice there was a fuel leak and Ferrari replaced Sainz with a gearbox. There will be no penalty for this.

In the first session everyone went to Hard. Stiff tires held up the track the worst, but environmental friendliness is the trend of modern Formula 1 and drivers had to adapt.

Several drivers, including Verstappen, Alonso, Okon, Stroll and Zhou, had their fastest laps canceled because they went off track.

Okon flew into the gravel at high speed, but maintained control of the car and continued to drive.

Max Verstappen set the fastest time with a lap time of 1:21.573. Second, who lost less than ten to the leader, unexpectedly turned out to be Williams’ Alex Albon. From the further fight fell: Zhou, Gasly, Okon, Magnussen and Stroll.

In the second session everyone went to Medium. These tires both warmed up faster and provided better grip, helping the riders go faster. The protocol was led by Carlos Sainz with 1:20.991.

At the second attempt, Leclerc had a lead of 14 thousandths over his partner, but Verstappen drove another four hundredths faster: 1:20.937. Tsunoda, Lawson, Hulkenberg, Bottas and Sargent did not qualify for the final.

In the final everyone went to Soft and the results grew again. Verstappen made a mistake when he took the gravel at the exit of Roggia, and Sainz drove the fastest: 1:20.532.

Standing grandstands watched the final effort as the top two rows were occupied by Ferrari drivers. At the second attempt, all the leaders improved, but Sainz was still faster: 1:20.294. This Saturday the tifosi were happy!

Carlos Sainz won qualifying in Monza to take the first pole of the season and the fourth of his career. Verstappen lost 13 thousandths to him and finished second, Leclerc – 67 thousandths and will start third.

Qualifying results