The miracle succeeded: Charles Leclerc brought Ferrari back to pole position. And the Monegasque succeeded in Monza in qualifying for the Italian GP, right in the temple of speed which, at least on paper, was the ideal track for Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. The Ferrari driver was acclaimed from the stands when he pulled out of the F1-75: Leclerc signed the eighth start at the pole which is the 17th of his career and the 240th of the Scuderia.
In the last attempt, Leclerc delivered an exceptional 1’20 “161 in the wake of Lando Norris who brought him in front of everyone without having to benefit from the penalties that many opponents will hit. The prince at his side in the front row will find George Russell in the Mercedes , even if the English was not the author of an amazing qualifying with the W13: he finished sixth with a gap of 1 “381 from the red, leaving the penalized Lewis Hamilton (he will be 19th) to stay ahead of him by 18 thousandths.
Behind Ferrari # 16 came Max Verstappen’s Red Bull: the Dutchman was betrayed by his teammate, Sergio Perez, who twice refused to offer the wake to the “captain” who complained on the radio for uncooperative behavior. A choice that will spark discussions because the Mexican is not new to these attitudes.
Max with a more charged RB18 than expected, left Ferrari a gap of 145 thousandths that could have been closed by the sucking back of his teammate. The Cavallino team has given the feeling of having overcome the crisis of the last few races: the F1-75 has given a sign of awakening after three difficult races and Leclerc has promised that he will try to complete the work tomorrow when the points are awarded.
The two Cavallino riders tried to help each other in exploiting the slipstream, it is a pity that Carlos Sainz was unable to override Verstappen to offer the fans a double on the track. Ferrari decided on a car that was undoubtedly more unloaded than Red Bull: it paid off in qualifying, now it has to be seen that it also works in the race, considering that the tire degradation that was recorded was less than expected. The Cavallino weekend started with a lot of skepticism, but now some smiles are starting to show. And the confirmation of Mattia Binotto by president John Elkann certainly took the pressure off on the eve of the most awaited race, so we would not be surprised if in Maranello I decide to take some risks with courageous solutions (engine with thrust mapping …).
Max Verstappen pays 5 positions, while Sergio Perez will leave 10, giving Carlos Sainz who ends up in the queue a jolt at the head of the grid, because the second row will be the two McLarens of Lando Norris (seventh in the time table) and Daniel Ricciardo (eighth).
In the third row we will find Pierre Gasly with the AlphaTauri and Fernando Alonso with the Alpine: we were expecting a kidney blow from the Spaniard who didn’t happen and others took advantage of it to climb further ahead.
Max Verstappen will be seventh: where can the world champion arrive after the recent comebacks? The Dutchman is given as a possible winner, although Ferrari will try to run away at the cost of putting the life of the engine at risk.
Nick De Vries made a positive debut, called at the last moment to get on Alex Albon’s Williams. The Anglo-Thai pilot underwent emergency surgery for a violent attack of appendicitis. The former Formula E champion, who in free practice had had the opportunity to drive the Aston Martin, got off brilliantly because in Q1 he managed to get out of the trap for a few thousandths, even if his m Best time for a track limit at the exit of the Variante Ascari. In Q2 Nick was the author of a block that led him to the escape routes and he had to settle for 13th place on the track with a Williams very comfortable with a very low set-up, but at the start he will even be eighth. What a F1 debut!
The exclusion of Esteban Ocon with the Alpine in Q2 is sensational: the Frenchman will not be able to give the wake to Alonso in Q3 and will have to move down 5 positions, falling to 16th place with the A522 for the replacement of the six-cylinder Renault.
The two Alfa Romeos are also out with Valtteri Bottas, 12th, and Guanyu Zhou, 14th: the Chinese will have the opportunity to line up ninth, while the Finnish will be next to last for having changed the entire power unit.
Yuki Tsunoda did not even make a lap in Q2 with the AlphaTauri so he will finish last at the start with the single-seater from Faenza: the Japanese will pay the fifth reprimand which is worth 10 places on the grid and in order not to miss anything he changed the Honda engine .
In Q1 Nicholas Latifi does not pass the trap by mistaking the lap in the last run and grabs the 16th position on the provisional grid, but the Canadian will certainly line up later for the nine drivers penalties.
The two Aston Martins were badly suited to a lightly loaded track like the “temple of speed”: Sebastian Vettel is 17th ahead of Lance Stroll. Only a tenth danced between the two drivers of the Silverstone team.
The two Haas with Kevin Magnussen who preceded Mick Schumacher close the list of times: the two drivers of Gunther Steiner will pay the penalties that will cost them 15 positions on the grid. In reality they will start in front of Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda condemned to finish at the bottom of the grid.
#Miracle #Monza #Leclerc #pole #Ferrari