Ferrari took an amazing pole at the Italian Grand Prix thanks to the time trial of Carlos Sainz Jr. caught in his last attempt of Q3, which sent the public who flocked to the Monza International Circuit to follow the qualifying into raptures.
Sainz did 13 thousandths better than Max Verstappen, but it was enough to put the dominator of the season behind him and the great favorite for victory tomorrow as well.
Meanwhile, Ferrari is enjoying today’s result, also topped off by the third time obtained by Charles Leclerc, 6 cents behind the time set by his teammate. Another proof that, at least on the flying lap, the SF-23 knows how to assert itself when the tracks require little downforce to obtain competitive times.
Frédéric Vasseur is enjoying the moment, aware that tomorrow Verstappen will still start as the man to beat. Ferrari, however, seems to have what it takes to fight for the podium and, why not, maybe even make life less easy than expected for the reigning Red Bull Racing world champion.
Vasseur, a pole at Monza is a good result. How do you judge Ferrari’s qualifying?
“It was a good qualifying. We had already done a good Friday, with Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2 going well. This morning things went right in the last session before qualifying and even now we were good.”
“Obviously the most important day of the weekend is tomorrow, with the race, but we have to take this pole as a milestone. Sure, it’s not a win, but it’s certainly a milestone for us. Today was a matter of putting in the performance right at the right moment, then the race will be another story. We’ll see it tomorrow, but it was certainly a very nice feeling for everyone”.
Pole man Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Ferrari, celebrates at the Parc Ferme
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
“During Carlos’ lap the car went well. But in general these qualifying sessions were a great three-way battle with Carlos, Max and Charles. All three did an exceptional lap, Carlos above all. But for us it was certainly a very nice day.”
How do you explain the difference in performance of the Ferrari seen between Zandvoort and Monza?
“Zandvoort and Monza are two very different tracks, with very different characteristics. A different level of load. If we asked Mercedes or McLaren the same question, they would say the same thing. Between second and tenth place there are cars very close to each other. to each other”.
In Monza it seems that the SF-23s are particularly at ease…
“We were immediately competitive since yesterday due to the characteristics of our car, which adapted well to those of the track. McLaren is struggling a lot this weekend, while they went very well at Zandvoort. We are in a group of very narrow and close together. As soon as a track is more suited to one type of car than another, it can bring out considerable differences in qualifying. This is not a positive feature, because we should be fast at all circuits. And that’s one of the next steps we’ll have to take.”
Do you think that if Leclerc had made use of a slipstream at the last attempt, he would have managed to stay ahead of Verstappen and complete an all-Ferrari front row?
“I am always convinced that slipstreaming is not a good idea. The single-seater is developed to work well in clean air, not following a slipstream”.
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