Will de Vries go for pole in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix in 2022?
Phew, it’s going to take a while to enjoy F1 races again. After a four-week summer break, it’s time for the third race in as many weekends this weekend. And it’s not the least, because while the Monza circuit doesn’t necessarily seem like the most difficult track, the races there are often entertaining. Of course, the Tifosi always provide beautiful local color.
Just like in Belgium, after the qualification we have to do some math again. Verstappen, Ocon, Perez, Bottas, Schumacher, Magnussen, Sainz, Tsunoda and Hamilton get a big fat penalty. Well, some a bit fatter than others. Of course we will keep an eye on that after the quali.
In any case, it means there are opportunities for drivers who normally don’t have the chance to be next to Leclerc in P1 tomorrow. So it will be an interesting race again tomorrow with drivers who are ‘out of position’. But what we also keep a special eye on today is what Nyck de Vries is able to achieve.
Q1
Lance Stroll sets the first time, but with his 1:24.nothing, nobody is awake. Except maybe Lawrence Stroll, if he adds up what he’s spent on his young shoot so far to get to this point. Verstappen then sets a time, but his first attempt also seems only a banker to be. The Ferraris are much faster.
Later, Verstappen does indeed set the fastest time on the clocks. The difference with Leclerc is more than three tenths, a bit what it has been all weekend. Sainz, as almost always, is a tenth behind his teammate. And what about de Vries?
Well, it’s going pretty well! In his first lap, DEV is just a little slower than King Latifi. But in his second lap he is just a bit faster! In addition, the Williams is going quite nicely and there seem to be chances of Q2 for team blue. The other teams with Mercedes engines don’t seem to be doing so well. Oh the turntables…
In the end Nyck is full in the fight for the last spots above the knockout zone. De Vries sets a somewhat faster lap, which brings him briefly to P12. Ricciardo, last year’s winner, is also improving. However, because it is precisely Latifi who throws away his last round, Nyck is through. After a while, that is.
Nyck’s best lap is taken away due to track limits. But because Magnussen is also being tapped, his second best lap is just good enough to keep Latifi behind. With this, the man from Sneek is holding on to P15. Should de Vries never drive a race again, he will therefore have a one hundred percent Q2 record and one hundred percent qualifying match score in F1. Might as well put it in his pocket. Although, because of this performance, the chance is of course slightly greater that Nyck will get even more opportunities.
The dropouts: Latifi – Vettel – Stroll – Schumacher – Magnussen
Q2
Perez goes for the first top time in Q2. Our hero Verstappen is only a tenth faster this time. The Mares are half a second slower, but the Fezzas are…half a second faster. Verstappen on used tires on the way, or did team red keep something in reserve for their own audience?
The other Dutchman in the field has again completed a nice lap, which is good enough for P11 at first. That would be quite sensational. Can it get any better? No. During the last attempts, NdV45 sits down one more time, but asks a bit too much of the Williams. It results in locked wheels and a ruined round.
In the end, P13 remains for De Vries, because Zhou does not come up to his time and Tsunoda no longer makes an attempt thanks to his sentence. Ocon and the other Alfa Romeo from great guy Bottas, are also stuck in Q2.
The dropouts: Ocon – Bottas – De Vries – Zhou – Tsunoda
Q3
And then the big slipstream party again? A few years ago we saw a funny spectacle here, when everyone wanted to be the smartest and as a result almost no one could make a round. But that probably won’t happen again. Sainz is in any case the fastest on the first attempts. Unless Verstappen doesn’t show his speed, Ferrari indeed had some left. At least for a round. Perez is number four, but exactly half a second behind our hero.
In the second attempts, Verstappen is on his way very quickly. But Ferrari also knows what to do with Leclerc. While the Monegask takes the fastest time, Verstappen is still on two fast sectors. But we know that the Red Bull has a little more wings. Will it be possible to defy the third sector?
No…Verstappen does take Sainz, but not Leclerc. So in any case there is no dominance of Red Bull over one round in Monza. How that will play out in tomorrow’s race remains to be seen… Thanks to his P2, Max starts today as P4. Strangely enough, Alonso doesn’t get to a fast lap, because his first attempt fails and on the second he gets track limits on the fireproof pants. Too bad for the Spaniard, because with all those grid penalties he had a good chance of a good starting position.
We will calculate the rest, but below are the times that the drivers have set.
UPDATE: And this is the starting grid.
F1 qualifying Italy 2022: The full results
- Leclerc – Ferrari 1m20.161 (Q3)
- VERSTAKEN – Red Bull 1m20.306 (Q3)
- Sainz – Ferrari 1m20.429 (Q3)
- Perez – Red Bull 1m21.206 (Q3)
- Hamilton – Mercedes 1m21.524 (Q3)
- Russell – Mercedes 1m21.542 (Q3)
- Norris – McLaren 1m21,584 (Q3)
- Ricciardo – McLaren 1m21.925 (Q3)
- Gasly – Alpha Tauri 1m22,648 (Q3)
- Alonso – Alpine NO TIME SET (Q3)
- Ocon – Alpine 1m22.130 (Q2)
- Bottas – Alfa Romeo 1m22.235 (Q2)
- DE VRIES – Williams 1m22.471 (Q2)
- Zhou – Alfa Romeo 1m22.577 (Q2)
- Tsunoda – Alpha Tauri NO TIME SET (Q2)
- Latifi – Williams 1m22.587 (Q1)
- Vettel – Aston Martin 1m22,636 (Q1)
- Stroll – Aston Martin 1m22,748 (Q1)
- Schumacher – Haas F1 1m22.908 (Q1)
- Magnussen – Haas F1 1m23.005 (Q1)
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