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Charles Bradley

F1 Grand Prix qualifying results: Leclerc takes Italian GP pole

Leclerc will start ahead of MercedesGeorge Russell after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

A raft of grid penalties for power unit and gearbox changes means the starting grid is very much jumbled up from the qualifying order, with almost half the field affected. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was second fastest in qualifying, ahead of the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, but they both drop back on the grid due to penalties.

Italian Grand Prix starting grid: Leclerc on pole from Russell

Cla Driver Time Gap km/h
1 Monaco Charles Leclerc 1'20.161   260.161
2 United Kingdom George Russell 1'21.542 1.381 255.755
3 United Kingdom Lando Norris 1'21.584 1.423 255.623
4 Australia Daniel Ricciardo 1'21.925 1.764 254.559
5 France Pierre Gasly 1'22.648 2.487 252.332
6 Spain Fernando Alonso      
7 Netherlands Max Verstappen 1'20.306 0.145 259.691
8 Netherlands Nyck de Vries 1'22.471 2.310 252.874
9 China Zhou Guanyu 1'22.577 2.416 252.549
10 Canada Nicholas Latifi 1'22.587 2.426 252.519
11 Germany Sebastian Vettel 1'22.636 2.475 252.369
12 Canada Lance Stroll 1'22.748 2.587 252.027
13 Mexico Sergio Perez 1'21.206 1.045 256.813
14 France Esteban Ocon 1'22.130 1.969 253.924
15 Finland Valtteri Bottas 1'22.235 2.074 253.600
16 Denmark Kevin Magnussen 1'22.908 2.747 251.541
17 Germany Mick Schumacher 1'23.005 2.844 251.247
18 Spain Carlos Sainz 1'20.429 0.268 259.294
19 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 1'21.524 1.363 255.811
20 Japan Yuki Tsunoda      

What happened in Italian Grand Prix Q1?

Verstappen set the bar at 1m22.023s but was soon topped by the Ferraris of Sainz on 1m21.348s and then Leclerc on 1m21.280s. Russell also outpaced Verstappen, albeit half a second off the Ferrari pace.

Verstappen pushed again and retook P1, on his fourth lap on these tyres, with 1m20.922s to top the session by 0.358s.

Falling at the first hurdle were Nicholas Latifi (Williams, who blew the Rettifilo chicane on his last lap), the Aston Martins of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll, and the Haas duo of Kevin Magnussen (who lost a lap good enough for P11 due to exceeding track limits) and Mick Schumacher (who also locked up at Rettifilo on his final attempt).

Italian Grand Prix Q1 results: Verstappen fastest from Leclerc

Cla Driver Chassis Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 1'20.922     257.714
2 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'21.280 0.358 0.358 256.579
3 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1'21.348 0.426 0.068 256.365
4 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 1'21.495 0.573 0.147 255.902
5 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 1'21.785 0.863 0.290 254.995
6 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1'22.003 1.081 0.218 254.317
7 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 1'22.010 1.088 0.007 254.295
8 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1'22.020 1.098 0.010 254.264
9 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'22.048 1.126 0.028 254.178
10 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 1'22.089 1.167 0.041 254.051
11 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 1'22.130 1.208 0.041 253.924
12 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 1'22.139 1.217 0.009 253.896
13 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 1'22.166 1.244 0.027 253.813
14 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1'22.254 1.332 0.088 253.541
15 Netherlands Nyck de Vries Williams 1'22.567 1.645 0.313 252.580
16 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 1'22.587 1.665 0.020 252.519
17 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 1'22.636 1.714 0.049 252.369
18 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1'22.748 1.826 0.112 252.027
19 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas 1'22.908 1.986 0.160 251.541
20 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas 1'23.005 2.083 0.097 251.247

What happened in Italian Grand Prix Q2?

Verstappen set the early pace again, at 1m21.265s, but Sainz soon beat that with 1m20.878s, as Leclerc straight-lined the Rettifilo chicane on his opening lap.

Leclerc went P2 on his second attempt, 0.33s down. Verstappen slipped back to third, 0.387s off the pace, just ahead of teammate Sergio Perez.

Knocked out at this point were Esteban Ocon (Alpine, who has a five-place grid penalty), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Nyck de Vries (in for Alex Albon at Williams, but he overshot the Roggia chicane on his new tyres), Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) and Yuki Tsunoda (who didn’t run in his AlphaTauri as he’s going to the very back of the grid).

Italian Grand Prix Q2 results: Sainz fastest from Leclerc

Cla Driver Chassis Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1'20.878     257.855
2 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'21.208 0.330 0.330 256.807
3 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 1'21.265 0.387 0.057 256.627
4 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 1'21.358 0.480 0.093 256.333
5 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'21.708 0.830 0.350 255.235
6 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 1'21.747 0.869 0.039 255.113
7 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 1'21.831 0.953 0.084 254.852
8 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 1'21.855 0.977 0.024 254.777
9 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 1'21.861 0.983 0.006 254.758
10 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 1'22.062 1.184 0.201 254.134
11 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 1'22.130 1.252 0.068 253.924
12 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1'22.235 1.357 0.105 253.600
13 Netherlands Nyck de Vries Williams 1'22.471 1.593 0.236 252.874
14 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1'22.577 1.699 0.106 252.549
15 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri        

What happened in Italian Grand Prix Q3?

On the first runs, Sainz set the fastest time of 1m20.584s, 0.186s ahead of Leclerc’s 1m20.770s, with Verstappen a further tenth back in third on 1m20.859s. Perez led the rest but was over three quarters of a second off the pace.

On the final runs, Leclerc grabbed pole with 1m20.161s, 0.145s faster than Verstappen’s 1m20.906s, with Sainz third quickest on 1m20.429s. Perez was fourth fastest, ahead of the Mercedes of Hamilton and Russell.

Lando Norris was seventh, ahead of McLaren teammate Daniel Ricciardo. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) and Fernando Alonso (Alpine) both had their lap times deleted for track limits.

Sainz will start from the back of the grid, where he will line up in 18th ahead of Hamilton and Tsunoda.

Verstappen has a five-place penalty, and Perez has 10-places, so Russell will start from the front row on Sunday. The McLarens will form row two, ahead of Gasly and Alonso.

Verstappen will start seventh, alongside debutant de Vries.

Italian Grand Prix Q3 results: Leclerc takes pole

Cla Driver Chassis Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'20.161     260.161
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 1'20.306 0.145 0.145 259.691
3 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1'20.429 0.268 0.123 259.294
4 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 1'21.206 1.045 0.777 256.813
5 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'21.524 1.363 0.318 255.811
6 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 1'21.542 1.381 0.018 255.755
7 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 1'21.584 1.423 0.042 255.623
8 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 1'21.925 1.764 0.341 254.559
9 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 1'22.648 2.487 0.723 252.332
10 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine        
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