A series of grid penalties for power unit and gearbox changes means the starting grid is very confused by the qualifying series, 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 both fall back on the grid due to penalties. Read also:
Start of the Italian Grand Prix: Leclerc on pole from Russell
What happened at the Italian Grand Prix Q1?
Verstappen set the bar at 1m22.023s but was soon overtaken by Sainz’s Ferrari with a 1m21.348s followed by Leclerc at 1m21.280s. Russell also edged out Verstappen, albeit half a second off the Ferrari’s pace. Verstappen pushed again and retook P1, in his fourth lap on these tyres, with a 1m20.922s to top the session by 0.358s. Down at the first barrier 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 missed out on a pretty good lap for P11 due to overtaking track limits) and Mick Schumacher (who also crashed into Rettifilo in his last attempt).
Italian Grand Prix Q1 results: Verstappen faster than Leclerc
What happened in Italian Grand Prix Q2?
Verstappen set the early pace again, at 1m21.265s, but Sainz soon beat it with a 1m20.878s as Leclerc went straight at the Rettifilo chicane on his first lap. Leclerc moved into P2 at his second attempt, 0.33 seconds 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 penalty), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Nyck de Vries (in for Alex Albon in the Williams, but passed the Roggia chicane on his new tyres) , Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) and Yuki Tsunoda (who did not run in his AlphaTauri as he goes to the back of the grid).
Italian Grand Prix Q2 results: Sainz faster than Leclerc
What happened in Italian Grand Prix Q3?
In the opening runs, Sainz set the fastest time at 1m20.584s, 0.186s ahead of Leclerc at 1m20.770s, with Verstappen a further tenth back in third with 1m20.859s. Perez led the rest but was more than three-quarters of a second off the pace. In the closing stages, Leclerc grabbed pole with a 1m20.161s, 0.145s quicker than Verstappen’s 1m20.906s, with Sainz third fastest at 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 due to 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 a 10-place penalty, so Russell will start from the front row on Sunday. The McLarens will form the second row, ahead of Gasly and Alonso. Verstappen will start seventh, alongside debutant de Vries.
