{"id":11072,"date":"2022-09-10T18:04:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T17:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/f1vault.co.uk\/?p=11072"},"modified":"2022-09-10T18:04:00","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T17:04:00","slug":"italian-gp-charles-leclerc-beats-max-verstappen-to-go-fastest-by-a-tenth-and-a-half-with-several-of-grid-penalties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/italian-gp-charles-leclerc-beats-max-verstappen-to-go-fastest-by-a-tenth-and-a-half-with-several-of-grid-penalties\/","title":{"rendered":"ITALIAN GP \u2013 Charles Leclerc beats Max Verstappen to go fastest by a tenth and a half with several of grid penalties"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charles Leclerc has beaten Max Verstappen by almost a tenth and a half to take pole position for the Italian Grand Prix. The Monacan looked unstoppable as he took his second pole position at Monza, however, the two championship rivals will not start alongside each other because the dutchman has a grid penalty.<\/p>\n

Leclerc will look to try and take victory to allow him to close the gap in the championship, his teammate Carlos Sainz was third a tenth off Verstappen with them both starting near the back because of penalties. However, the starting grid will be provisionally confirmed later this evening.<\/p>\n

The Monacan will look to repeat his victory in 2019, to keep his championship hopes alive but will be aware of how quick Verstappen came through the field in Budapest to take victory. the Dutchman will start from seventh on the grid however overtaking is more difficult around Monza than at Spa.<\/p>\n

Leclerc\u2019s pole position sent the tosifi wild breaking the sombre mood at Monza seen over the weekend so far, following the death of HM Elizabeth II, further tributes are expected on Sunday.<\/p>\n

However it will be Sainz who will carry the hopes of the Italians because of the penalties, but Leclerc called on the team not to make mistakes again.<\/p>\n

The Monacan said, \u201cIt’s amazing. It wasn’t an easy qualifying session. I knew there was quite a bit of potential in the car but I didn’t manage to put everything together, and on the last lap I managed to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Verstappen added, \u201cThe lap was pretty decent just the first sector we seemed to be a little bit slow, a bit of straight-line speed, bit of not finding the grip but the rest of the lap felt pretty strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sergio Perez was fourth but was eight-tenths behind his teammate and drops to fourteenth with his penalty, Red Bull may have decided to focus on the race given they know they need to overtake. The Mexican was almost two hundredths faster than there Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, who starts last after taking a full power unit change.<\/p>\n

The seven time champion was nearly two-tenths faster than teammate George Russell. Russell will likely move up to join Sainz on the front row because of the penalties, but the Englishman said the team took a gamble in Q3 which saved him a set of tyres for the race.<\/p>\n

But that put him four hundredths ahead of the two McLarens, while Lando Norris was still three hundredths faster than Daniel Ricciardo. The grid looks set to be Sainz, Russell, Norris and Ricciardo.<\/p>\n

Ricciardo having his best qualifying since Imola in the neighbouring province of Emilia-Romagna in April. Pierre Gasly was seven-tenths behind in ninth, and Fernando Alonso failed to capitalise on the pace that Alpine has shown in the mid part of the season.<\/p>\n

The two-time champion had a messy Q3, he aborted his first run, before his second lap was deleted for exceeding track limits. Alonso explained that his Q3 wasn\u2019t executed well, adding \u201cI am sorry for the team that I did not put a lap together. Even this lap I put together was only enough to be P8 so it seems we are lacking a bit of performance in qualifying. Let’s see if we can improve tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Gasly got himself through to the final part of qualifying, after pipping Alonso\u2019s teammate Esteban Ocon. The Frenchman failed to improve in sectors one and two.<\/p>\n

Gasly also escaped the stewards’ attention for being released side-by-side with Norris as part of a late flurry to find track position when all left the garages. Valtteri Bottas put his Alfa Romeo twelfth going a tenth behind Ocon, the Finn struggling with the brakes in practice.<\/p>\n

Nyck de Vries had a brilliant first qualifying session, the Formula E champion was brought into replacing Alex Albon after he was admitted to hospital with appendicitis. He has undergone surgery, and is expected Albon to be fit to return for the next race in Singapore in three weeks’ time.<\/p>\n

De Vires, however, wrecked his final attempt after saving the Williams through the Rettifilo chicane. The Formula E champion locked the rears before the car snapped at the chicane, but the Dutchman will likely start in the top ten.<\/p>\n

Guanyu Zhou put his Alfa Romeo fourteenth, while Yuki Tsunoda opted to play no further part in Q2 with his penalty, based on qualifying he will start behind Sainz and Hamilton<\/p>\n

The Mercedes reserve driver, who is hoping to secure a permanent seat on the grid next season, outperformed team-mate Nicholas Latifi to advance to Q2, and looked in with an outside chance of making Q3.<\/p>\n

Nicolas Latifi also struggled with the brakes on his Williams, he missed out after going two hundredths behind de Vires. The Canadian did improve on his final lap, however the time was deleted for track limits.<\/p>\n

Sebastian Vettel was seventeenth going just over a tenth faster than Lance Stroll. It was a messy Saturday for both Haas drivers, Kevin Magnussen had two times deleted for track limits, but still was seven thousandths ahead of Mick Schumacher. The German locking up on one the Rettilfilo chicane.<\/p>\n

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