Qualification: Hamilton on pole in Monza, ahead of Sutil!

Lewis Hamilton secured pole position for the 2009 Italian Grand Prix. The McLaren driver was the fastest at Monza, confirming his strong performances during the free practice sessions. Force India continues its incredible climb in the standings, with Sutil setting the second-fastest time. Liuzzi, Fisichella’s replacement, also made it into Q3, while Fisichella, now with Ferrari, posted a modest 14th time. Mercedes dominates on Ferrari’s home turf.

The qualifications for the Italian Grand Prix, the 13th race of the 2009 season, finally unveiled the new hierarchy. On a track that’s the master of average speeds, teams arrived with specific packages. With these new configurations, it’s McLaren-Mercedes that gives a lesson to Scuderia Ferrari. Hamilton is first, ahead of another Mercedes engine, that of Sutil. Force India is still in good shape as Liuzzi, Fisichella’s replacement – who moved to Ferrari – is in 7th place.

The first Ferrari limits the damage with Räikkönen who will start in third position tomorrow on the starting grid. Kovalainen is 4th, ahead of Barrichello in the first Brawn GP. The Brazilian driver once again beats Jenson Button, the current championship leader. The English driver, however, didn’t give his maximum today as he was driving on hard tires, less performant than the soft tires used by most of the Q3 drivers.

For the return of KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) on the Renault, Alonso is only 8th. The Spaniard is still lacking balance in the second sector. His teammate, Romain Grosjean, improves session by session. He qualifies 12th today and records his best performance, disappointed: « I’m disappointed not to have done better, I could have been in Q1. I’ll feel better in 10 minutes, I’ll be smiling. »

The last two drivers to have participated in Q3 are the Red Bull-Renaults of Webber and Vettel. The young German performs better than the experienced Australian, but the Red Bulls are far from the performance of the McLarens and do not seem able to compete with Brawn GP this weekend. Under pressure, Vettel also made a few minor mistakes in qualifying.

Failed in Q2, many drivers could have expected it; the gaps were less than a second between the first and eighteenth time. It took very little to hope to participate in the final round of qualifying, and Trulli was representing Toyota when Liuzzi, new Force India driver, relegated him to 11th place just seconds after the end of the regulated time. The Italian, however, outperformed his teammate. Glock is indeed 16th, stopped in Q1.

Grosjean is therefore 12th for his third Grand Prix and will have to fight with the BMW-Saubers tomorrow at the start. Kubica is indeed 13th. The unfortunate Pole had to stop his car on the track due to an engine problem that affected both BMWs. Nick Heidfeld also stopped a few laps earlier. The German thus qualifies last in Q2, in 15th position. They will undoubtedly have to change engines for both cars for the race, unless the team takes the risk of breaking the BMW blocks, already used this season.

Fisichella, for his first Grand Prix with Ferrari, finished his qualifying in 14th place. The F60 seems more complicated to handle than expected, and the Italian has not yet mastered the KERS.

The Williams-Toyotas and the Toro Rosso-Ferraris close the starting grid. Nakajima is ahead of Rosberg while Buemi is ahead of Alguersuari.

Qualification Results – Saturday September 12, 2009: