Italy – Qualifications: Leclerc on pole for Ferrari!

It’s 3 p.m. and the lights turn green. The track temperature has risen to 36°C, 10 degrees more than this morning during Free Practice 3. The air temperature is 26°C. There’s no wind, and it’s Robert Kubica who takes off for the first lap, followed by the Toro Rosso cars and Sergio Perez.

The first benchmark time of this Q1 is 1:20.657, set by Giovinazzi with his Alfa Romeo. For your information, the best time in Free Practice 3 this morning was 1:20.294.

After 10 minutes, the Mercedes cars are still not out of the pits, and it’s the two Renaults leading Q1. Hülkenberg sets a better time than Leclerc this morning. He clocks in directly at 1:20.155, ahead of his teammate by 0.2 seconds.

The two Mercedes record the 2nd and 3rd fastest times. Bottas ahead of Hamilton by 0.001 seconds with Hülkenberg still in first.

6 minutes before the end of Q1, it’s Leclerc in his Ferrari who takes the lead by 29 milliseconds on medium tires. He still has room if he needs to switch to soft tires. Verstappen still doesn’t have a time but will start from the back of the grid due to engine block penalties. The Red Bull driver will likely only take to the track to set a timed lap to meet the 107% rule. The regulations state that if a driver’s time is more than 107% of the best time of Q1, the stewards have the option to cancel that driver’s participation in the race.

4 minutes before the end of Q1, a red flag for a technical incident on the Racing Point. The clock is paused but with 4 minutes remaining, it’s difficult to restore in time for Kubica, Russell, Grosjean, and Verstappen.

The pit lane goes green again and all drivers return to the track except Leclerc, the Renaults, the Mercedes, and Albon. His teammate emerged at the front of the pack, but he won’t finish his lap. The power unit fails before even allowing him to set a time. Fortunately for the other drivers, no flag was waved during this incident.

Eliminated from Q1:

In this final round, the eliminated drivers are: Grosjean, Perez, Russell, Kubica, and Verstappen.

During Q2, Kvyat is the first to set a time followed by Magnussen and Stroll. The first to go below the 1:20 mark is Bottas’s Mercedes. Hamilton does better, but Leclerc records the best time of this batch of laps.

Kimi Räikkönen misses his out lap and goes off into the gravel at Lesmo but still manages to get back on track.

5 minutes before the end of Q2, Leclerc is leading ahead of Hamilton, Vettel, and a surprising Renault of Ricciardo. The drivers set to be eliminated are Stroll, Norris, Giovinazzi, Gasly, and Räikkönen. The drivers are waiting to attempt a final lap and give it their all to make it to Q3.

There are 2 minutes left, and the 15 drivers are back on track. A train forms to try to be in the slipstream without being hindered. Magnussen improves but can only finish 12th, 0.2 seconds behind Giovinazzi.

Eliminated from Q2:

Giovinazzi, Magnussen, Kvyat, Norris and Gasly.

The Q3 is finally underway and the remaining 10 drivers take to the track. The strategy is not to be the first to hit the track because that driver will not benefit from the slipstream effect.

In this game, it’s Vettel who ends up losing, yet the German sets the fastest time on the circuit. Not for long, as Leclerc takes back the fastest time by 150 milliseconds. Hamilton improves his time and overtakes Vettel as the red flag is waved.

Kimi Räikkönen goes off the track again at the Parabolica, sliding backwards into the tires. The Q3 clock is stopped with 6 minutes and 35 seconds remaining in the session. Just enough time to prepare for another round of qualifying laps.

Vettel’s final lap will ultimately be canceled as he goes too wide at the Parabolica. Leclerc is therefore in first place at this moment, ahead of Hamilton, Bottas, and Vettel. The two Renaults are 5th and 6th.

Räikkönen’s car is cleared and it is 16:07 when the lights turn green again for the last 6 minutes. Yet no one takes the track. The slipstream at Monza plays an important role, and the drivers do not want to be the first to go out. So what was expected happens. The drivers go out at the last moment, and in this very slow final stint, only Carlos Sainz Jr and Leclerc manage to cross the timing line before the session ends.

From a sporting perspective, the situation is unprecedented. Hülkenberg was the first to go out with 2 minutes and 20 seconds left in the session. He triggered the exit of all the other cars wanting to slipstream. Hülkenberg intentionally misses at the end of the straight to take the chicanes and try to let other drivers go ahead of him. No one wants to go in front, and everyone slows down. In the end, only Sainz makes it before the red light. Without much benefit, as he fails to improve.

The ranking remains unchanged. Leclerc is in pole position ahead of Hamilton and Bottas. Vettel is fourth ahead of Ricciardo and Hülkenberg. Sainz is 8th ahead of Albon and Stroll.

Note that Gasly, Sainz, and Verstappen will start from the back of the grid due to penalties.

The result of the 2019 Italian Grand Prix qualifying:

From our special correspondent in Italy.