Ferrari tensions as Raikkonen trumps Vettel with historic lap
Veteran takes pole with sport’s fastest ever time ‘Clearly, I’m not happy,’ says team-mate in second
Sebastian Vettel has demanded answers from Ferrari after team-mate Kimi Raikkonen beat him to pole position for the Italian Grand Prix.
The Finn set the fastest lap in Formula One history as he blitzed his way round the 3.6-mile Monza circuit at a staggering average speed of 163.793 mph. In doing so, he eclipsed the record held by Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya since 2004.
It should have been the dream result for Ferrari, with both of their men on the front row at their home race for only the second time this century.
Furthermore, Lewis Hamilton – who was sitting on provisional pole until the closing seconds of a scintillating qualifying session – finished third.
But Vettel – 17 points adrift of the Briton in the championship – was quickly lamenting a nightmare, furious that Raikkonen’s name, and not his, sat at the top of the time sheets.
Raikkonen is Vettel’s rear-gunner at Ferrari – 85 points behind Hamilton and out of the title race. Yet the 38-yearold, whose future beyond this season is still to be determined, was curiously afforded the luxury of a slipstream by Ferrari off Vettel’s car.
The tow, coupled with a scruffy final lap by the German, gave Raikkonen enough speed to edge out Ferrari’s top championship contender by 0.161 seconds and Hamilton by 0.175 sec.
Vettel crossed the line before Raikkonen and thought he had secured pole. “Yes!” he yelled over the team radio, only to be informed moments later that Raikkonen had taken the spoils. “We speak after,” he replied.
Vettel’s gloomy mood had improved little by the time he reached the press conference room. “Clearly, I wasn’t happy, but I won’t tell you why,” he said.
Quizzed about Raikkonen’s slipstream, he said: “We have an order which changes every weekend, and this weekend it was Kimi’s turn to go second [and get the tow]. Simple.
“Is Kimi allowed to win? Well, if he is starting from pole, then I guess he is.”
Vettel’s failure to take pole leaves him without a buffer to Hamilton on the charge to the opening bend today.
It also leaves Ferrari in a tricky position to ensure that Vettel finishes ahead of Raikkonen to take maximum points. Fourteen of the last 18 polesitters here have gone on to take the chequered flag.
Hamilton, booed by the partisan tifosi, gave it his best shot yesterday, but Mercedes have not been able to match Ferrari’s speed this weekend. It was a one-car Silver Arrows challenge with Valtteri Bottas half a second back in fourth.
“Of course, we were hopeful that we might be able to give them a run for their money,” Hamilton said. “The first qualifying lap was pretty good but the second could always have been better.
“It was just amazing how intense qualifying was, and that’s how racing should be. The close competition is great for the sport and it is pushing us to limits that we didn’t even know we could go to. Here the tow effect is huge for everyone and getting the gap right is important, but at the end of the day, Kimi did the job.”
Aged 38 years and 320 days, Raikkonen is the oldest pole sitter at an F1 race since 41-year-old Nigel Mansell started from the front in Australia 24 years ago.
Meanwhile, Kevin Magnussen has launched a stinging attack on Fernando Alonso and said he cannot wait for the double world champion to retire.
The Haas driver also claimed that Alonso, who is quitting Formula One at the end of the year, acts like a deity.
Magnussen was reacting to a clumsy opening-bend incident which forced both drivers to abandon their final laps in the second phase of qualifying at Monza.
Alonso and Magnussen were both hauled in front of the stewards, but no further action was taken.
“He [Alonso] came to me after qualifying and laughed to my face,” Magnussen said. “It is just outright disrespectful. I can’t wait for him to retire. He talks about his laps being divine. He literally thinks he’s a god. It’s quite amusing.”
Alonso, who refused to respond to Magnussen’s remarks, used the Haas car as a slipstream along the main straight and then attempted to pass the Dane on the outside at the chicane.
The 37-year-old Spaniard ran over the kerbs, while Magnussen had to slow down to avoid a collision. Alonso laughed over the radio and claimed that Magnussen wanted to race.
Tempers spilled over into the pit lane with Zak Brown, McLaren’s chief executive, and Haas team principal, Guenther Steiner, arguing in the moments after the incident.
Magnussen said: “Obviously he got a perfect slipstream and thought he could overtake into turn one, but I’d rather hang myself.
“I’m not going to let him past me and sacrifice my own lap. He thinks he’s God, but no way. It was just pretty stupid and not necessary.”