QUALIFYING

“SERGIO PEREZ WAS SEEMINGLY IN A DIFFERENT POSTCODE 0.9S DOWN ON HIS TEAM-MATE”

Deciding the grid at Monza has been a messy business in recent years. Remember the clumsy squabbles for track position out of Parabolica that left drivers crossing the line too late to start a flier? The switch to ground-effects and a reduced significance of the tow avoided a repeat. But it still wasn’t a good look as four hours were required for officials to work out a provisional starting order due to another flurry of penalties.

Charles Leclerc wasn’t in line for a drop, so wherever he ranked in qualifying would be where he started, aside from any promotions due to others. The Monegasque didn’t stitch together any session-best sectors, but his last run in Q3 was still sufficient to snare a first pole since France in July.

While it has been difficult to decipher the extent to which Red Bull has pulled clear and Ferrari has dropped back following the summer break, Leclerc arrested the red cars’ recent one-lap dip. “It’s a very good surprise, considering where we come from, especially in Spa,” he admitted.

“We were not expecting to fight for pole.”

Leclerc steered his twitchy F1-75 round in 1m20.161s to find a convincing 0.145 seconds over Max Verstappen. The biased grandstand on the main straight naturally erupted. And then the Red Bull was knocked to seventh after Honda advised fitting a new internal combustion engine at the “least bad” circuit left on the calendar for a grid drop.

Following a debrief at Maranello to troubleshoot a pair of fast but scruffy outings at

Spa and Zandvoort, Carlos

Sainz was in the mix. His final

Q3 lap looked good for pole as the micro sectors flashed purple. That reflected a taming of the rear axle that troubled him so greatly at the start of the season. But even with its reduced effects, he felt the pain of running without a tow to bleed time on the straights. The Spaniard buzzed the line 0.268s down on his Scuderia stablemate, only to march to the back of the grid for a haul of new powertrain components.

With Sergio Perez – seemingly in a different postcode

0.9s down on his team-mate – also taking a hit, it was left to George Russell to inherit a front-row start over the Mclarens.

Likewise, Nyck de Vries benefited considerably on his F1 qualifying debut as he subbed for Alex Albon, who was sidelined with an overnight bout of appendicitis. The 2021 Formula E champion, who ran for Aston Martin in FP1, adapted well to clock 13th for eighth on the grid – despite using the wrong brake bias tune to instigate a massive rear end lock that required an entertaining save.