LECLERC FINDS MONZA MAGIC
FORMULA 1 Italian Grand Prix Today, Sky Sports F1, 2pm PHIL DUNCAN
BY
CHARLES LECLERC put his Ferrari on pole position for today’s Italian Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II.
To the delight of the Monza crowd Leclerc pulled out all the stops with his final run at the Temple of Speed to send the Tifosi wild, with championship leader Max Verstappen having to settle for second-fastest.
Red Bull’s Verstappen will line up in seventh, with the world champion among the eight drivers punished for exceeding their number of allocated engine components.
Britain’s Hamilton qualified fifth but was hit with a grid sanction and will be starting in 19th.
The yellow 44 on the side of his Mercedes has been turned to black in honour of The Queen, among many tributes up and down the paddock to the long-serving monarch.
A one-minute silence was staged ahead of first practice on Friday, with another due on the grid before today’s race.
The majority of the 125,000 fans expected for race day will be rooting for a Ferrari win, with Leclerc out to stop Verstappen making it five consecutive victories.
The Dutchman is on course to secure his second world title in as many seasons – possibly claiming it as early as the next round in Singapore – after winning 10 of the 15 races so far.
But Leclerc, 109 points behind the Red Bull driver, will be out to restore pride in a season that has so far seen Ferrari fail to deliver on early promise.
Carlos Sainz (starts from 18th) and Sergio Perez (13th) were quicker than Hamilton but, like the British driver, were hit with penalties.
Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell was sixthquickest but takes advantage of the penalty blizzard to join Leclerc on the front row. Lando Norris, who qualified seventh with his Mclaren, was also boosted, and starts in third.
Leclerc, who won this race in 2019 in his first season for Ferrari, said: “It’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 then on the last lap I managed to do it. The car has been feeling great all weekend and I really hope I can finish like in 2019.”
And Verstappen admitted: “It will be an interesting battle.
“I will just try to stay out of trouble at the beginning and work my way forward.”
Dutchman Nyck de Vries was handed his race debut at the 11th hour with Williams after London-born driver Alex Albon was ruled out with appendicitis.