Lewis Hamilton will start from pole position for the first time since the Spanish Grand Prix for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza. Nico Rosberg will start alongside him for Sunday’s race ahead of the Williams duo of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa.
The first part of qualifying was straight forward for majority of drivers. Lewis Hamilton led the early pace before an astonishing lap from Felipe Massa saw him top the session briefly which was four tenths clear of Bottas. Romain Grosjean suffered a fuel leak which ensured his session was compromised and could only manage two laps at the end of the session.
It was the usual suspects who failed to reach the second part of qualifying with the two Lotus’, Caterham’s and Marussia’s failing to progress. A notable mention to Kamui Kobayashi who out-qualified both Marussia’s and teammate Marcus Ericsson by nearly one second.
The major front-runners switched to the option tyres for Q2, Hamilton led Rosberg, Bottas and Massa in the early stages. Raikkonen and Magnussen were in the danger zone with two minutes to go however the Ferrari driver made two mistakes on his final two runs which meant he failed to reach the final segment of qualifying. However, Magnussen reached Q3. Nico Hulkenberg had a poor qualifying whilst team-mate Sergio Perez reached Q3.
The final part of qualifying consisted of two runs. Hamilton’s provisional pole time eventually was enough to secure his first pole position since May. It was initially four tenths clear of Rosberg who later improved and cut the deficit by half. Bottas was third ahead of team-mate Massa. Magnussen qualified ahead of Button whilst at Ferrari’s home race, Alonso was a lacklustre seventh. Daniel Ricciardo made a mistake at the parabolica on his final run and eventually qualified ninth behind team-mate Vettel. Sergio Perez rounded out the top ten.
Many strategists expect the race to be a one-stop strategy meaning track position and a strong start will be crucial for a decent result come the chequered flag.
