Carlos Sainz And Ferrari Steal Pole From Verstappen At Monza

In what many believed was a foregone conclusion, with Max Verstappen storming to pole at Ferrari's home race of Monza, Carlos Sainz proved he had alternative plans. The Ferrari driver stormed to his first pole position of the year and fourth overall of his career, as he bids to not only stop Verstappen from winning the most consecutive races than anyone else, but also put an end to Red Bull's winning streak this year. The Spaniard also bids to emulate his teammate Charles Leclerc, who won in front of the tifosi in 2019, fending off Lewis Hamilton.

Sainz had looked the most likely to threaten the Red Bulls all weekend, doing so in Q1 and Q3. Leclerc uncharacteristically was off the pace, as he is usually the faster of the two Ferrari drivers in qualifying trim. But in Q3, even though he looked the faster, he did not have the benefit of the slipstream, which has a devastating impact at Monza - the fastest circuit on the calendar with cars remaining at full throttle for 80% of the lap. Leclerc missed out on the front row by a whisker and settles for P3.

Interestingly, George Russell managed P4 in the Mercedes, which has struggled for straight-line speed. His seven-time world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton just managed P8, ahead of Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso, who had his worst qualifying session of the year with Aston Martin. Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull managed just P5 and was surprisingly facing stiff competition from Alex Albon in the Williams. Piastri was the lead McLaren in P7 as he outqualified Norris.

The AlphaTauri pair of Tsunoda and Lawson managed P11 and P12. Nico Hulkenberg was the lead Haas in P13, ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the Alfa Romeo, which sported a livery inspired by the Italian flag in the brand's last race with Sauber at its home race. Sargent managed just P15 in stark contrast to Albon's P6 in the Williams. Zhou was the second Alfa Romeo in P16.

Alpine had issues with clipping on the engine, which resulted in a disastrous performance by its cars at the power circuit. Gasly and Ocon managed P17 and P18. Magnussen was P19 in the Haas, while Lance Stroll just managed P20 in the Aston Martin, further widening the gulf between him and his two-time world champion veteran teammate.

Ferrari seems to have the race pace as well based on long running analysis from the practice sessions. But the SF-23 is notorious for its tyre degradation which could hand the advantage to the mighty Red Bull and Verstappen partnership. This would likely mean that Verstappen still is the favourite to break Sebastian Vettel and Alberto Ascari’s record of most consecutive wins. Red Bull will also continue its winning run this year as no other team has won a race.

The Ferrari drivers — Sainz and Leclerc will of course have other ideas as they would love to win in front of the most passionate crowd in F1. This would for sure remove some of the sting from what has been a rather disappointing season for the most iconic racing team in history.

1. Carlos SAINZ Ferrari 1:20.294

2. Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull +0.013

3. Charles LECLERC Ferrari +0.067

4. George RUSSELL Mercedes +0.377

5. Sergio PEREZ Red Bull +0.394

6. Alexander ALBON Williams +0.466

7. Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +0.491

8. Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes +0.526

9. Lando NORRIS McLaren +0.685

10. Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin +1.123

11. Yuki TSUNODA AlphaTauri 1:21.594

12. Liam LAWSON AlphaTauri +0.164

13. Nico HULKENBERG Haas +0.182

14. Valtteri BOTTAS Alfa Romeo +0.346

15. Logan SARGEANT Williams +0.350

16. ZHOU Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:22.390

17. Pierre GASLY Alpine +0.155

18. Esteban OCON Alpine +0.158

19. Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas +0.202

20. Lance STROLL Aston Martin +0.470