Hamilton dominant despite Ferrari resurgence

Lewis Hamilton took pole position during qualifying, setting a lap time of 1:23.397, although his Q2 time, which was over a tenth quicker, was a clear indication that the Brit wouldn’t let anyone take pole away from him today.

Kimi Raikkonen was two tenths off the Mercedes in 2nd place, putting in a great lap at the end of the session to pip team mate Sebastian Vettel by just half a tenth in 3rd.

“I think if we look now we probably surprised ourselves a little bit,” Raikkonen said in the post-qualifying press conference, “We expected a strong weekend but we knew that this place is not our strongest probably, so in the end the car turned out to be pretty good in qualifying conditions.

“We try to give [it] another good go tomorrow and give a good result, not just for ourselves but for our fans and all the Ferrari people behind us.”

Ferrari were struggling with their low-downforce package during practice as well as the previous race at Spa, which resulted in seeing them run as much downforce as they could get away with on the long straights of Monza. This, combined with their 6mph deficit in the speed trap to Mercedes, could see them struggle in the race.

Nico Rosberg was on the back foot in qualifying, after an engine issue in FP3 meant he could not run the newer spec engine Mercedes had brought to Monza. The decision to introduce it this weekend was a late one, and only the works Mercedes drivers were running it. However, Rosberg is now using an older spec engine. He qualified 4th.

Rosberg said to Sky Sports F1: “We had to go back to an engine that’s done six races now, and [with] every kilometre you lose a little bit of power, especially at a track like Monza, which is the absolute power track where you need a good engine.

“That’s the reason why I’m fourth, which makes the race tomorrow tough also because I will be a bit slower than I could be. So that’s not ideal, and it’s going to be difficult against those Ferraris.”

Williams managed to get the third row ahead of both Force Indias, but not splitting the Ferraris as they had hoped. However, their target is still a podium finish tomorrow. Sergio Perez managed 7th although his team mate Nico Hulkenberg suffered a fuel system issue in Q3 which meant he had to settle for 9th. Spa podium finisher Romain Grosjean sits in between the two Force Indias.

Marcus Ericsson made a rare appearance in Q3, qualifying 10th. However, he received a 3-place grid penalty, as well as two penalty points, for impeding Nico Hulkenberg while the German was on a flying lap in Q1.

Further back, it was Red Bull who were Q2 casualties but, with their engine penalties, will start at the rear of the field, as will McLaren which will elevate the two Manor cars.

Max Verstappen was the only car not to set a lap, as the car was not ready to go out until the end of Q1 which gave him time for only one lap, and on that lap the engine and sidepod covers flew off his car as he went round Curva Grande.

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