Ferrari at their Monza home race: Relief despite missing out on pole position

Qualifying at Monza did not go to plan for pole position favourite George Russell. After missing out on pole position, the Briton complained about his rival Max Verstappen, who slammed on the brakes at the Parabolica just before the start of the final and decisive Q3 run, forcing the Mercedes duo behind him to brake as well. As a result, the veteran Mercedes driver was too close to his team-mate to benefit from his slipstream, leaving him with a significant speed deficit.

The Alpine team were far more successful at playing the slipstream game, and as a reward for their flawless execution, the team were delighted to see Pierre Gasly secure his first GP pole. The Ferrari duo also managed to provide a slipstream, and Hamilton was able to improve his lap time once again. Nevertheless, it wasn’t enough for pole. Nor did the grid penalty for Oscar Piastri – who had set the third-fastest lap but received a three-place grid penalty for obstructing Liam Lawson in Q2 – allow the duo to move up to the front row. That spot was taken by Gasly and Russell.

Nevertheless, relief prevailed in the Ferrari pits. Hamilton had only just managed to qualify for Q3; a thousandth of a second made all the difference. Team principal Fred Vasseur confirmed after the session: “As a team, we expected to struggle a bit here, as the track layout doesn’t play to our strengths. So the fact that we were only a tenth slower than Russell is a good result.”

Commenting on Hamilton’s narrow qualification for Q3, the French engineer said: “The second qualifying segment was a bit more complicated, as we had a problem with the battery during the warm-up lap, which almost resulted in our qualifying result being significantly worse.” And looking ahead to the race, he added: “Our race pace was decent on Friday, and it’s been the same in the last few races. Strategy will, of course, be crucial, and everything is still up for grabs. But we’ll have to get everything spot on to give our fans back home something to cheer about.”

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