Italian Grand Prix: Qualifying Recap

Drivers were only permitted to use set tire compounds in each knock-out session of Saturday’s qualifying – Monza marking the second trial of the ‘Alternate Tire Allocation’ (ATA) program – Pirelli reducing the total number of tires supplied to each team on the weekend from 13 sets to 11. 

Q1 saw the exclusive use of the P Zero White hard tire, Q2 the Yellow medium rubber, then finally the Red soft compound in Q3.

Final practice earlier in the day had Magnussen and Hulkenberg looking competitive on the soft tires – ending the hour-long session in the top-10 in seventh and eighth respectively. 

Unfortunately, that one-lap pace failed to translate when utilizing the mandatory hard tire in Q1 as qualifying commenced. Magnussen set his fastest lap on his second stint but a 1:22.592, to place 19^th, meant the Dane’s day was done early. Hulkenberg fared better edging into Q2 in 15^th overall thanks to a 1:22.343 lap on his second set of rubber.

The German exited qualifying in Q2 having recorded a fastest lap of 1:21.776 on his first set of the medium compound – Hulkenberg 13^th at the conclusion of the 15-minute session with only the top-10 advancing.

Scuderia Ferrari, to the delight of the Tifosi, claimed pole position on home soil with Carlos Sainz (1:20.294) edging Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen (1:20.307) to the top spot. Charles Leclerc (1:20.361) added to the Monza celebrations placing his Scuderia Ferrari third on the grid.

Kevin Magnussen:

“I was quite happy on the soft tire in FP2 and FP3, we looked pretty decent on that tire but we just didn’t have the same balance on the hard tire – unfortunately. It’s typical that during an ATA weekend we look like we have some decent pace, but not on the hard. Anyway, the race is tomorrow, and I hope we can find something on the other compounds and be a bit more competitive.”

 

Nico Hulkenberg:

“Our pace on the soft tire in FP3 was as expected, the soft tire always helps a weaker car more than the hard tire. Going into qualifying, I expected the challenge to be very difficult. I’m glad we made it into Q2, I ended up with no tow in Q1 which is quite costly around here but somehow, we still managed to pull it off, so I was quite surprised and happy about that. Q2 wasn’t perfect, not super smooth and the final attempt was a bit difficult, but P13 is a realistic picture for us.”

 

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal:

“It would’ve been nice to get one car into Q3, but Nico was getting very close. The field is so close together and every little bit makes a difference, and his last lap wasn’t his best lap, and we didn’t make it. Anyway, I think it was a good performance to get into Q2 as Nico had no tow when he did it, so well done for that. With Kevin, getting into a situation with Stroll ruined his last lap, I’ll never know if we would’ve been faster or not, but with this regulation with the minimum lap time, and people out on different programs, it is sometimes difficult to manage. We need to look at how to do that better, and how to avoid a penalty and still be in a good tow, or at least not in traffic.”

 

Today's Data

Event: Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix – Saturday September 2
Location: Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Italy
Layout: 5.793-kilometer (3.6-mile), 11-turn circuit
Weather: Sun
Air Temps: 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit)
Team Result: Nico Hulkenberg qualified 13^th, Kevin Magnussen qualified 19^th 

 

Free Practice 3 (FP3) Rundown:

Magnussen: 7^th overall (1:21.884), 21 laps completed
Hulkenberg: 8^th overall (1:21.985), 27 laps completed
Fastest: Carlos Sainz of Scuderia Ferrari (1:20.912)

 

Q1 Qualifying: 18-mins with all 20 Drivers – Top 15 Advance to Q2

Hulkenberg: 15^th overall (1:22.343) – Advanced to Q2
Magnussen: 19^th overall (1:22.592) 
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:21.573)

 

Q2 Qualifying: 15-mins – Top 10 Advance to Q3

Hulkenberg: 13^th overall (1:21.776) 
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:20.937) 

 

Q3 Qualifying: 12-mins – Top 10 Drivers

Pole Winner: Carlos Sainz of Scuderia Ferrari (1:20.294)