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We’re about half an hour away from lights out at Monza, so please do get in touch via the link at the top if you have any thoughts on today’s race.
Lewis Hamilton looks much happier than before the mid-season break and the nadir of Hungary. While he may not be the most comfortable yet in his Ferrari, he is clearly loving being a driver for the team especially in Italy. Nico Rosberg, a former teammate at Mercedes, is yet to an improvement in Hamilton’s form and pointed to his crash at Zandvoort as evidence of a driver not completely in tune with his vehicle, but looking at the Briton filming the tifosi from the presentation lap he soaking it all in. “It’s only your first time once,” he tells Sky on the coverage.
The full grid for the Italian GP
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Lando Norris (McLaren)
3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5. George Russell (Mercedes)
6. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
7. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
8. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
9. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
10. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
11. Oliver Bearman (Haas)
12. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
13. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
14. Alex Albon (Williams)
15. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
16. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
17. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
18. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
19. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
20. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – pit lane
Preamble
Last week at Zandvoort was Max Verstappen’s home race but with his last win this season coming at Imola and now having set the fastest-ever lap in Formula One history at Monza it’s pretty clear that this Dutchman is pretty happy to live la dolce vita.
Verstappen seemed non-plussed about having achieved his record feat. He said: “Honestly, I didn’t even think about that when I crossed the line, but it’s nice. It didn’t feel too bad. The cars have been fun. They are pretty decent in the high speed [corners]. They’re quite quick in a straight line. Of course, the low speed [corners], that’s where we lose out compared to the previous generation. And yeah, on some tracks you can do these lap records now. Also, the new tarmac helps around here, kerbing. Like, the kerbs opened up a little bit.“
McLaren’s race this season is such that even Verstappen cannot be sure of converting his pole into a victory but he seemed optimistic after a qualifying P1 where he averaged 164.44mph to post a time of 1min 18.792secs.
Lando Norris had just what is now the second fastest lap ever at Monza when Verstappen came through to take pole and the British driver, who has developed a bad habit of failing to deliver in the key moments. Last week at Zandvoort he had been the fastest throughout qualifying only to fall behind teammate Oscar Piastri in the last session.
Piastri qualified third ahead of the two Ferraris, but Lewis Hamilton was hit with a five-place grid penalty. Hamilton starts tenth with Mercedes’ George Russell, his teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda making up the rest of the top ten.
