F1 GP Italia, Qualifying: pole position for Raikkonen, front row all Ferrari

The magic with the Ferrari this time he did it Kimi Raikkonen, conquering the pole position of Italian GP, snatched by 161 thousandths from his teammate Hag, who will start next to him from the front row in the race tomorrow. Nothing could today Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton who had to surrender to the Reds, settling for third place ahead of the other standard bearer of the Silver Arrows. Ferrari e Mercedes therefore: as predicted, the fight tomorrow will be really tough, and who knows whether the Red fans, already delirious in the stands today at the conclusion of qualifying, may not continue with the celebrations even after the checkered flag. The top ten positions on the grid are completed with Bottas, Verstappen, Grosjean, Sainz, Ocon, Gasly and Stroll.

News – Q1 – A few drops of rain wet the track a few minutes before the start, but qualifying started on slick tyres, with Hartley and the two Ferraris leaving the pits a few minutes after the traffic lights came on in the pit lane. The first times did not take long to arrive: Leclerc Hartley Vettel and Raikkonen alternated at the top, with the Finn setting a time of 1:20.937. All the riders in this first session are on the supersoft compound. Hamilton gets behind Kimi but then Vettel takes the lead in 1:20.758, then adjusted to 1:20.542, with his teammate dropping back to the rear, 2 tenths behind. Ricciardo is the last to stop the clock, and enters fourth position, while the checkered flag waves and the following are eliminated: Perez, Leclerc, Hartley, Ericsson and Vandoorne.

Q2 – At the restart, the first to leave the pits was Grosjean, who shortly afterwards stopped the clock at 1:21.567. Only Alonso rides the used supersoft. Vettel takes the lead and clocks 1:19.785. After a short break in the pits, the drivers flock to the track, all except Ricciardo, who will still start last. Vettel drops to 1:19.629, while Alonso and Magnussen find themselves wheel to wheel at the first chicane, where neither of them intends to give way to the other - the episode will be investigated at the end of qualifying -. The checkered flag sends both of them back to the pits, as well as Sirotkin, Hulkenberg and Ricciardo.

Q3 – Vettel, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Bottas, Grosjean, Ocon, Stroll, Sainz and Gasly remain fighting for pole position. Grosjean Ocon and Gasly are first in the pit lane, the Frenchman from STR is the only one with used supersofts. First time for Ocon, overtaken immediately afterwards by Grosjean. Vettel takes the lead, then Kimi improves the reference time and Hamilton does even better, on provisional pole in 1:19.390, setting a new track record. The leading trio follows Bottas, Verstappen, Sainz, Grosjean, Ocon, Gasly and Stroll. Everyone heads to the pits before the final sprint. At the restart, Bottas is ahead of Hamilton, Vettel ahead of Raikkonen. Hamilton crosses the finish line and drops to 1:19.294, but Vettel's Ferrari snatches pole from him... only until Kimi Raikkonen does even better! The Ferrari Finn is in pole position for the Italian GP in 1:19.119, ahead of Vettel and Hamilton.

F1 GP Italia – Times, results and qualifying laps