2023 F1 Italian Grand Prix: Full lineup for main race at Monza as Carlos Sainz takes pole position

Modified Sep 02, 2023 16:20 GMT

Italy F1 GP Auto Racing — Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz in the Italian Grand Prix Auto Racing (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Formula 1 has arrived at Monza, the home of the Tifosi for the 2023 Italian Grand Prix. The qualifying session on Saturday, September 2, witnessed an intense battle for the pole position between the crowd-favorite Ferrari duo and reigning champion Max Verstappen.

The fight for the pole position came down to the final run of the Q3 session, which saw Carlos Sainz put a sensational lap to top the charts ahead of Verstappen by one-hundredth of a second. His teammate Charles Leclerc was close behind in third position and will start on the second row.

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The ATA (Alternate Tire Allocation) rules spiced up the qualifying session but the familiar names topped the charts without providing any major upsets in the session. It was the second weekend after the Hungarian GP, where drivers had to use Hard tires for Q1, Mediums for Q2, and Softs for Q3.

After the highs of the podium finish at Zandvoort last weekend, Pierre Gasly was knocked out in the Q1 session along with his Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon, as they struggled for raw speed. Lance Stroll was the slowest and will start 10 places behind his teammate.

Drivers had run the medium tires in the Q2 session, where Lewis Hamilton seemed to be in trouble but he managed to drag his Mercedes to the Q3 session in his final effort. Liam Lawson continued his impressive run as his lap was one and a half tenths slower than teammate Yuki Tsunoda as both of them share the sixth row.

The soft shod Q1 session witnessed lap times tumble as they fought for pole position. Aston Martin seemed to be lacking pace as Fernando Alonso posted the slowest time of the top 10 runners. Lewis Hamilton was slower than George Russell throughout the session and could only manage the eighth-fastest time.

McLaren duo Lando Norris started ninth with his rookie teammate after starting ahead of him in seventh. Alex Albon continued his giant-killing performances as he lines up sixth on the grid, beside Sergio Perez. Russell dragged his Mercedes W14 to fourth position in the Italian Grand Prix.

Carlos Sainz, who had been setting the pace since the practice session, continued his momentum to the all-important qualifying session. Charles Leclerc posted the quickest time to take provisional pole, which was then beaten by Max Verstappen.

Sainz was last of the trio to take the checkered flag, as he stormed to pole position to the joy of the Tifosi gathered in the stands. The crowd erupted in celebration after seeing the Ferrari duo securing first and third position for the Italian Grand Prix.