McLaren Lock Out Monza Front Row

It was a very exciting qualifying session with the top four teams getting their respective pairs of drivers into the first eight spots on the Monza grid, in the order, of McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, in what was an eight-way fight from start to finish.

Lando Norris came out on top to secure his fifth pole position, the fourth this season and the second in a row after taking the number one slot in Zandvoort a week ago. The McLaren driver’s best time was a 1’19”327. He was followed by team-mate Oscar Piastri (1’19”436). This was the Woking team’s 160th pole position and its first front-row lockout at the Italian Grand Prix since 2012, on that occasion with Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

On the second row, we find the Mercedes of George Russell (1’19”440) and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc (1’19”461). Just two other drivers got under the 1’20” barrier, Carlos Sainz (Ferrari, 1’19”467) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes, 1’19”513). Behind them, there’s a gap of over half a second to the Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen (1’20”022) ahead of Sergio Perez (1’20”062).

The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented to Norris by Javier Zanetti, the Vice-president of FC Internazionale Milano and former player and flag bearer for the aforementioned team. The Argentinian’s career featured five Italian championships, four Coppa Italia and the same number of Supercoppa Italiana wins, one Champions League title, one UEFA Cup and one Club World Cup, all playing for Inter, for whom he made a record 858 appearances.

Again in the third free practice session, the C3 was hardly used: only Aston Martin, Racing Bulls and Sauber scrubbed in their available sets (Tsunoda just the one, while Zhou just did an installation lap with a set). It is further confirmation that the hardest of the three compounds Pirelli has brought to Monza is the most suitable for the race.

In qualifying, the Soft dominated proceedings, proving to be the perfect compound for a flying lap at this track, providing maximum performance on the first timed lap. However, some drivers managed to improve even on used sets, but that was more down to track evolution than to the C5’s ability to recover performance even on a longer run.

Lando Norris – P1

“Another pole, which is amazing. To have a first and second in Qualifying is a little bit of a surprise when the field has been as tight as it has all weekend. The team has done an amazing job. It would be great to replicate this tomorrow, but it’s been very, very close on track. There are a lot of very quick drivers behind in quick cars, so I’m not expecting an easy race. There’s also plenty of question marks over the tyre degradation on the new tarmac – so lots of unknowns for us but plenty of excitement for the fans.”

Oscar Piastri – P2

“The first lap in Q3 was quite good, but the second was not quite there. However, it was still a good performance and a really good team effort. The field’s been incredibly tight this weekend, there was no guarantee of a front-row lock-out for us, so it’s an amazing effort to be able to pull that off. After the resurfacing, it’s been a little bit different to what we’re used to in Monza, and with such a tight field at the front, I think tomorrow’s race will be very exciting.”

George Russell – P3

“P3 was a good result today. It was very tight out there between several teams so starting on the second row is not a bad place to be. It took me a little bit of time to get the most out of the car; we looked at how to get the best out of the tyres and I saved my two best laps for last. To be just one tenth off pole position is a little frustrating but overall, we can be happy with our Saturday.

“The McLarens are very quick at the moment. It is super impressive. Hopefully we can challenge them into the first corner and get ahead. If we can’t, I think it will be difficult to race them tomorrow. It is very hot out there though and the tyres are suffering. It will be interesting to see what impact that has on the Grand Prix.”

Mario Isola – Pirelli Director of Motorsport

“A great qualifying session, very closely contested by this season’s top four teams with the championship looking more open than ever. McLaren confirmed it has the most versatile car at this point in the season, taking pole at the very tight and twisty Zandvoort, in rather cool conditions and now at the Temple of Speed on a typically hot Italian summer’s day.

“In fact, temperatures will play an important role in the race, with conditions tomorrow forecast to be similar to today’s and that definitely won’t help teams and drivers when it comes to tyre management. Graining could still be a factor, which could open the door to a possible two-stop strategy. That is why, apart from ensuring they have an additional option in the event of a neutralisation, all the drivers, with the exception of Tsunoda, have chosen to keep two sets of Hards for the race. On paper, the very long Monza pit lane usually means that a one-stop is almost obligatory here: so a strategy based on using one set of the C4 and one of the C3, stopping between laps 20 and 26 is the quickest. Although the opposite usage would work for those thinking of running a longer first stint, stopping between laps 26 and 32. This year however, a two-stop cannot be ruled out, running one set of Medium and two of Hard. Honestly, I think everyone will try and run a one-stop, trying to manage the tyres especially in the opening laps of each stint to avoid stressing them too much, while aware they have a Plan B up their sleeve thanks to having two sets of Hard.

“Finally, I’m pleased to report that our simulations prior to qualifying as to the pole position times (1’19”1, in cooler temperatures than were actually experienced) were substantially proved to be correct, even in unusual circumstances, as we had very little data available relating to the track surface as it was completely new.”