Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will start on pole position for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza after setting the fastest lap during qualifying on Saturday.
This is Hamilton’s seventh consecutive pole position and the 23rd for the Mercedes team - just one back of the record that Williams set from 1992-1993.
Hamilton topped a 10-car session at the Monza Circuit in Q3, which saw the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel qualify second and third ahead of Nico Rosberg in fourth. Row three will be shared by the Williams drivers ahead of Perez, Grosjean, Hulkenberg and Ericsson.
Among those unable to make it into the final qualifying session were Pastor Maldonado, Felipe Nasr, Carlos Sainz Jr. and the two Red Bull Racing teammates of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo - the latter of which has been plagued with engine issues throughout the weekend and didn’t set a lap in Q2.
There was drama at the end of the first qualifying session when the Toro Rosso team sent Max Verstappen out in the closing moments … and apparently hadn’t checked that all of the bolts were tight, as the bodywork covering the left sidepod ripped off on his hot lap in the Curve Grande.
Both McLarens and Manor Marussias were knocked out in Q1 along with Verstappen. Before this weekend, 17-year-old Verstappen had failed to qualify worse than 15th.
All Red Bull Racing, Toro Rosso and McLaren drivers will take penalties ahead of the Italian Grand Prix for engine changes.
