Mercedes power leads the way at Monza as Lewis Hamilton sets the pace to claim his second pole position in three races as the Red Bulls get ready for more damage limitation.
Since the emasculation of Hockenheim, Monza is the only ultra-low downforce circuit remaining on the F1 calendar. That meant most teams were struggling to get heat into their prime tyres over one timed lap, leading to the rather unusual situation of two hot laps being the norm for most of the session.
First Session
Hamilton stayed in the garage for the first half of Q1 but when the McLaren did venture onto the track it was immediately quick. He went fastest straight away, despite a somewhat scruffy lap – ominous for the competition. At the other end of the field Toyota and their Williams customers were struggling. As were the Toro Rossos and Ferrari new boy Giancarlo Fisichella. With an unfamiliar car, an unfamiliar team and a strange, new KERS button, Fisi was always going to struggle, but damaging his car in third practice and subsequently losing running had made the situation worse. Fortunately, talent made up for a lack of preparation and he pulled himself clear.
Jaime Alguersuari duly finished in last place, still struggling to get to grips with the low-downforce version of the Toro Rosso. He would probably have started 20th regardless, having received a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change. Team-mate Sébastien Buemi will line up alongside him in 19th. Buemi would have hoped for better, but his final run was spoilt by having to avoid Hamilton at the Rettifllo chicane, and, in turn affected Timo Glock’s final flier. The stewards took a look afterwards, but decided nothing improper had happened, and both Buemi and Glock were out, along with the Williams, which once again demonstrated their difficulties in a low-downforce configuration.
Getty Images/Red Bull Photofiles
Second Session
Q2 began with the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber setting the pace, but yellow flags were soon being waved as Nick Heidfeld parked his BMW-Sauber following an engine failure. While Monza is renowned as an engine killer, the fact team-mate Robert Kubica soon came past the pits with a powertrain sounding like a bag full of hammers suggested the issue lay with the engine rather than the track: both men were using brand new powerplants. It left 13 runners fighting for ten places. Romain Grosjean, Fisichella and the returning Vitantonio Liuzzi were the ones in danger as everyone started a final run. Fisichella and Grosjean failed to pull themselves clear, but Tonio put in a wonderful, last gasp lap right on the ragged edge which dragged him up to fifth, one place and one-tenth behind his team-mate Adrian Sutil. The man displaced was Jarno Trulli.
Third Session
The last five races have seen five different men on pole. One of them, Hamilton, set the early pace in Q3 only to be displaced by Kimi Räikkönen, much to the delight of the crowd. Vettel nipped into second position, but Hamilton, with improving tyres set purple sectors and retook top spot. It wasn’t entirely clear which was the tyre to be on, with Bridgestone suggesting there was only one tenth of a second between them. Mostly it came down to individual choice – Fernando Alonso notably aborting a run on the option tyre to come back in for the harder compound. Sutil, also on the harder, spent one timed-lap weaving desperately to get heat into his rubber. It paid off, as with seconds to go the Force India took P1. As the Silverstone team started to celebrate, Hamilton arrived to spoil the party.
The Cahier Archive/Red Bull Photofiles
After the session the rumour was that Rubens Barrichello might take a new gearbox – and consequent penalty – to get rid of the unit that was damaged when his car caught fire at Spa, but the driver claimed he’d rather stick with the one that took him to fifth – ahead of team-mate Button. As the teams began packing down their garages for the day, the rain began to fall, and with more forecast for tomorrow, the Italian Grand Prix has plenty of twists left to turn – but on Saturday afternoon it was McLaren who were singin’ in the rain.
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