"In Monza the atmosphere is always incredible . I hope to repeat the victory of 2019 ". Charles Leclerc smiles and greets the audience after taking his 17th pole position , his second in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. "It's fantastic but it wasn't easy. I'm very happy with my lap, I took some risks and it worked . Tomorrow I'll try to give everything and take the win home," he explained at the end of the race.
The Monegasque set the best time in qualifying (1'20'161 ''), ahead of Max Verstappen , who set the second best time , but the Red Bull driver will start further back on the grid for a penalty. Third time for Carlos Sainz with the other Ferrari, who will start 18th on the grid too for penalties, and fourth for Perez. "It hurts to start so far behind with this very competitive car - explained Sainz -. It would have been really nice to start from the front tomorrow to get a double". "I did not have the slipstream in the second lap of Q3 - adds the Spanish Ferrari driver - and this did not allow me to compete for pole position".
The starting grid of the race is affected by other penalties , which involve a total of nine riders .
Leclerc preceded Verstappen by 145 thousandths and his teammate by 268. Next to the Monegasque in the front row, George Russell will start tomorrow, with the Mercedes that had set the sixth fastest time, just behind Hamilton. McLaren couple with the seventh and eighth time of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. Ninth time for Pierre Gasly with AlphaTauri, while Fernando Alonso was unable to set a time.
(Unioneonline / vl)
