Formula 1

Hamilton Ends Pole Position Drought At Monza

2 Mins read

Lewis Hamilton has claimed his first pole position in eight races after outpacing Nico Rosberg in qualifying at Monza. The Briton has endured a miserable run of luck on Saturdays at recent races but returned to form this afternoon, beating his title rival by 0.274s

After seeing his teammate suffer from technical problems yesterday, it was Rosberg’s turn to be struck by bad luck as a gearbox problem ruled him out of final practice. The championship leader wasn’t disadvantaged in the opening two sessions and comfortably booked his place in the pole position shootout but didn’t have an answer for Hamilton when he got there.

Hamilton threw down the gauntlet straight away with a 1:24.109, some four tenths faster than his teammate, and despite threatening a fightback in the first sector of his last lap, Rosberg faded in the remainder of the circuit and could only manage a 1:24.383. Valtteri Bottas, who has looked a major force all weekend, was third quickest with his Williams teammate Felipe Massa ensuring a lockout of the second row for the Grove-based squad.

Row three will be an all-McLaren affair with Kevin Magnussen starting fifth after edging out Jenson Button in the dying seconds. The 2009 champion had looked the stronger of the two earlier in the afternoon but was demoted to sixth after a scruffy middle sector. The tifosi’s main hope will start on the fourth row with Fernando Alonso powerless to drag his Ferrari higher than seventh while the bragging rights within Red Bull went to Sebastian Vettel in eighth, three tenths quicker than Daniel Ricciardo.

The top ten was rounded out by Force India’s Sergio Perez, meaning there was no room for Kimi Raikkonen whose miserable season continues. Hopes were high for Kimi on his first Ferrari appearance at Monza since 2009 but the Finn was punted back to twelfth by Daniil Kvyat. The fact that the Russian will receive a ten place grid penalty, promoting Raikkonen, will have been scant consolation.

Jean-Eric Vergne and Nico Hulkenberg will start together on the seventh row after underwhelming performances from both with the two Saubers next up after beating Lotus to the last remaining spots in Q2. Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean will therefore have to start from seventeenth and eighteenth respectively with only the Caterhams and Marussias behind them.

 

FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO D’ITALIA 2014 – QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION
POS DRIVER TEAM TYRE LAP TIME 
1 44  LEWIS HAMILTON MERCEDES MEDIUM 1:24.109 Q3
2 6  NICO ROSBERG MERCEDES MEDIUM 1:24.383 Q3
3 77  VALTTERI BOTTAS WILLIAMS MERCEDES MEDIUM 1:24.697 Q3
4 19  FELIPE MASSA WILLIAMS MERCEDES MEDIUM 1:24.865 Q3
5 20  KEVIN MAGNUSSEN McLAREN MERCEDES MEDIUM 1:25.314 Q3
6 22  JENSON BUTTON McLAREN MERCEDES MEDIUM 1:25.379 Q3
7 14  FERNANDO ALONSO FERRARI MEDIUM 1:25.430 Q3
8 1  SEBASTIAN VETTEL RED BULL RACING RENAULT MEDIUM 1:25.436 Q3
9 3  DANIEL RICCIARDO RED BULL RACING RENAULT MEDIUM 1:25.709 Q3
10 11  SERGIO PEREZ FORCE INDIA MERCEDES MEDIUM 1:25.944 Q3
11 26  DANIIL KVYAT * STR RENAULT MEDIUM 1:26.070 Q2
12 7  KIMI RAIKKONEN FERRARI MEDIUM 1:26.110 Q2
13 25  JEAN-ERIC VERGNE STR RENAULT MEDIUM 1:26.157 Q2
14 27  NICO HULKENBERG FORCE INDIA MERCEDES MEDIUM 1:26.279 Q2
15 99  ADRIAN SUTIL SAUBER FERRARI MEDIUM 1:26.588 Q2
16 21  ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ SAUBER FERRARI MEDIUM 1:26.692 Q2
17 13  PASTOR MALDONADO LOTUS RENAULT MEDIUM 1:27.520 Q1
18 8  ROMAIN GROSJEAN LOTUS RENAULT MEDIUM 1:27.632 Q1
19 10  KAMUI KOBAYASHI CATERHAM RENAULT MEDIUM 1:27.671 Q1
20 17  JULES BIANCHI MARUSSIA FERRARI MEDIUM 1:27.738 Q1
21 4  MAX CHILTON MARUSSIA FERRARI MEDIUM 1:28.247 Q1
22 9  MARCUS ERICSSON CATERHAM RENAULT MEDIUM 1:28.562 Q1
* 10 PLACE GRID PENALTY

 

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