Leclerc puts Ferrari on pole at Monza: 2022 Italian GP qualifying

With four of the top six drivers in this year’s championship hit by grid penalties, Charles Leclerc was always likely to start the Italian Grand Prix on pole. But he didn’t just inherit the place, he delighted the tifosi by seizing it on merit.

In a yellow-liveried car that nodded to Monza‘s centenary, plus a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, Leclerc found clear air on his final run, admitted to taking “much more risks” and catapulted to the top of the timesheet.

The roar of the crowd only grew as Max Verstappen crossed the line 0.145sec slower to confirm the Ferrari pole.

Leclerc will start alongside George Russell, who qualified sixth, as grid penalties demote the drivers in between: Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton.

In total, nine drivers are taking penalties this weekend for new engine parts and gearboxes.

Unexpectedly taking part in qualifying was Nyck De Vries, the Williams reserve driver who was called up to replace an appendicitis-stricken Alex Albon on Saturday morning.

He did his hopes of a permanent seat no harm at all by outqualifying team-mate Nicholas Latifi and making it into Q2.

At the circuit where he won last year, Daniel Ricciardo made it into the final ten, qualifying eighth behind team-mate Lando Norris.

At the other end of the grid, neither of the Aston Martins or Haas cars made it out of Q1.

Grid penalties for the 2022 Italian Grand Prix

2022 Italian Grand Prix Q1 session

With Carlos Sainz due to start at the back of the grid, Ferrari put its towing plans into practice immediately in Q1. Leclerc followed Sainz on his hot lap, which took the Monégasque to the top of the timesheet, only 0.068sec ahead of his team-mate who also had a slight tow on the lap.

The team used the same tactic at the French Grand Prix when Sainz was also due to start at the back of the grid, but got through to Q3 and towed Leclerc to pole.

Williams was also experimenting with the tow; Nyck De Vries led Nicholas Latifi, but set a time that was two-hundredths better than the Canadian.

Max Verstappen hit the top with just under six minutes to go, with a 1min 20.922sec lap, 0.36sec ahead of Leclerc, then Sainz, Perez and Russell.

Two seconds further back was Kevin Magnussen in 16th, the first of the drivers facing elimination along with Bottas, Stroll, Schumacher and Vettel.

Magnussen’s attempt to escape the drop zone was good enough for 11th but deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 7, the second Lesmo.

Both Red Bulls and Ferraris remained in the pits for the final runs, which saw both Aston Martins fail to escape elimination. They were joined by the Haas pair, after Magnussen had a second lap deleted and Schumacher missed the first chicane.

Latifi also ran off at Turn 1, while De Vries improved but had the lap time deleted. It meant that his earlier two-hundredth advantage over Latifi carried him through into Q2 at the expense of his more experienced team-mate.

The top five were unchanged at the end of the session, and were followed by Zhou Guanyu who popped up in sixth.

2022 Italian Grand Prix Q2 session

Sainz picked up a tow on his first run to set the pace with a 1min 20.878sec lap that was 0.4sec faster than Verstappen’s attempt, which put the Red Bull driver second.

Leclerc missed the Turn 1 chicane on his first flying lap, and had a small slide on his second, but was second on the board with 5min of the sessions remaining, 3.3sec behind his team-mate.

Fighting for their places in Q3 were Bottas in 11th and 0.9sec off Sainz’s time, ahead of De Vries, Zhou, Ricciardo and Tsunoda.

Once again, Ferrari and Red Bull sat out the final runs, confident that their sizeable gap to the rest of the pack would suffice for Q3. Perez, in fourth, with a 1min 21.358sec lap was 0.35sec ahead of Hamilton in fifth.

Tsunoda also remained in the pits, and would play no part in Q3. Soon afterwards, De Vries joined him when he locking up into the Turn 4 chicane and ruined his flying lap.

The Alfa Romeos were also eliminated, along with Esteban Ocon, which spared Pierre Gasly in 10th.

There was no change at the top: the two Ferraris followed by a pair of Red Bulls, the two Mercedes — Hamilton ahead of Russell — and both McLarens with Norris just two-hundredths of a second ahead of Ricciardo.

2022 Italian Grand Prix Q3 session

Perhaps it was the negligible benefit that Ferrari saw in Q1, but in the session where it really mattered, the team didn’t employ Sainz to tow Leclerc along and it was the Spaniard that followed his team-mate on the flying lap, crossing the line 0.2sec faster with a 1min 20.584sec time.

Verstappen was almost 0.3sec behind the Spaniard in third.

George Russell, almost half a second down on Sainz, complained that he was sliding around because his tyres weren’t getting up to temperature. There was a similar issue for Fernando Alonso, who pitted without setting a time on his first run.

The Alpine driver was first to emerge back out of the pits for the final laps of qualifying.

Leclerc was once again in clear air, with Sainz up the road; Norris tucked up behind in search of a slipstream.

Sainz improved his time by 0.15sec, but Leclerc demolished his previous best, crossing the line with a 1min 20.161sec lap that earned a roar from the tifosi, drowned out a few seconds later when Verstappen arrived with a time that was more than a tenth slower.

2022 Italian Grand Prix qualifying results