Monaco’s Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will take pole position at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza with the fastest time in practice on Saturday ahead of Dutch world champion and reigning leader Max Verstappen who finished second, but he will start from seventh to punish him by giving five seats back because his engine was changed.
Verstappen is 109 points clear of Leclerc and Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez and is favorite for his second consecutive world title.
Spaniard Carlos Sainz starts from last position after changing more than one part on his car, similar to British Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who will be joined by Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda (Alfataori) and his former teammate, Finn Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo). ).
Verstappen, the winner of the last four races, is moving steadily and steadily towards retaining the world title, and if he manages to get his fifth win in a row on Sunday at the Ferrari stronghold, he could take the title in the world championship as well. the seventeenth round in Singapore or the next one in Japan, which means the coronation before five or four races at the end of the season.
The 24-year-old Dutchman and his Austrian team know that Sunday’s victory at the Italian circuit will kill any hope that Ferrari will win its first league title since 2007.
Called the “temple of speed”, the Monsta track is characterized by giving drivers the opportunity to overtake in more than one place.
After the tests, Leclerc said: “This is amazing. Qualification was not easy at all. I knew my car was very competitive. I hope to repeat what happened at this track in 2019 (first place).”
Starting schedule:
1 – Charles Leclerc (Monaco/Ferrari)
2 – George Russell (UK/Mercedes)
3 – Lando Norris (Great Britain/McLaren)
4 – Daniel Ricciardo (Australia/McLaren)
5 – Pierre Gasly (France/El Fatoury)
6 – Fernando Alonso (Spain/Alpine region)
7 – Max Verstappen (Netherlands/Red Bull)
8 – Nick de Vries (Netherlands/Williams)
9 – Ju Guanyu (China / Alfa Romeo)
10 – Nicholas Latifi (Canada/Williams)
11 – Sebastian Vettel (Germany/Aston Martin)
12 – Lance Stroll (Canada/Aston Martin)
13 – Sergio Perez (Mexico/Red Bull)
14 – Esteban Ocon (France/Alpine region)
15 – Valtteri Bottas (Finland/Alfa Romeo)
16 – Kevin Magnussen (Denmark/Haas)
17 – Mick Schumacher (Germany/Haas)
18 – Carlos Sainz (Spain/Ferrari)
19 – Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain/Mercedes)
20 – Yuki Tsunoda (Japan/Fatori)
