Italian Grand Prix – The prospects for the race
We had high expectations for Ferrari in front of their home crowd at Monza, and the qualifying session gave us a taste of what to expect for the Grand Prix. The team delivered by dominating the qualifications, setting the fastest times in Q2 and Q3, granting Leclerc the pole position.
Battle between Red Bull and Ferrari
There is no doubt that the battle will rage between Ferrari and Red Bull. The pole position was claimed by the Italian team with a brilliant performance by Leclerc. However, Verstappen was very close to dethroning him on the final lap. The driver finished only 2 hundredths behind the Monégasque, which ignited the crowd.
Verstappen will start from the 7th position due to his 5-place penalty for a change of parts on his engine. A slight setback that gives Leclerc an advantage for the start. But the Dutch driver has already shown that he can come back to the front of the race at any time, as he did in the two previous Grand Prix in Hungary starting from the 10th position and in Spa starting from the 14th position.
Mercedes out of the race.
The match between Red Bull and Ferrari will be without the third strong team of this championship. The Mercedes lack speed on this circuit and are quickly overtaken by the two constructors.
The German team found themselves behind the 4 Red Bull and Ferrari drivers in the 5th and 6th positions in qualifying. The drivers had a delay of over 1 second compared to the leaders, which doesn’t allow Mercedes to have high hopes for this Grand Prix. Not to mention the penalty on Hamilton, who will start from the back of the grid alongside Sainz and Tsunoda.
The first for De Vries
This weekend will be a first for De Vries. The young Dutch driver had to take Albon’s place at the last minute. The Williams driver is suffering from an appendicitis crisis and was unable to secure his spot.
It’s a golden opportunity for De Vries to show his potential and what he’s worth. During the qualifiers, he made a strong impression by participating in Q2 and finishing 13th. He managed to achieve a better time than his weekend teammate who failed to qualify for Q2. A promising first performance for the Dutchman.
A McLaren-Alpine duel
The duel continues this weekend between McLaren and Alpine. Despite the fact that Alpine has been dominant against the orange team since the end of the break, McLaren wants to perform better during the Italian Grand Prix.
During the qualifications, it was the British constructor who made the best impression. Both drivers participated in Q3 and ended up in 7th and 8th position. This gives hope to score points and catch up with Alpine.
On the French side, the team had quite a few difficulties. Esteban Ocon was eliminated in Q2, just missing out on Q3 by a few thousandths of a second behind his compatriot Gasly. Meanwhile, Alonso finished 10th in Q3, without setting a time. The Spanish driver had actually posted a good lap time, but it was invalidated due to exceeding track limits.
The Grand Prix promises to be tense and exciting, hoping for some suspense and a beautiful spectacle which has been lacking lately.
