Italy – Qualifications: Hamilton tames the temple of speed!

The weather is clear in Monza as the thirteenth qualifying session of the 2012 Formula 1 World Championship season is about to begin. Besides the absence of Romain Grosjean due to suspension, replaced by Jérôme D’Ambrosio, Pastor Maldonado will have to drop ten places following various incidents at Spa, and Paul di Resta five places due to a gearbox change, on the grid tomorrow.

Q1: The track is open and the first driver to take his chance is Daniel Ricciardo in his Toro Rosso, fitted with hard (silver) tires. The other type of tire brought here by Pirelli is the medium, with a white band. 1:26.760 for the Australian, edged out by D’Ambrosio by a few thousandths. Paul di Resta takes the lead with 1:25.384, before Rosberg improves by nearly two tenths. Hülkenberg, after going straight at the first chicane, stops his car: « I can’t change gears, I’ve lost everything, » the German tells his pit.

Fernando Alonso takes the lead with a time of 1:25.540, two tenths ahead of Rosberg. The McLarens and Pastor Maldonado still haven’t set a time with ten minutes remaining. Alonso continues to improve, clocking the best times in all three sectors to achieve 1:24.175. Rosberg is pushed back by five tenths, and Lewis Hamilton by six, although the Brit didn’t have a clean lap, making a mistake while braking at the second chicane.

Seven minutes before the end of Q1, Alonso is ahead of Hamilton by 0.036 seconds, followed by Rosberg, Di Resta, Massa, Vettel, Senna, Räikkönen, Button, and Pérez. However, the 2009 champion moves up to third place and Maldonado to eighth. D’Ambrosio puts on medium tires to get out of the danger zone, securing 17th place and a sufficient margin to be safe from the Caterhams. Only the back-of-the-grid teams are on track in these final seconds; the front teams are calmly in the pits waiting for Q2, with Michael Schumacher visibly relaxed.

The surprise of this first part is the elimination of Nico Hülkenberg, who fell victim to a mechanical problem and was unable to complete even one lap. The Force India driver is still expected to participate in the race tomorrow in view of the times he achieved during the various practice sessions of this Grand Prix.

**Eliminated in Q1:** Kovalainen, Petrov, Glock, Pic, Karthikeyan, De la Rosa, and Hülkenberg.

Q2: Jean Alesi, present in the paddocks on behalf of RAI, observes that the queue for this second part of the session is more crowded since Di Resta and Räikkönen are already on track. The Scotsman has fitted medium tires on his Force India for these initial laps and clocks 1:24.668, five tenths ahead of Räikkönen. Alonso leads the pack with a time of 1:24.242. Massa falls short by two tenths of his teammate, while Button also struggles against the Spaniard for 13 thousandths.

Hamilton takes the provisional third place halfway through the session, 153 thousandths behind the Ferrari. The Red Bulls seem to be in trouble: Webber cannot escape the danger zone, while Vettel is only ninth. Nonetheless, with fourteen drivers within eight-tenths, nothing is decided yet. On the other hand, for Toro Rosso and Jérôme D’Ambrosio, the gap is larger, between 1.5 and 2 seconds, before the second round of timed laps. Kobayashi improves, as does Maldonado. Both drivers place ninth and tenth, temporarily excluding Vettel from the Top 10. The German, however, manages to secure his spot in Q3, while Webber does not! But the standout of Q2 is Paul di Resta, who clocks the third-fastest time in the final minutes and qualifies for Q3, even though he will have to drop five places on the grid.

Eliminated in Q2: Webber, Maldonado, Pérez, Senna, Ricciardo, D’Ambrosio, and Vergne.

Q3: The last part of the session has started, and much to the delight of the tifosi, it’s the Ferraris setting the pace, with Alonso ahead of Massa! The two men work together to catch the slipstream, and it’s Massa who sets the initial time at 1:24.436, with Alonso drafting him just before “Ascari.” Vettel falls six tenths short of the Brazilian, Button by 43 thousandths, but Hamilton takes the lead with 1:24.010. Alonso makes a mistake in his first serious lap and has to pit to change tires.

Now it’s the turn of the Mercedes, Räikkönen’s Lotus, and Vettel’s Red Bull to hit the track. Rosberg seizes fourth place, but Schumacher snatches it from him shortly after. Räikkönen records the sixth fastest time, ahead of Vettel and just behind the two Mercedes. Kobayashi takes eighth place. Di Resta is the last to set a time, and what a time it is: the Scotsman takes second place, nearly three-tenths behind Hamilton’s McLaren!

Last round of timed laps: Alonso missed the first chicane and takes tenth place, Button takes second position, and Massa secures his third place. Behind the three men, Di Resta made a very strong impression by placing his Force India among the McLarens, Ferraris, and Mercedes. Vettel is sixth and thus precedes the championship leader, promising to be an exciting race.

Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari actually suffered from a rear anti-roll bar problem during his first attempt in Q3, making a better result impossible.

Results of the 2012 Italian Grand Prix Qualifying: