Italy – Qualifications: Hamilton back on pole ahead of Rosberg, Räikkönen disappoints

Who will take pole position in the Temple of Speed? The answer in a little over an hour while the sun shines brightly above the Monza Autodrome.

Q1: The Marussia and Caterham are launching an attack on the Lombard track. Nico Rosberg, who has hardly driven in the morning, quickly joins them. Lewis Hamilton is not far behind. At Lotus, Romain Grosjean’s car is not ready; the mechanics continue to work around it. The driver is helmeted but out of his single-seater.

The first times are set but the first true benchmark is given by Fernando Alonso with 1:26.514, immediately improved by six tenths by Rosberg then Hamilton with 1:25.571. Massa falls short by 36 thousandths, all on hard tires. Hamilton and Massa engage in a thrilling duel for the best time in this Q1 with the Brazilian taking the lead by 43 thousandths, before Rosberg positions himself at the top of the timesheet, seven minutes from the end, with 1:25.493.

Hamilton isn’t stopping there and improves the best time by 0.130 seconds, still on hard tires. Grosjean finally takes to the track with five minutes left, equipped with medium tires, which the drivers are beginning to use. The Saubers, the Marussias, and the Lotuses are expected to battle to get into Q2. Maldonado and Grosjean are unable to get out of the elimination zone before their last attempt: for the Venezuelan, it’s the end as his team informs him of a gearbox issue, and for the Frenchman, it’s only the 18th place. They fall more than five-tenths short of the Saubers. At the last moment, Kobayashi manages to gain an advantage over Bianchi.

**Eliminated in Q1:** Maldonado, Grosjean, Kobayashi, Bianchi, Chilton, and Ericsson.

Q2: Nico Hülkenberg is the first on the track: in fact, he has Monza to himself for nearly three minutes. After 5 minutes, Rosberg takes the lead with 1:24.682, Bottas is two tenths behind, and Massa three tenths behind. Hamilton waits until mid-session to start his first flying lap, just like Vettel and Ricciardo. For the Brit, it’s the best time, one tenth ahead of his teammate. Vettel and Ricciardo take the 8th and 9th positions.

In the final attempt, Rosberg improves his time but falls short behind his teammate by 40 thousandths. Behind him, Räikkönen is in great danger and fails to escape the red zone! Special mention for Pérez, who takes 8th place and knocks out the Finn, who made a braking error at the second chicane.

Eliminated in Q2: Kvyat, Räikkönen, Vergne, Hülkenberg, Sutil, and Gutierrez.

Q3: Pérez is the first on track: he sets 1:26.230. Behind him, Rosberg and Bottas are the first top drivers to set a time: 1:24.552 for the first, while the second falls short by more than a tenth. Massa is three-tenths behind Rosberg, but notably, Hamilton improves the provisional best time by clocking 1:24.109! The provisional top 10 consists of Hamilton, Rosberg, Bottas, Massa, Button, Vettel, Alonso, Magnussen, Ricciardo, and Pérez.

But the second round can change things: two minutes and thirty seconds before the checkered flag, the drivers gradually leave the pits. Bottas and Rosberg are once again the first of the leaders to set a time: the Finn doesn’t improve and the German doesn’t do better than Hamilton! The pole is for Lewis Hamilton!