2014 Italian Grand Prix – The Grid: Hamilton for a Comeback, Williams for a Surprise?
A few hours before the start of the Italian Grand Prix race, MotorsInside presents you the starting grid, updated with the penalties.
After the qualifying session that took place on Saturday, the summary of which you can read on casinoenligne.uk.com, the editorial team offers you a recap of the starting grid.
Two penalties to report: first, a 10-place penalty for Daniil Kvyat after using his sixth thermal engine of the season, and then a penalty given after qualifying to Marcus Ericsson, who will have to start from the pit lane.
The tires
A blue sky storm is expected in Monza. The medium and hard tires haven’t shown a huge performance gap, and ultimately, everything could come down to their lifespan. Indeed, Pirelli predicts that the preferred strategy will be a one-stop, with two possible scenarios: starting on medium tires and stopping on lap 23 to switch to hard tires OR starting on hard tires and stopping on lap 30 to switch to mediums. The second option is slightly more exposed to traffic, however.
A higher than expected temperature could force drivers starting on mediums to make their first pit stop around laps 18 to 20.
The forces present
On a speed circuit, the presence of six Mercedes engines in the top six positions on the grid is not surprising.
The first two lines are not really surprising either: the Mercedes, still head and shoulders above the rest, locked out the front row to offer spectators and viewers a remake of the various Hamilton/Rosberg duels since the start of the season, in the context of the Spa collision. In this respect, it’s hard to imagine the two men will fight fiercely, but the truth on the track has often contradicted that of the behind-the-scenes. The second row is occupied by the cars that benefit most from engine-focused circuits, the Williams, which in race pace could, if not really challenge them, at least put pressure on the Silver Arrows.
Behind these four single-seaters, McLaren created a little surprise by taking the third row, right under the noses of Fernando Alonso and the Red Bulls. The battle should be relatively close between these three teams, although, in theory, Ferrari and RBR will have an advantage over the Woking cars in race pace.
| Driver | Team | Driver | Team | |
| 1 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | ||
| 2 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | ||
| 3 | V. Bottas | Williams | ||
| 4 | F. Massa | Williams | ||
| 5 | K. Magnussen | McLaren | ||
| 6 | J. Button | McLaren | ||
| 7 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | ||
| 8 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | ||
| 9 | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | ||
| 10 | S. Perez | Force India | ||
| 11 | K. Räikkönen | Ferrari | ||
| 12 | J.-E. Vergne | Toro Rosso | ||
| 13 | N. Hülkenberg | Force India | ||
| 14 | A. Sutil | Sauber | ||
| 15 | E. Gutierrez | Sauber | ||
| 16 | P. Maldonado | Lotus | ||
| 17 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | ||
| 18 | K. Kobayashi | Caterham | ||
| 19 | J. Bianchi | Marussia | ||
| 20 | M. Chilton | Marussia | ||
| 21 | D. Kvyat | Toro Rosso |
Marcus Ericsson will start from the pit lane.
