Monza crashed Leclerc into the pole

The crowd rose and began to cheer. This time it’s fun. No sorrow and sadness. Monza It was a scream, non-stop clapping, hands the same color as his heart. Ferrari red. They were speechless as they encouraged their men. charles leclerc, poleman in Italian GP of F1 Y Carlos Sainz who starts 18th (via penalty) after fighting for pole and ends up 3rd on the time table due to the lack of a slipstream at the end.

It was so bad I had to do it Charles to not achieve this because all his rivals from above and his teammate Sainz had grid position penalties due to changes in engine elements. Y Max, 5 penalty posts. It doesn’t matter what the expectations are. He also wanted it to be fair and he passed him at the horn on his last lap by overtaking Verstappen (2nd) and a sainz (3rd) who dominated until the last attempt. “Thank you. Tomorrow I will fight so that victory stays at home”, Leclerc told his fans. It caused excitement when Verstappen also appeared to be faster in one lap this weekend.

GRILLE OUTPUT

Of the penalties already applied:

1. C. LECLERC (Ferrari) 1’20”161
2. Mr. RUSSELL (Mercedes) 1’21”542
3. L. NORRIS (McLaren) 1’21”584
4. M. VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull) 1’20”306
5. D. RICCIARDO (McLaren) 1’21”925
6. P. GASLY (AlphaTauri) 1’22”648
7. F. ALONSO (Alpine) No time in Q3
8. Nyck de VRIES (Williams) 1’22”471 -REPLACED ALBON-
9. Mr. ZHOU (Alfa Romeo) 1’22”577
10. S. PEREZ (Red Bull) 1’21”206
11. N. LATIFI (Williams) 1’22”587
12. E. OCON (Alpine) 1’22”130
13. S. VETTEL (Aston Martin) 1’22”636
14. L. STROLL (Aston Martin) 1’22”748
15. V. BOTTAS (Alfa Romeo) 1’22”235
16. K. MAGNUSSEN (Haas) 1’22”908
17. M. SCHUMACHER (Haas) 1’23”005
18. C. SAINZ (Ferrari) 1’20”429
19. L. HAMILTON (Mercedes) 1’21”524
20. Y. TSUNODA (AlphaTauri) Timeless

A pole that gives faith and illusion to Italians

On the other side of this, Verstappen He was still the favorite this Sunday starting in 4th position (he was 2nd but had 5 penalty positions and gained places due to other penalties). Ferrari had to have something to celebrate in order to show off the shield they wear on their chest. Everyone knows that Max will come to Leclerc this Sunday, but no one knows if Charles will be able to defend himself.

A priori, Max has everything in hand to win. That’s what reason says. But it’s not about math, or data, or rhythm. It is about passion, emotion and heart. Many hearts. Don’t stop believing, no matter how bad it looks. That’s the philosophy of the tifosi. Many in Monza dream of living in the present, because thinking about tomorrow can dispel their illusion. The tifosi celebrated jubilantly as if it were a victory, an absolute ‘we’re here and we won’t give up’ should this Sunday happen as everyone thinks it will. This is called living in the moment. ‘Carpe Diem’. And tomorrow is another day. Unsurprisingly, before Q3 the famous ‘Nessun Dorma’ was played on the Monza public address system. “In your cold room, you look at the stars, trembling with love and hope”, says this song. “Vincero!” chant of the fans. And so they believe.

Verstappen, race faster

Verstappen flew at race pace in Free Practice. It is faster on all wheels. It has a rocket with engineers and mechanics worthy of NASA, while Ferrari is nothing more than a great car with a team that has a lot to improve. Different weapons that could tip the balance this Sunday in favor of the World Cup leader, who with 10 wins in 15 races, after winning four of the last four races, will look for poker again to get closer to a World Cup that has all the looks you can get in no time.

But the doubt remains that perhaps Ferrari, knowing that a win here saves its time, decided to take a risk and put all the power into its engine even if it could harm its engine reliability.

Ferrari will fight to prevent Max from continuing his party at the ‘Temple of Speed’, trying to take advantage of any opportunity the race gives him, show his pride in front of the fans and infect himself with the faith that characterizes the tifosi How much. They always believed it was possible. But the battle between Ferrari and Max is a dwarf against a giant. Something different had to happen in the race for the Italians to win. But in Monza nothing can be granted. That is what keeps hope alive. Nobody would have said that last year Ricciardo would have taken victory by double from McLaren after seeing how Verstappen got into Hamilton’s car. Nor Gasly’s victory in 2020 over Sainz’s then McLaren. At Monza things can happen and ‘Safety’ can make the match better.

Sainz shines and returns

Carlos Sainz will start from the bottom of the grid due to an engine change. But for now, he took it upon himself to remind Italian fans of something they sometimes seem to forget: Leclerc isn’t the only one who could be a champion one day. Carlos wants to do it and so far he is performing at almost the same level as the Monegasque. He proved it with a perfect classification. He remained in Q1 68 thousandths from Leclerc’s best time, and in his first attempt in Q2 he set the fastest time on old rubber, beating Leclerc by 0.358. Carlos sent the message he was supposed to. Also in Q3, marking a large first sector while giving Leclerc a slipstream, again crossing the finish line in front of Charles with an advantage of 0″186 from Charles and a margin of 0″275 on Verstappen. His first attempt could have given him a pole had he not had a penalty.

The fans got the message. And in this race he is preparing for his big goal. He wants to fight in front, but from behind he wants to “give a show” to his tifosi. The day will come when he will fight for victories wearing red at Monza. Tomorrow it’s his turn to come back and raise the stakes with his overtaking and a ‘killer’ soul that should be clear to everyone that Carlos also knows how to have.

“It hurts to start from far away tomorrow, I’m not going to lie, with how competitive I feel in the car. I’ll try to put on a good show, come back. I’d like to be at the top with Charles in grid to try to achieve the double for the tifosi”, lamented Carlos.

Q3 final test

Ferrari was planted in the final attempt of Q3 with Sainz in first position, with an advantage of 0.186 over Leclerc and 0.275 of Verstappen. Pole was for Leclerc because of the penalties, but what was at stake was the pride of being the fastest in ‘qualy’ on a legendary track. Finally, Leclerc took pole with 1029″161, beating Verstappen (2nd, starts 4th) by 0″145 and Sainz, who had nothing at stake, by 0″268.

Alonso, 10th in the standings

Fernando Alonso finished in 10th place after his final lap was disqualified for exceeding track limits. The Spaniard could take advantage of the many penalties to fight for the front row, but the Spaniard is 10th, although he will start a little later due to the penalties: from 7th place, as Alonso himself confirmed to the Spanish press present at the circuit, along with MD. He admitted not having his best classification and regrets not taking advantage of the opportunity, but tomorrow is when the points will be awarded and the Spaniard will fight an Alpine that gives him confidence in terms of speed.