McLaren locked out the front row for the Italian Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton pipped Jenson Button to pole with a time of 1 minute 24.010 seconds. Felipe Massa’s third place, however, underlined Ferrari’s potential but team mate Fernando Alonso had to settle for tenth when mechanical problems curtailed his session. The Spaniard had gone quickest in both Q1 and Q2 but a problem with the rear anti-roll bar was spotted at the start of Q3 which prevented him from putting together a proper lap. All of the top ten drivers will start on the medium tyre compound.
 

 
Qualifying Facts

• Lewis Hamilton’s 1:24.010 pole was just 0.265 seconds slower than the theoretical maximum of 1:23.745 obtained by adding the times of the driver setting the fastest time in each sector.
• McLaren’s one-two in qualifying is their third this season and 61st of all time, equalling the record held by Williams.
• Felipe Massa and Narain Karthikeyan outqualified their team-mates for this first time this season, ending the last two qualifying whitewashes.
• Seventeen drivers including all Mercedes and Ferrari entrants took a new engine at this event. Petrov and Senna were the only Renault powered drivers to take a new powerplant.
• Jerome d’Ambrosio narrowly made it through to Q2 in his first outing for Lotus. His car was second fastest through the speedtrap with 342.4 km/h, just behind the sister Lotus (342.7 km/h). The Red Bull’s of Webber and Vettel could only manage 334.0 and 333.8 km/h respectively, enough for 21st and 22nd place.

 
Q3 Summary

 
Qualifying Lap Times

107% time: 1:30.067

¹ Maldonado drops a 10-places on the grid after two incidents at the Belgian GP, he starts the race in 22nd position.
² di Resta drops 5-places on the grid for taking a replacement gearbox, he starts the race in 9th position.
³ Hulkenberg did not set a time in qualification, he will start the race in 24th place if allowed to compete.

Best Sector Times

 
What are your predictions for the race? Did Ferrari’s attempt at slipstreaming spoil Alonso’s chance to qualify higher? Can Jerome d’Ambrossio score his first points in F1 this weekend? Who was lucky and who was unlucky today? Let us know your thoughts in the comments…


Photo: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes