Italian Grand Prix Qualifying Reaction
Here you can see all the latest from Monza and all the Italian Grand Prix Qualifying Reaction, see what the drivers and some of the team members had to say ahead of the Italian Grand Prix tomorrow.
Italian Grand Prix Qualifying Reaction – Red Bull
Daniel Ricciardo
Qualified – Position 6 – 1:22.389
“We expected to be floating around the top five and were one thousandth of a second off fifth!”
“It’s a little bit frustrating but at least there were no major surprises. Qualifying on the soft tyres would have been ideal but the pace was really high and our lap time was close to the cut off – we were forced to use the supersoft instead to be on the safe side and get into Q3.”
“If we had qualified on the soft tyre we would have had a good fight with Ferrari but that will be a little harder now as we are on the supersofts.”
“We kinda knew Williams would be quick around here but with DRS and being strong on the brakes, we can still pull off some moves!”
“I think overall we have good race pace and it would be nice if we can find an edge overnight but either way, we can have some fun and challenge for the top five.”
Max Verstappen
Qualified – Position 7 – 1:22.411
“I’m actually pretty happy with qualifying today. I thought we would be a bit more behind but actually, everything was quite tight.”
“We lost radio communications in the end so I didn’t know where I was and when I came back, I saw that I was seventh and thought, ‘that’s not too bad’ so I’m happy.”
“We’re within three hundredths to P5 so I think we can’t complain, especially when we have to compromise to make the downforce levels better.”
“You never know what will happy tomorrow, normally we’re a bit stronger in the race than in qualifying so, let’s hope for a good race!”
“Of course, you always want to be further ahead but we have to be realistic and this track is a challenge for us.”
Christian Horner – Team Principal
“Mercedes were obviously in a class of their own today! At a circuit we knew would pose the biggest challenge to us on the calendar – sixth and seventh is about where we realistically expected to be.”
“We are very close to the Williams of Bottas and hopefully at the Grand Prix (race) tomorrow, we can show a stronger race pace.”
Italian Grand Prix Qualifying Reaction – Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton
Qualified – Position 1 – 1:21.135
“I loved that lap, it felt absolutely fantastic! It was poetry in motion and the adrenaline was just crazy.”
“I’ve felt great all weekend and it all started with the setup on Friday, we have all been working closely especially the engineers and the mechanics and taking small steps forward with the balance of the car.”
“I knew that if it all came together, then I could do that kind of lap time – it’s a really tough circuit and you have to get everything, absolutely everything, right…. especially the braking zones.”
“The team has done another fantastic job today and I’m really looking forward to the race tomorrow.”
Nico Rosberg
Qualified – Position 2 – 1:21.613
“I’ve had a good weekend so far but Lewis really did produce some great laps! I just couldn’t match him today.”
“My race pace was good in practice so I’m feeling positive for tomorrow. It’s a very long race and you never know what can happen – I will of course be giving it my everything.”
“It’s clear that our car is the quickest around Monza and I think a great duel will happen with me and Lewis. The atmosphere here is amazing and it would mean a lot to me if I were to win it here.”
Toto Wolff – Team Principal Mercedes Benz
“That was so impressive, a very dominant performance for the team and especially from Lewis as well. He has had a little advantage throughout most of the weekend and he could really make good use of it this afternoon.”
“It was important to get both cars through to Q2 on the soft tyres and we have the strategic advantage for the first stint and then more options in the race.”
“Both of the boys did that quite comfortably and we will be doing our homework tonight and everything else we can to make sure the picture is just as good tomorrow evening after the race.”
Italian Grand Prix Qualifying Reaction – Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel
Qualified – Position 3 – 1:21.972
“Overall, it’s been a good weekend and putting both cars on the second row is great.”
“I’m sure we can have a good race from there tomorrow and hopefully we can take the advantage at the start of the race but we have to wait and see! Once the lights go out we hope we can find good traction which the tyres should give us.”
“It’s a long way down to Turn 1 and even if we can try something, the race is not one stretch – it’s 53 laps around here.”
“Honestly, after I saw the times already in Q1 and Q2, they were on a different compound and I knew it would be very difficult but you never know, pushing as hard as I could, probably too hard in the first run in Q3 and it wasn’t a good lap! Fortunately, I got it in the end and I got it back.”
“I think our race pace is better than the gap in qualifying so we’ll see. We don’t mind who is behind us, the important thing is whoever is in front, things are coming down a little bit more and things are heading the right way also back in the factory.”
“Even if we don’t like it now, we need to be patient – I’m sure it will all come together.”
Kimi Raikkonen
Qualified – Position 4 – 1:22.065
“Today, we did the best we could and we got the most out of the car. For sure, it would have been more satisfied with first row but this is the maximum which we could achieve.”
“We have to be happy with what we did, knowing our limits and obviously, all of our aims are to be higher up.”
“Tomorrow is a different day and if we can make a very strong start at the beginning, then maybe we can build our race – certain teams have different tyres and time will tell what will happen in the long run.”
“It’s going to be tricky and a lot can happen, we just have to be careful and put ourselves up there – if something happens we will try to maximise the result and when it comes to the pit stops we need to see how things pan out.”
“Our rivals have been very strong today but we’ll try our best tomorrow and hopefully we will be able to challenge them.”
Italian Grand Prix Qualifying Reaction – Sahara Force India
Sergio Perez
Qualified – Position 8
“I think we can be satisfied with today’s result. We have been struggling all weekend but we worked really hard last night to improve the balance and made a step forward for qualifying.”
“Some of our rivals seem to have very strong pace but I think we maximised everything in qualifying with both cars making it to the top 10.”
“The strategy options for the race are quite limited and will depend on what happens during the first stint on the supersoft tyres and how things go in lap one. Hopefully we can get a good result tomorrow.”
Nico Hulkenberg
Qualified – Position 9
“I’m happy as I can be with ninth on the grid, for some reason we struggled to find the right harmony and balance with the car this weekend so it’s a good result to see both cars through to Q3.”
“We’ve tried a lot of things with the setup and made some improvements too but I’m still not entirely happy with the balance.”
“Tomorrow is another day and tyres will be playing a big role throughout the race and it’s going to be interesting to see how things will play out.”
Robert Fernley – Deputy Team Principal, Sahara Force India
“Getting both cars through to Q3 was the goal today and we are very pleased to achieve that objective. Eighth and ninth is a good effort and probably a fair reflection of our race pace this weekend.”
“We should have a good race tomorrow but getting a strong start will be the priority because we know how tough overtaking is around this circuit.”
“Hopefully we can come away with some points.”
Italian Grand Prix Qualifying Reaction – McLaren
Jenson Button
Qualified – Position 15 – 1:23.399
“This was always going to be a tough weekend for us but I thought today might have been a little bit better. It didn’t go quite to plan really, I didn’t do a perfect lap – I drover some better laps throughout practice and it seems Fernando pulled a little bit on me in Q2!”
“We’ll make it good tomorrow, I still think we can race better than we qualified and that’s been a strength of ours for the past few races.”
“Our starts have also been good recently so hopefully, we’ll push forward during the race.”
Fernando Alonso
Qualified – Position 13 – 1:23.273
“This was probably about where we expected to qualify. We went very well in practice yesterday so I think we were brought back to reality this afternoon.”
“Q1 was hard for us and we went for a single new-tyre lap in Q2 and pushed to the maximum so really, we have to be happy with ourselves.”
“We always expected Monza to be hard for our package and it’s still a bit disappointing to be fighting against a Manor. We’ll study the strategy overnight but we’ve got the choice of starting tyre so we will try and take full advantage of everything tomorrow.”
Eric Boullier – Racing Director McLaren-Honda
“We always knew that qualifying in Formula 1’s fastest circuit would be difficult and it feels disappointing to not have been able to mount a stronger challenge and be able to move into Q3.”
“We know that we’re more than capable of mounting a strong challenge in the race and with freedom of choice over our starting tyre, we will be taking full advantage and looking to make progress both on track and in the pit-lane too.”
“We’re hopeful of a better result tomorrow so we’re looking forward to the race.”
Italian Grand Prix Qualifying Reaction – Sauber F1
Marcus Ericsson
Qualified – Position 19 – 1:24.087
“It was a disappointing qualifying session, Q2 was really our objective which could have been possible today but for me, the balance of the car has shifted a lot from FP3 to qualifying.”
“I was struggling a lot with oversteer which made it all the more difficult for me to put a lap together and that cost me some lap time which was enough for me to miss out on Q1.”
“For the race, the main thing is to look after the tyres.”
Felipe Nasr
Qualified – Position 18 – 1:23.956
“It is unfortunate that we could not make it into Q2 today, I thin it would have been possible.”
“I had a decent start in Q1 and knew that I could improve on the second set of tyres. It was a good lap but unfortunately I lost power, I lost engine power at the exit of Lesmo on the send and last try in Q1 which compromised my lap time.”
“On the other hand, it is positive that we have definitely made a step forward with our aero package.”
There’s lots more to come tomorrow before, during after the Italian Grand Prix with LIVE updates during the race.
The Formula 1 Girl 🙂
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