Max Verstappen will start the Italian Grand Prix from second place on the grid after narrowly missing out on pole to the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jnr. The two-time world champion will hope to make a fast start as he bids to set a new record by winning a 10th consecutive race.
While Verstappen missed out on pole by just 0.013 seconds, Oracle Red Bull Racing teammate Sergio Pérez will start Sunday’s race at Monza from fifth position.
Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda managed to get his Scuderia AlphaTauri car into Q2 as he qualified in 11th place, while 21-year-old Kiwi driver Liam Lawson impressed in just his second outing – in place of the injured Daniel Ricciardo – will start the race from 12th after also making Q2.
QUOTES:
MAX VERSTAPPEN – 2nd
“It was very close all the way through quali and Ferrari have been quick throughout the whole weekend. From our side we did everything we could to be as competitive as possible and I was happy with the lap in Q3, so nothing really to complain about. It was just not enough for pole but we know we have a good race car. It is all about the race pace and if we have better race pace, like normal, we will try to put the pressure on them. I am happy with how we set up the car for the race and hopefully that will pay off on Sunday. I know the win is something that could happen. If it’s 10 in a row that would be amazing, but we have to execute the race in the best possible way to achieve that.”
SERGIO PÉREZ – 5th
“Today wasn’t a great day. Adding a new engine and missing a large part of FP3 today was not ideal as it meant that we didn’t get to run the soft tyres before going into qualifying, so we were less prepared for Q3. Overall, I don’t think we maximised our performance and showed what we could do today. The Team, however, did a tremendous job turning the car around in time for qualifying. We had a good Friday and great race pace yesterday but today we just didn’t capitalise on our performance. Tomorrow, I am optimistic that we can still show our strong pace and we will do our very best to come through the field.”
CHRISTIAN HORNER – CEO and Team Principal
“A very impressive lap from Max to get on the front row. We knew from this morning that the Ferraris were going to be incredibly quick over a lap and in the end there was only a couple of centimetres difference between the two of them. Checo recovered well from missing track time in FP3 and an engine change to line up P5 makes for an exciting race tomorrow.”
Oracle Red Bull Racing
