Ferrari's Monza Pole Excites Fans, but Red Bull Remains Race Day Favorite
Sep.3 - Carlos Sainz is not really expecting to break Red Bull's total winning streak in 2023 despite securing pole for the Italian GP.
The Spaniard thrilled Ferrari's legions of fans at Maranello with his impressive one-lap pace at Monza, but dominant championship leader Max Verstappen admitted he was "not really surprised".
"They were also quick last year," said the Red Bull driver.
"Also, when look at their rear wing, it seems like it's quite well optimised for Monza where I think our wing - especially for one lap - is maybe not the best optimisation.
"But for the race it should be better," Verstappen, who shares the front row with Sainz, added.
Sainz regretfully had to agree with Verstappen's assessment.
"I'm not going to lie," he said. "From what I've seen through the long runs, it's trickier for us. "Not the same picture as in quali.
"That Red Bull, as soon as you put five or six laps on the tyre, it's where we see the race pace that we've seen all year.
"Looking back at this year, in 100 percent of the races, they've been quicker - and they've been clearly quicker. No?" Sainz added.
Indeed, Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko also played down the significance of Ferrari's surprise pole - with the sister car of Charles Leclerc in third place.
"The first row is fine," Marko told ORF. "Our strength is actually the race.
"But for the atmosphere here in Italy, it's an ideal result," he smiled. "But we weren't necessarily going for pole position with the setup.
"With these positions, we are tactically very well positioned. The setup for the race is much more important.
"We have already won this year from very bad starting positions so we are optimistic for the race," 80-year-old Austrian Marko added.
He even said he is not disappointed with Sergio Perez's fifth on the grid.
"Three and a half tenths behind is completely ok," said Marko. "Nobody else would be that close to Max."
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I'm not going to be the one to predict an RB defeat, but I will say that the doc is drifting from confidence to arrogance, a mistake he has made in the past. An omen???
Did sir Lulu the seven times world champion & one of the most experienced drivers out there really have to cut up the rookie Piastri to end up in sixth place,, wow talk about desperate. 😜
I know what a mess, he should at least acknowledge it was his fault as he got a penalty for it, cracking race,Rb set there car up for corners and not straights , hence why the ferraris were super quick
ok so the Dame did apologised i misses the pen interviews
Probably because you had KKK inspired hate garbage ready to copy/paste days ago.
Yes bless him he did apologise, but, is it because fans like myself are expecting that seemingly move from sir Lulu that he didn't get away with it this time, when watching the race & Sir Lulu crossed into rookie Piastri did anyone notice how quiet the commentators became as though they were thinking "Ahhh" nobody would have seen that,. Sir Lulu its getting to obvious he's done it to CL when he was a rookie he did it to Albon & maybe numerous others, being seven times world champion doesn't give he the right to cut up the slower drivers or in Piastris case a faster driver but the only way he could pass was foul play just to get a place & poor young Piastri suffering car damage & lost out on points but happy chappie sir Lulu didnt did, measly five seconds penalty if I remember "&I'm going to love saying this" remember silverstone with MV yes of course you do, when MV ended up in hospital & the historical sir Lulu waving the union jack like some demented teenager life the trophy & cecieving a 10 second penalty sorry paltry penalty for nearly taking a life,. A word of warning to f1 rookies, keep your eye on your rear view mirror & if you see sir Lulu approaching take special care because he wants tt win no matter at what cost.
Who could forget SS...., I must say Donalf your on fire at the moment with the Dame compliments lol, the older and more desperate they get , the more mistakes creep in
To be fair I think this was one of the better races this season.