Starting Grid 2019 Italian F1 GP
Top 3 on the 2019 Italian F1 GP grid: 1. Leclerc, 2. Hamilton, 3. Bottas
Event: Italian Grand Prix
Track: Monza Circuit
Start time: 15:10 (local) | 14:10 GMT | 06:10 PT
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc claimed pole on the soft tyres after a tense finale to Q3, where all the drivers barring McLaren's Carlos Sainz missed the cut-off for a final flying lap.
All the top 10 drivers on the grid set their best Q2 laps on the soft tyre, which means that they will all begin the race on this compound. In contrast to yesterday, conditions were dry and quite warm, with track temperatures just under 40 degrees centigrade in qualifying.
Tomorrow could be a very different story though, with the weather expected to revert to the cooler and damper conditions of Friday. Leclerc was given the Pirelli Pole Position award of the year by former Ferrari driver Jody Scheckter, who won the Italian Grand Prix and subsequently the world championship for drivers exactly 40 years ago, in 1979.
After qualifying the complete last lap of qualifying was taken under investigation, but now furter drivers were penalized for the chaos that caused 7 drivers to miss out on their final lap of qualifying.
Start Grid 2019 Italian F1 GP
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Lap Time | Pole gap |
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:19,307 | |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:19,346 | +0,039s |
| 3 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:19,354 | +0,047s |
| 4 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:19,457 | +0,150s |
| 5 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1:19,839 | +0,532s |
| 6 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 1:20,049 | +0,742s |
| 7 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | McLaren | 1:20,455 | +1,148s |
| 8 | 23 | Alex Albon | Red Bull | no time | |
| 9 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | no time | |
| 10 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 1:20,517 | +1,210s |
| 11 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:20,615 | +1,308s |
| 12 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:20,630 | +1,323s |
| 13 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:20,784 | +1,477s |
| 14 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Racing Point | 1:21,291 | +1,984s |
| 15 | 63 | George Russell | Williams | 1:21,800 | +2,493s |
| 16 | 88 | Robert Kubica | Williams | 1:22,356 | +3,049s |
| 17 | 4 | *Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:21,068 | +1,761s |
| 18 | 10 | *Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 1:20,508 | +1,201s |
| 19 | 33 | *Max Verstappen | Red Bull | no time | |
| 20 | 7 | *Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo | 1:20,515 | +1,208s |
*Penalties:
- Max Verstappen (33) Red Bull required to start from back of grid due to multiple power unit element changes.
- Lando Norris (4) McLaren required to start from back of grid due to multiple power unit element changes.
- Pierre Gasly (10) Toro Rosso required to start from back of grid due to multiple power unit element changes.
- Raikkonen (7) Alfa Romeo required to start from the pit lane after changing components under Parc Ferme conditions.
2019 Italian F1 GP Race Strategy
The optimal strategy for the 53-lap Italian Grand Prix is a one-stopper, but of course it all depends on the weather. Assuming it stays dry, which is a reasonably big assumption, the fastest strategy is to start on the soft and change to the medium on lap 22. That's what the top 10 here is banking on.
Very close is another one stop strategy: start on the soft, then change for the hard after 19 laps. Slightly slower than that is another one-stopper: start on the medium and change onto the hard after 24 laps.
A two-stopper is distinctly slower, so only to be considered if wear and degradation on the soft is higher than expected (in case of warmer weather, for example). In which case: start on the soft, soft again on lap 16, then medium around lap 32.
If it rains, then it's just a question of reacting to changing circumstances and opportunities (such as safety cars). The teams gathered considerable information about the intermediate tyres and crossover points on Friday, which will certainly help in the decision-making process under those challenging circumstances.
2019 Italian F1 GP Race Notes
- Weather. The forecasts suggest changeable conditions with a risk of rain, which will have a big effect on tyre and race strategy.
- Grid penalties. Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly and McLaren's Lando Norris are the drivers affected by grid penalties, which influenced qualifying strategy.
✅ Check out Drivers Post-Quali Comments 2019 Italian F1 GP
✅ Check out 2019 Italian F1 GP Qualifying Report & Classification
✅ Check out 2019 F1 Championship Standings
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