Verstappen sets no time in qualifying Italian GP
Published on 05 September 2015 by Mike Motilall
Max Verstappen was not able to put down a decent lap time during qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix. As a result of repairs being done to his car, the Dutchman didn’t have enough time left to get a clocked lap on the leader board on the Autodrome Nazionale di Monza. It is anyone’s guess from which grid slot Verstappen will be starting from. That will be announced, when the FIA has confirmed how many grid positions penalty the Renault- and Hondadrivers will get for changing their motors. Lewis Hamilton claimed, for the seventh time in a row, pole position with a 1:23.397, being a mere three tenths faster than Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari, who will therefore start from P2. Sebastian Vettel completed the top three with his Ferrari, as Nico Rosberg was only able to scrape out a fourth position.
"We were not able to get a lap time as we had to change the engine", Max tells Verstappen.nl. "I expected this to happen, even before qualifying. It was a surprise we could even get out for a little bit. Yes, something came off the car, not everything was as tight as it should have been. You need to understand that everyone did their best to get me out on track. These things happen when you're working under pressure." Will it be a race in a race, with the McLarens and the Red Bulls? "Yes, our race pace is not bad at all compared to the Red Bulls. Let's hope for a good start, so we can also challenge the Saubers."
When the first of the three qualifying sessions gets on its way, Max’ car is still in the pit box as the mechanics are frantically working on his STR10. Only at the end of the session, with just barely twenty seconds remaining, the youngster heads out on track. This is to no avail as he is not able to get a clocked lap time, but he tries nevertheless to do an installation lap. During the haste to get him out on track, the team forgets to secure the engine cover of the car properly. Resulting in it getting airborne and into pieces as it lands on the side of the track in Curva Grande. This signals the end of qualifying for Verstappen. Besides Vestappen, both Marussia’s and both McLarens are also among the casualties: they are the drop outs in the first session.
In the second session, the remaining Renault-drivers Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat are in their pit box for quite a long time. In light of the pending grid position penalties, they have opted to save tyres, giving them a better chance in the race on Sunday. Ricciardo even fails to get out on track completely. This doesn’t help the Renault-drivers to improve their qualifying positions. Together with Pastor Maldonado and Felipe Nasr, they form the band of brothers that fail to make it through to Q3.
Out of the remaining participants in Q3, seven of them are using the Mercedes engine and three a Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton manages to clock a 1:23.397 during his first run in his Mercedes. Nico Hulkenberg halts at the pit entrance and is not seen on track any more. With a little over two minutes remaining on the clock, the other nine drivers leave the pit all at the same time. The fastest time is not improved any more but the big surprise is that Raikkonen and Vettel are starting from respectively P2 and P3 tomorrow. Ahead of Nico Rosberg, who is just seven hundredths shy of the first grid postions.
Monza - Italian Grand Prix – Saturday 5 October
RESULTS QUALIFYING P No Driver Team Time Laps 1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:23.397 15 2 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:23.631 17 3 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:23.685 20 4 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:23.703 19 5 19 Felipe Massa Williams 1:23.940 19 6 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:24.127 17 7 11 Sergio Perez Force India 1:24.626 19 8 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:25.054 19 9 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:25.317 18 10 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:26.214 20 11 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:24.525 16 12 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:24.898 15 13 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:25.618 10 14 26 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:25.796 11 15 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 3 16 22 Jenson Button McLaren 1:26.058 7 17 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:26.154 7 18 28 Will Stevens Marussia 1:27.731 9 19 98 Roberto Merhi Marussia 1:27.912 9 20 33 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1
On Twitter and Facebook we'll keep you updated throughout the weekend followed by a full report on Verstappen.nl at the end of the day’s action.
You can find the schedule for the Italian Grand Prix here.
Click here to participate in a contest for the Italian GP and win Verstappen-goodies!
