Max starting from seventh in Italy: “We shouldn’t complain”

Published on 03 September 2016 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen will be starting the Italian Grand Prix from seventh place. On the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, the Mercedes-drivers locked up the first row. Lewis Hamilton kept his team mate Nico Rosberg at bay who in turn stayed ahead of Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari. Max’ team mate Daniel Ricciardo claimed sixth in his RB12.

“We shouldn’t complain”, says Max after qualifying. “All in all we haven’t done too badly, Force India was somewhat disappointing because we expected them in front of us. In Q2 we needed to go out again because we were just not fast enough on the soft tyres. That was a good call, or else we wouldn’t have been able to go through. Regarding the race, we need to wait and see how it unfolds.”

Prior to qualifying, it becomes clear that Romain Grosjean will take a five-place grid penalty due to a gearbox change. When it’s go time for Q1, the weather is beautiful and it is Pascal Wehrlein who is the first to get on track.

Before Max heads out on a new set of the super-soft tyres, Esteban Ocon halts after the first chicane. The Mercedes have by now, locked out the first grid row. Max is briefly P3 in his Red Bull after his first flying lap but drops down in the ranking. Not much later it is Ricciardo who puts his teeth in Verstappen’s time but to no avail, he ends up two spots down on the Dutchman. The Ozzie does a second run on the same tyres and in his second attempt he manages to better Max’ time.

At the back of the field, things are getting exciting and the times are also very close. Drop outs after Q1 are, besides the unfortunate Ocon, both Renaults, both Saubers and Daniil Kvyat, who cannot seem to bond with his Toro Rosso.

At the start of Q2, the teams keep their drivers in their boxes a little longer than normal. Mercedes is the first to send their drivers out with a set of the soft tyres strapped on both of them. At Red Bull they gamble on the soft tyres and after their run they are barely in the top ten, with Max in the knockout zone in P10.

With three minutes on the clock, everyone gets ready for a second run. Max, just like Ricciardo, heads out on a new set of the super-soft tyres. His second run puts him briefly in sixth, but is dropped twice when both Esteban Gutierrez and Ricciardo pass him. Drop outs in Q2 are both McLarens, Felipe Massa, Grosjean, Carlos Sainz and Wehrlein.

At the start of Q3, it’s anyone’s guess who will be able to keep Hamilton from taking pole position. Rosberg is the frist to get a time noted and not much later Hamilton betters that. Raikkonen and Vettel follow in third and fourth. Max is briefly P5 but Valtteri Bottas and Ricciardo drop him down the ranks leaving him eventually in seventh.

With less than three minutes to go, everyone is on track again for their last run. Both Mercedes improve their time, but their order remain the same. Max manages to climb to P6 but Ricciardo counters that immediately causing the Red Bull Racing team to start the race in sixth and seventh.

Italian Grand Prix - Monza - Saturday 3 September

Results Qualifying

01 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:21.854 1:21.498 1:21.135 
02 Nico Rosberg        Mercedes                    1:22.497 1:21.809 1:21.613
03 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:23.077 1:22.275 1:21.972 
04 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:23.217 1:22.568 1:22.065 
05 Valtteri Bottas     Williams Mercedes           1:23.264 1:22.499 1:22.388 
06 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:23.158 1:22.638 1:22.389 
07 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:23.229 1:22.857 1:22.411 
08 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:23.439 1:22.922 1:22.814 
09 Nico Hulkenberg     Force India Mercedes        1:23.259 1:22.951 1:22.836 
10 Esteban Gutierrez   Haas Ferrari                1:23.386 1:22.856 1:23.184 
11 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:23.489 1:22.967          
12 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:23.421 1:23.092         
13 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:23.783 1:23.273          
14 Pascal Wehrlein     MRT Mercedes                1:23.760 1:23.315         
15 Jenson Button       McLaren Honda               1:23.666 1:23.399 
16 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:23.661 1:23.496 
17 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:23.825     
18 Felipe Nasr         Sauber Ferrari              1:23.956        
19 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:24.087   
20 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                     1:24.230   
21 Kevin Magnussen     Renault                     1:24.436 
RT Esteban Ocon        MRT Mercedes                                            

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