MONZA, Italy — After the final practice and qualifying sessions for the Italian Grand Prix, it was Charles Leclerc who moved ahead of the field to claim pole position for the Autodromo Nazionale Monza on Saturday.
The Ferrari driver had a fast lap of 1:20.161, giving him a slight edge on Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who finished .145 seconds behind Leclerc.
Leclerc’s teammate, Carlos Sainz, qualified third at .268 seconds behind Verstappen.
However, both drivers are facing grid penalties, moving Verstappen back five positions and dropping Sainz to 18th on the start.
“It will be an interesting battle tomorrow. I’ll try and stay out of trouble and just make my way forward,” Verstappen said. “I know that we don’t need to win every race from now until the end of the season, but if I clear all the cars in front of me, then I will of course go for the win.”
Meanwhile, out in front, Leclerc will have the opportunity to capitalize on his opponent’s misfortunes. He has high hopes for his race performance on Sunday — particularly motivated to chase the win after his victory at the track in 2019.
“I knew that in this last lap in Q3, I had to put everything together and I managed to do it. [I’m] very happy with the lap and very happy with the performance,” Leclerc said.
Sixth-place qualifier George Russell will join him on the front row, due to additional grid penalties being dealt to Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who qualified fourth, and Russell’s Mercedes’ teammate Lewis Hamilton, who qualified fifth.