F1 2015 Monza Italian Grand Prix qualifying result: Hamilton claims pole position

Lewis Hamilton signing autographs for fans at Monza [Picture: Mercedes-Benz] (Image: Mercedes-Benz)

The 30-year-old Mercedes AMG Petronas driver from Hertfordshire was fastest in a tense qualifying battle at Monza, ahead of the Ferrari challenge of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.

His Silver Arrows colleague Nico Rosberg could only qualify fourth after a change of engine after final practice, and the German will line-up on the second row of the starting grid alongside Vettel.

Hamilton’s fourth Italian GP pole took his overall F1 career tally to 49.

He claimed first place with a Q3 lap time of 1m 23.397s, with Raikkonen 0.234s slower.

Lewis Hamilton in Monza [Picture: Mercedes-Benz] (Image: Mercedes-Benz)

Hamilton dominated all three phases of qualifying, but is taking nothing for granted with the Ferrari team also securing a front row start.

Both Mercedes drivers ran once in Q1 (Prime), Lewis once (Option) and Nico twice (Option / Option) in Q2, and both twice in Q3 (Option/Option).

“Ferrari did a great job,” said Hamilton after qualifying today at the historic Autodromo Nazionale Monza.

“They’re very close here and it’ll be a good fight.

“In terms of my lap, it was good but not perfect. My Spa qualifying lap was definitely better.

“But the car has felt good all weekend and the crew have been fantastic as always.”

Rosberg qualified fourth – less than a tenth shy of a front row grid slot – despite being forced to change engines after final practice following a problem with his planned race unit.

The replacement Power Unit was previously used in Spa, and is now being entered for its sixth race weekend.

Stevenage-born Hamilton said: “The guys in the garage did an amazing job to turn Nico’s car around after practice.

“I don’t know what the problem was but I’m not concerned for tomorrow.

“Pole is always a great feeling but there’s a long way down to Turn One and Ferrari are strong off the line.

“Last year I didn’t have a good start and had to fight hard so nothing is done yet.

“We’ve shown strong pace in our long run simulations though, so hopefully we can keep that up tomorrow in the race.”

After qualifying on the second row, Rosberg thanked the team for getting him out on track.

Rosberg said: “First of all, a big thanks to the boys in the garage for getting the car ready just in time for qualifying.

“I had a good session and my laps felt quite good.

“But unfortunately, after the problem in FP3, I had to run an old engine which had already been used for five race weekends, so I had a small lack of power.

“With every kilometre you lose a bit of power and Monza is a power track where the engine has a big impact.

“It will be tough tomorrow, as I will probably also be a bit slower in the race because of that.

“But I will never give up. I have to fight for a great start and hope to overtake the two Ferraris in front of me quickly to give myself a chance of catching Lewis.

“So, a disappointing and unlucky afternoon – but there is still a lot to play for tomorrow.”

Toto Wolff, head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, paid tribute to Hamilton’s qualifying performance.

He said: “I want to congratulate Lewis on a fantastic pole position – his seventh in a row, which is close to record territory.

“He has been on strong form this weekend and showed that through every part of qualifying, too.

“But it’s a bittersweet feeling today because of the problem we suffered with Nico.

“I want to congratulate the boys in the garage for an amazing job to change his engine between practice and qualifying, after we suffered the problem at the end of this morning’s session.

“But it certainly sent Nico into qualifying on the back foot, using a Power Unit that has already completed five races, and he wasn’t happy with the car balance either, suffering from quite a lot of understeer.

“In the circumstances, he did an excellent job.

“We didn’t achieve our potential today and, as we saw, we have a very strong rival in Ferrari.

“We can expect an exciting but challenging race tomorrow afternoon.”

Paddy Lowe, Mercedes’ executive director, felt it was a mixed qualifying result for the team.

Lowe said: “An exciting qualifying session, if not the complete result we were hoping for.

“Unfortunately we had a problem with the engine in Nico’s car at the end of FP3, so we reverted back to the Power Unit he ran in Spa, which is already five races old.

“The team did a fantastic job to turn the car around in time to run trouble-free right from the start of qualifying, so all credit to the mechanics for their excellent work.

“When it came to the qualifying battle ourselves, Ferrari and Williams showed particularly good pace, which made for a tense contest that had built up through the three sessions.

“Lewis then produced another top quality lap to take another pole position, so a big congratulations to him.

“With Nico starting from fourth and the competition looking close, we should be set for an entertaining race tomorrow and we look forward to that.”

It was another miserable qualifying session for McLaren out on track, with both drivers suffering Q1 exits.

However, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso will start 15th and 16th respectively for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix.

Button qualified 16th, and also received a five-place grid penalty. But the 2009 world champion will start 15th owing to four cars receiving even bigger penalties, which relegate them to the back of the grid.

For the same reason, Alonso will start 16th, despite qualifying 17th. Alonso said: “Getting knocked out of Q1 was a bit frustrating.

“However, this is a period of learning for the entire team, and we need to go work through it together.

“You can’t seize every race weekend as an opportunity, you have to work through them and learn.

“We know we’re not in the best position – we’re not competitive right now – so we need to keep working in every area to improve the car.

“Nevertheless, this is always a special weekend; the fans have been very friendly and welcoming. It always feels good to race in front of the Tifosi.”

Button said: “The balance in qualifying was reasonably okay, but I had too much understeer in the car.

“The first run felt good, and the track usually grips up, so I added some front wing, but it was probably half of what was needed.

“It was a reasonable lap, but even if everything had been perfect, we still didn’t have the pace to bridge the three-tenths to make it through into Q2.

“It’s a shame, but we always knew this would be a tough race for us.

“Even with a good start, we won’t be able to hold people back in the race – because we’re not fast enough in a straight line – so they’ll pass us.

“I’m not sure that tomorrow will be too exciting for us, but we’ll do our best.

“The fans have been so supportive at a difficult time – I hope we can repay them soon.”

Eric Boullier, McLaren-Honda’s racing director, admitted it wasn’t a good day for the team.

He said: “Yet again failing to make it out of Q1 is difficult and disappointing for the entire team.

“So I must give thanks to everyone for maintaining their positivity and motivation, not least Fernando and Jenson, who are a credit to our organisation.

“Our sponsors and fans deserve a big shout-out too – thanks guys.

“Tomorrow is likely to be a difficult race for us.

“Although we won’t start from the very back – owing to the grid penalties that will relegate four cars to starting positions behind us – it’ll be tough to make progress tomorrow along Monza’s notoriously long, fast straights.

“Still, our drivers will race their hearts out, and anything can happen at Monza.”