Super 7 for Hamilton as Raikkonen gets front row
Lewis Hamilton claimed his seventh consecutive pole position - 11th of the season - as strong performance gets Ferrari P2 and P3 splitting the Mercedes to the delight of the Tifosi at Monza.
"These guys are very close, so it’s nice to see we have a good fight," said Hamilton in the post-race interview. The Briton has plenty to be happy about, as he secures a new pole and will head into the race looking to increase his championship gap.
For Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen had a splendid day and managed to beat Sebastian Vettel by five-hundedths of a second, as both red cars finished ahead of Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes.
Both Williams’ were next, with Felipe Massa ahead of Valtteri Bottas, and Sergio Perez, Romain Grosjean, Nico Hulkenberg, Marcus Ericsson close the top ten.
Qualifying proved tough for Red Bull, as they were out in Q2 - and equally tough for their sister team Toro Rosso. Carlos Sainz could only be 13th and Max Verstappen was out in Q1 after rushing out and having bodywork fall off his car.
For McLaren, both Jenson Button (16th) and Fernando Alonso (17th) lacked pace and went out alongside Manor early on. Fernando forsees a better future in the next races.
Qualifying Top 10:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:23.397
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, +0.234
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, +0.288
4. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, +0.306
5. Felipe Massa, Williams, +0.543
6. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, +0.730
7. Sergio Perez, Force India, +1.229
8. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, +1.657
9. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, +1.920
10. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, no time