Lewis Hamilton and Adrian Sutil will share the front row of a grid for the Italian Grand Prix tomorrow.
It’s the first time they’ve done so since 2005 at Zandvoort – when the pair were team mates in the F3 Euroseries.
A last-gap effort from Hamilton seized pole position from the Force India driver. Sutil failed to emulate former team mate Fisichella’s pole position at Spa two weeks ago by just two tenths of a second.
Q1
Sutil was fastest in two of the three practice sessions and went into qualifying as favourite to give Force India their second pole position.
With warm temperatures remaining into qualifying, most drivers started the session on the medium compounds tyres instead of the softs.
The last driver to set a time – Hamilton – went quickest, setting a 1’23.375. Behind him were the Brawns of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, following by Vitantonio Liuzzi.
With the lap times extremely close the line between being knocked out and reaching the second session was razor thin. With five minutes reminaing Giancarlo Fisichella in ninth to Mark Webber in 19th were covered by just half a second.
When Hamilton came out of the pits for his second attempt he arrived on-track as Sebastien Buemi was passing by. Hamilton stayed over to the right of the track but Buemi missed the first chicane, taking to the run-off area. There’s been no words from he stewards yet on whether Hamilton will get a penalty.
Buemi had another chance to complete a lap but despite being seven-tenths quicker than team mate Jaime Alguersuari, that only made the difference between last and second-to-last.
A late effort by Nico Rosberg wasn’t enough to get him out of the drop zone – or, indeed, ahead of team mate Kazuki Nakajima. Fellow Toyota user Timo Glock joined them in the bottom five, having been just 0.022s slower than team mate Jarno Trulli.
Drivers eliminated in Q1
16. Timo Glock, Toyota – 1’24.036
17. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams-Toyota – 1’24.074
18. Nico Rosberg, Williams-Toyota – 1’24.121
19. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso-Ferrari – 1’24.220
20. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso-Ferrari – 1’24.961
Q2
Both BMWs made it into the second part of qualifying but neither made it any further. First Nick Heidfeld, then Robert Kubica pulled over with blown engines during the session.
The Mercedes-powered cars continued to lead the way, with Button’s Brawn ahead of Hamilton’s McLaren and Barrichello in the other Brawn.
Fourth and fifth were also taken up with Mercedes-engined cars: Sutil and Liuzzi for Force India, the last jumping out of the drop zone in the dying moments of the session.
That pushed Jarno Trulli down from tenth to 11th, and out of qualifying. With Fisichella stuck in 14th, Liuzzi was the only home driver in the top ten.
Drivers eliminated in Q2
11. Jarno Trulli, Toyota – 1’23.611
12. Romain Grosjean, Renault – 1’23.728
13. Robert Kubica, BMW – 1’23.866
14. Giancarlo Fisichella, Ferrari – 1’23.901
15. Nick Heidfeld, BMW – 1’24.275
Q3
The top ten comprised McLarens, Brawn, Force Indias, Red Bulls, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.
Most of them decided only to come out at the end of the session, but none of them beat the early time of 1’24.605 set down by Hamilton with their first attempts. Raikkonen took up second ahead of Sutil.
The final laps were classic qualifying drama – Sutil snatched pole position off Hamilton with his last effort, but lost time with a visible mistake at Lesmo. Hamilton punished him for it, taking pole position back with the last lap of the session, by just two tenths of a second.
Three of the top four cars were KERS-powered, with Raikkonen taking third ahead of Kovalainen. Alonso put his Renault, with KERS re-fitted, in eighth place.
Championship leader Button will start behind his team mate in sixth – but ahead of the Red Bull due of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, who qualified at the tail end of the top ten.
The fuel weights will be posted on F1 Fanatic as they are announced.
Top ten drivers in Q3
1. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes – 1’24.066
2. Adrian Sutil, Force India-Mercedes – 1’24.261
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari – 1’24.523
4. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren-Mercedes – 1’24.845
5. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn-Mercedes – 1’25.015
6. Jenson Button, Brawn-Mercedes – 1’25.030
7. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India-Mercedes – 1’25.043
8. Fernando Alonso, Renault – 1’25.072
9. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault – 1’25.180
10. Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault – 1’25.314
Read more: Italian Grand Prix grid
Damon
12th September 2009, 14:36
Patrickl has made a great statistical analysis of our predictions game:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2009/09/11/predict-italian-gp-pole-sitter-winner/#comment-285546
52% of us have scored 10pts with Hamilton’s pole.
The qualifying’s top 3 – HAM/SUT/RAI are drivers who got the most “votes” to be on the podium in the race.
mp4-19b
12th September 2009, 14:44
I just wish i had listened to Patrick. But I missed out by only 2 tenths. But I think its game over for all the 2-stoppers.
Random Chimp
12th September 2009, 14:47
Kovi FTW!
Wen
12th September 2009, 15:30
I think we are all getting quite good at predictions.. well, apart from last race..
Patrickl
13th September 2009, 10:03
I redid the statistics with all predictions counted (304 now instead of the 211 before). It didn’t change much.
Pole
HAM 49%
SUT 23%
ALO 11%
P1
HAM 53%
RAI 13%
ALO 7%
P2
RAI 31%
SUT 15%
HAM 15%
P3
RAI 19%
SUT 17%
ALO 11%
Of all names mentioned these 3 are mentioned most often (in any position)
HAM 77%
RAI 64%
SUT 39%
These 3 predictions for the podium are most common:
HAM RAI SUT 18
HAM RAI KOV 17
HAM RAI ALO 13
Juan
12th September 2009, 14:45
There shouldn’t be any reason for him to get the penalty, he slowed down and pulled aside. Buemi should’ve backed off a bit. He ended up nixing Glock’s hot lap.
Mark Hitchcock
12th September 2009, 15:20
Why?? He was on a hot lap! Hamilton slowed down and pulled aside…onto the apex of the corner. All he had to do was slow down a bit in the pit exit and let Buemi take the corner.
I doubt he’ll be penalised because Buemi was unlikely to get out of Q1 but that’s really not the point. For all we know Buemi might have put in the lap of his life if Hamilton hadn’t blocked him.
Mark Hitchcock
12th September 2009, 15:34
Having said that, if Buemi believes he wasn’t going to improve much and that Hamilton shouldn’t be penalised then let him go.
The only problem with that is that it makes it increasingly unclear what constitutes blocking in the eyes of the stewards, so no-one knows where they stand.
AP
12th September 2009, 16:16
Hamilton should receive a penalty, he impeded a driver on a hot lap (it matter not who that driver was or what team) and he did it while he was exiting the pits.
There is no bias here it is just simple fact..
David A
12th September 2009, 14:49
Martin Brundle
bwells
12th September 2009, 20:26
The real issue here is you have to look at it from the other side of the coin… if it had been Buemi blocking Hamilton there would of been a penalty for sure.. it’s just another example of poor decisions by the stewards… please FIA… if you do nothing else good for the sport bring in a set of un-bias stewards that will travel with the series and end the debotchery!!
Andrew White
12th September 2009, 14:49
I forgot to make my prediction yesterday :@
Dominic
12th September 2009, 14:50
I hope Hamilton gets a grid penalty, he deserves it! Sutil on pole will be brilliant :)
vitor
12th September 2009, 14:55
i think the same!!!
Becken
12th September 2009, 14:56
Kimi made the same thing with Webber at Silverstone and nothing happened.
Why Lewis should get a penalty? Maybe because the race is in Monza?
rfs
12th September 2009, 14:56
lol why?
Becken
12th September 2009, 15:22
In autosport:
Buemi said he had lost time behind Lewis Hamilton as the McLaren exited the pits in Q1, but did not think it had made any difference to the result. He also refuted suggestions that he had impeded Toyota’s Timo Glock.
“I did the best I could, but the session did not go well for me,” said Buemi. “I was held up by Hamilton, who did not know I was there. Another lap for me might have made a bit of a difference, but not much.
“As for Glock saying I held him up, I don’t think I did, as I was just trying to rebuild a gap after being slowed by Hamilton.”
Who will get a penalty now?
mp4-19b
12th September 2009, 14:52
The top seven are all merc powered cars except kimi, just goes to show he’s a class act. There is no comparison between him & Alonso, the boy who is allegedly replacing him next year.
Random Chimp
12th September 2009, 15:16
Everyone but Kimi is getting merced.
Carl 27
12th September 2009, 15:52
Yes Kimi is driving “a Ferrari” and Alonso is driving a dog of a car, if you think that is a fair comparison… saying that I think Kimi(1WDC) is a great driver like Alonso (2 WDC)
CY
12th September 2009, 16:05
This year’s Ferrari is pretty “dog” too, if you ask me.
dsob
13th September 2009, 1:33
According to Luca’s statement this week, I don’t believe alonso is going to Ferrari next year.
That’s my prediction, anyway. We’ll have to wait and see.
rfs
12th September 2009, 15:10
Apparently it just started raining at Monza.
al
12th September 2009, 15:20
Off topic:New f1 2009 video:
A lap of monza with anthony davidson
bwells
12th September 2009, 20:33
Glad I didn’t spring for the game and machine… that looks dreadful! Graphically it’s not bad but for a small corner your steering full on?? could maybe be the controller he was using… oh well let’s hope the PS3/360 versions are better
FLIG
12th September 2009, 15:22
yeah, the forecast for tomorrow is rain, but I look out my window and see clear skies. It usually rains a lot at the end of august, but this was a strangely rainless summer here.
Anyway, I feel like I missed something… What happened to Force India in August? How come they are kicking so much ass? Even Liuzzi is doing a great job… Seriously, what’s going on?
rfs
12th September 2009, 15:29
Apparently it has less drag than all the other cars, so on high speed tracks like Spa and Monza they’re going really fast.
Plus they have the Mercedes engine.
Rahzam
12th September 2009, 17:05
I was also thinking the same. We can compare Force India performance by comparing Fisi performance in last race in which he got pole and now he is back on the grid with Ferrari. Even Liuzzi is good in Force India. Their performance is really good.
FLIG
12th September 2009, 15:45
This is interesting:
“The FIA official said qualifying laps will be deleted if all four wheels of a driver’s car are on the wrong side of the high kerbs, while ‘three strikes’ will apply before drive-through penalties are imposed in the race.”
Becken
12th September 2009, 15:47
No penalty for Lewis:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78561
Nirupam
12th September 2009, 16:00
Bad! I was hoping for a penalty as that could have made Sutil P1 justifying my position :(
Willian
12th September 2009, 16:21
But it’s a bit obviously. As Becken said Kimi made the same at Silvesrtone!
However, is a miracle that Ferrari’s influency doesn’t has decided the case.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
12th September 2009, 16:10
Yeah i just saw that. Think it’s the right decision.
Ashwin
12th September 2009, 17:29
Who do you support Keith? Ferrari or McLaren?
Who’s your all-time favourite driver and whos’ your favorite driver (current)?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
13th September 2009, 9:34
I didn’t realise there were the only two choices.
Seriously, though, I don’t really support any one driver or team. I like it when we get an exciting race and lots of people come to my website.
At the end of last year, I wanted Hamilton to win the championship, because it would have been terrible if the Spa penalty had made the difference between him and Massa winning.
At the moment, I’m enjoying that the championship battle is going on in the lower reaches of the points and we have some genuinely unpredictable races.
As for all-time favourite… you know what, I think I’ll save that for an article in the off-season!
Sanjay
12th September 2009, 15:50
Great result again for Force India.
FOr tomorrow’s race, my fingers are crossed, as KIMI is again there for Force India.
I like to see KIMI winning, but spare Force India from any accidents.
It is repeat of Spa as far as Kimi & Force India are concerned. Sutil have to be strong in the start as Kimi will be merciless again, with that KERS.
Good luck to both.
Ashwin
12th September 2009, 17:31
Even though I’m from India, I hate Force India for some inexplicably bizarre reason!
sumedh
12th September 2009, 16:03
An off-topic question:
Nick Hiedfeld had an engine failure. It has been how many race weekends since that happened?
Sanjay
12th September 2009, 16:06
Will Sutil win tomorrow?
My prediction for top 3 is;
1. Kimi
2. Hamilton
3. Sutil/Rubens/Button
&
Points for Luizzi
Patrickl
13th September 2009, 10:17
Did you mis the predictions thread?
Wesley
12th September 2009, 16:12
Set up to be a great race.
Way to go Tonio!..Q8 in his first Force India race.
mp4-19b
12th September 2009, 16:15
McLaren are taking on Ferrari BIG time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk9UIMGB5E8
Willian
12th September 2009, 16:23
I feel we’ll have a great race tomorrow. I believe some surprise will happen.
rfs
12th September 2009, 17:01
It’ll be good, but I hope we actually see some overtaking for once this weekend.
richard s
12th September 2009, 16:29
form follows function – as it should. Go Mclaren! Go Dennis!
AP
12th September 2009, 16:29
it just wrong that Hamiltons actions impedes not only Buemi who then impends Glock and he gets off…?!?!?!
Last year he knocked a car off track and rammed Webber after changing lines in the braking zone and again no penalty…
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
12th September 2009, 17:11
How did Hamilton impede Buemi? His car was off the racing line.
Brian
12th September 2009, 16:35
If it rains, I will go out on a limb and say Vettel for the win.
Oliver
12th September 2009, 16:35
Sitting one step behind Sutil, Kimi is in a perfect position to end all of Sutil’s aspirations early. :-)
UnicornF1
12th September 2009, 16:58
…poor Sutil.
Let’s hope Kimi doesn’t crash on him for a third time :-P
Alex-Ctba
12th September 2009, 17:32
I just can’t wait to see Kimi and Lewis dividing the first chicane and despite pressure for driving at home, Fisico was not so bad since He was only 0.47c behind Kimi. Great chance for a Barrichello’s win tomorrow. Cheers!
GP1
12th September 2009, 17:33
when we see fuel loads i think Brawns are biggest favourites for winning, they knew it’s no sense to be ahead KERS cars on grid, better take fuel load 10 laps more
Yuri
12th September 2009, 17:35
Did they remove the new bigger kerbs on chincanes.
I saw no difference from yesterday.
Rahim
12th September 2009, 17:52
I think Raikkonen is light on fuel, though he was telling his car was very good on enough amount of fuel….chris dyer said the cars behind him might be heavier….Best result Raikkonen can get is a podium …….i hope he has a good amount of fuel….that will be such a good gift for the Tifosis
Alex-Ctba
12th September 2009, 18:45
Barrichello showed good pace to be only 0.003 behind Hamilton, the favorite to win and the fastest in the session today but to me Rubens also has a good chance tomorrow if he drives like a champ at breakneck pace and not get stuck at the start. Bar-Ham-Vet. Let firm for grab 50 pts in WCP…
Alex-Ctba
12th September 2009, 18:47
I mean WPC
charson
13th September 2009, 8:44
Well i’m glad that Lewis Hamilton has beats Adrian Sutil. Congrats Lewis