Leclerc records his eighth pole position of the season, De Vries will start in the top eight on debut and Alonso equals Raikkonen in the Q3 appearance list. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix!
LECLERC ON POLE AT MONZA
Charles Leclerc took pole position for the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, recording the 17th pole of his Formula 1 career. He equals Jackie Stewart and Max Verstappen for 19th in the all-time list of most poles.
This was Leclerc’s eighth pole of the 2022 season. He becomes the first Ferrari driver to take eight poles in a single season since Michael Schumacher in 2004. Aside from Leclerc and Schumacher – the latter achieving the feat in 2000, 2001 and 2004 – Niki Lauda is the only other Ferrari driver to take eight or more poles in a year. He did so in 1974 and 1975.
Leclerc becomes the 18th driver to have taken multiple pole positions at Monza.
Leclerc secured Ferrari’s 28th pole position in Italy. It was the team’s first pole in the country since Leclerc’s pole at the 2019 Italian Grand Prix. This was the team’s 22nd pole at Monza, extending their record of most poles at a single circuit for a team.
Leclerc becomes the fifth Ferrari driver to have taken multiple pole positions in Italy, after Alberto Ascari (1952 & 1953), Jacky Ickx (1970 & 1972), Niki Lauda (1974 & 1975) and Michael Schumacher (1998, 2000 & 2003).
This is the first time both Ferrari drivers qualified in the top three at the Italian Grand Prix since 2018.
Leclerc took pole position by 0.145 seconds, which is the largest pole margin at Monza since Kimi Raikkonen took pole for the 2018 Italian Grand Prix by 0.161 seconds.
Leclerc became the first driver to take pole position wearing a predominantly yellow race suit since Heinz-Harald Frentzen at the 1999 European Grand Prix.
IN THE TOP 10
Max Verstappen qualified second and Sergio Perez was fourth. This is the first time since 2017 that both Red Bull drivers qualified in the top four at the Italian Grand Prix since 2017.
Fourth place equals Perez’s best-ever Monza qualifying result. He also qualified fourth in 2020.
Carlos Sainz qualified in the top three for the fourth consecutive race. This is now the longest streak of top three qualifications in his career to date.
With Lewis Hamilton fifth and George Russell sixth, 2022 is the first time since 2013 that neither Mercedes driver qualified in the top three at the Italian Grand Prix.
Recording his 191st Q3 appearance, Fernando Alonso equalled Kimi Raikkonen for third in the list of most Q3 appearances since the knockout qualifying system was introduced in 2006.
This was the first time Alonso has reached Q3 at Monza since the 2014 Italian Grand Prix.
Pierre Gasly reached Q3 for the first time since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, ending the longest Q3 drought of his career to date.
With ninth place, Gasly equalled his team’s best Italian Grand Prix qualifying result in the last nine seasons. The other ninth place for the team in the last nine seasons was recorded by Gasly, in 2018.
For only the second time in the last 12 races, both McLaren drivers progressed to Q3. It was the fourth time this season that both McLaren cars qualified in the top ten.
OUT IN Q2
Nyck de Vries qualified in 13th place on his qualifying debut. That was the best qualifying result for a Williams driver at the Italian Grand Prix since both drivers qualified in the top 12 in 2018.
As a result of grid penalties, de Vries will move up to eighth on the final grid. He becomes the first driver to start in the top eight on his debut since Lando Norris at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix. He is only the seventh driver to do so this millennium.
Both Alfa Romeos were eliminated in Q2 as Valtteri Bottas made it out of Q1 for the first time in three races.
Qualifying in 12th place, Bottas failed to qualify in the top six at the Italian Grand Prix for the first time since his maiden season in 2013.
OUT IN Q1
With Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll both out in Q1, this is the first time that the Silverstone-based team has recorded at least one Q1 exit at 11 races in a row since the 48 races between the 2006 French Grand Prix and the 2009 Spanish Grand Prix.
This was the first time in his career that Stroll was eliminated in Q1 at the Italian Grand Prix.
Vettel was eliminated in Q1 at Monza for only the second time in his career. He was also out in Q1 here in 2020.
2022 marks the first time since 2013 that neither of the Silverstone-based team’s drivers have qualified in the top ten at the Italian Grand Prix. It’s the first time since 2007, when the team last recorded a double Q1 exit at Monza, that neither of the team’s cars has qualified in the top 15 at the Italian Grand Prix.
Nicholas Latifi was out-qualified by his new team-mate and recorded his sixth successive Q1 elimination.
With 16th place, Latifi recorded his best qualifying result since his Q3 appearance at the 2022 British Grand Prix.
Haas recorded their third double Q1 exit of the season. It marked the first time both cars were eliminated in Q1 since the British Grand Prix. Both Kevin Magnussen (19th) and Mick Schumacher (20th) recorded their worst qualifying results of the season to date.