The F1 circus moved to Ferrari's home turf, where the grandstands were full of passionate Tifosi. The Temple of Speed is a true motor racing circuit with long straights and corners run with full throttle. It was considered to be the Red Team's kingdom, and the expectations didn't let the Tifosi down this time.
The red-suited home heroes came out on the medium rubber, whilst all rivals had the soft compound on. The Renault duo of Hulkenberg and Ricciardo was amazingly competitive, and they were topping the time sheets at the beginning of the first session. Even the Mercedes drivers were unable to match Hulkenberg's time! Bottas went second, a thousandth of a second off Hulkenberg's pace. Teammate Hamilton was third, a tenth down on the German. Sebastian and Charles made their second attempt on the mediums as well. Charles showed top form and went fastest -only a fraction before the session was red-flagged! Perez's Racing Point came to a sudden halt on the track, which brought out the red flags. There were 4:34 remaining in the clock. As the session was resumed, the Ferrari duo came out on the soft Pirellis. The order of the top four -Leclerc, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Hamilton- didn't change at the closing stages of the first segment. Verstappen came out not until at the end of Q1, but reported about engine woes and came in without setting a time. The Dutch Red Bull pilot will start to the race from the very back of the pack, as he has been given a penalty for power unit elements change. In addition to Perez and Verstappen, out of Q2 were Haas' Grosjean and the Williams duo.
In Q2 there were no differing tyre strategies, but everyone opted for the red-walled soft compound. Charles had definitely held on to the momentum from the previous race, as the Monegasque went fastest again on his first run. Hamilton was second, Sebastian third and amazing Ricciardo fourth. Kimi had showed promising pace at the wheel of his Alfa Romeo, but in Q2 the latest Ferrari world champion made a fateful mistake. The Iceman lost the rear of his car at Lesmo 1, failing to get a lap time. There was traffic on the track, with two minutes remaining. Hamilton went fastest, but by 89 thousandths of a second only. Charles was second, followed by Sebastian and Ricciardo. Amazingly, Kimi made an impressive second run, which took him into Q3. The margin between Kimi in P10 and teammate Giovinazzi in P11 was minimal 0.002s! Alongside Giovinazzi eliminated were Haas' Magnussen, the Toro Rosso duo of Kvyat and Gasly and McLaren's Norris.
The decisive segment turned into a farce. No driver wanted to be the leading car on the track, due to losing valuable tenths for not getting the tow from other cars. To avoid being the first car on track, the drivers ended up doing weird things. The Mercedes pilots came out of their pit garages first, but they stopped at the pit exit! Sebastian, who was now forced to be the leading driver, made a fake lock-up into Turn 1, cutting the corner. His strategy didn't work, as all the other drivers followed him, cutting the corner as well! So the German had to set his fastest lap time first. His flying lap was controversial, as it seemed, that he had exceeded the track limits with all four wheels at Turn 11, which had been prohibited by the stewards. Q3 saw another fateful mistake by the Iceman. A spin threw Kimi into the tyre wall, and the session was red-flagged, with 6:35 in the clock. Just before the red flags Charles had gone fastest. Hamilton was second, 0.039s down on the Monegasque. Bottas had had to slow down due to the yellow flags, with the Finn being on his way to provisional pole. However, the Finn's time was third fastest anyway. Sebastian was fourth, 0.15s down on his teammate. Ricciardo in P5 was half a second off the pace. At the end of the session, drivers' determination to avoid being the first man on track reached a whole new dimension. The clock was ticking, but everyone stayed in their pit garage! Renault's Hulkenberg finally led the cars out, but there were only two minutes left in the clock. This indicated serious trouble in terms of starting the flying lap in time. Hulkenberg, too cut the corner at Turn 1, but in spite of overtaking the German, the others slowed down and waited for Hulkenberg to re-join the track in the lead. At the end, Charles and McLaren's Sainz were the only drivers to make it to the chequered flag in time! And Charles had no need to improve his lap time, as he was on pole already! What a ridiculous farce this qualifying turned out!
In spite of the farce, Charles definitely deserved his back-to-back pole. Hamilton will start to the race alongside the super fast Monegasque. Sebastian's flying lap was taken into investigation by the stewards, but the German got to keep his fourth place alongside Bottas. The Renault duo made a superb job by locking down the third row, with Ricciardo having the upper hand on his teammate. Kimi's car has had a gear box change and a power unit upgrade, which means, that the Iceman will start to the race from the pit lane. Verstappen, who will also start from the back of the pack, will certainly offer a great overtaking show. One thing is for sure: Charles will have to fight extremely hard to convert pole into another victory, as Mercedes' race pace is frighteningly competitive!
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