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It seems that the situation could be interesting regarding the performance of F1 drivers in the upcoming period. Although Verstappen is still the leader, with a big advantage over his rivals, Red Bull did not impress in the last races. The Austrian team is far from the form that some expected, but Helmut Marko and Christian Horner are optimistic about the future.
The qualifying session at Monza didn't turn out to be ideal for Red Bull, especially since McLaren, following their impressive previous race, continued in the same strong form. This performance suggests that McLaren might dominate not only in the Italian race but potentially in the upcoming races as well.
For the third time in the last four weekends, Lando Norris was the fastest in qualifying, marking his fourth pole position of the season. McLaren had a great day, with Oscar Piastri also performing well, qualifying second just a tenth of a second behind Norris. However, there is a chance that Piastri could face a penalty for an unsafe release from the pits during the first session.
The leaders of McLaren were delighted with the performance of their two drivers, who showed that they could be the main weapon of this team in the following races as well.
George Russell was just four-thousandths of a second slower than Piastri, with minimal gaps to Leclerc, Sainz, and Hamilton. Max Verstappen had his worst season qualifying, ending up seventh with a six-tenths deficit, ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez, Alex Albon, and Nico Hulkenberg.
A worrying situation for Red Bull, it must be admitted.
Q1
The first qualifying session concluded with Norris securing pole position, a tenth of a second ahead of Leclerc and Piastri. Piastri nearly collided with Verstappen at the exit of the pits after cutting the first chicane during his initial flying lap, and this incident will be investigated. Sergio Perez had a lackluster first attempt, only surpassing Zhou, but managed to improve to ninth place by the end. Perez was the only driver to move out of the knockout zone on his second run, with Lance Stroll falling into it and finishing 17th.
Yuki Tsunoda was the first driver outside the cutoff, just under half a tenth behind his teammate Ricciardo. Debutant Franco Colapinto will start his first F1 race in 18th place. The Argentine was half a second off his teammate Albon, who qualified eighth, having managed only one fast lap after going off into the gravel at the second Lesmo, similar to Sainz's earlier mishap. The final row was filled by Sauber’s drivers, with Bottas four-tenths quicker than his teammate. Magnussen had an unusual gravel incident at Parabolica near the end of the session but still advanced with his earlier time.
Q2
The second session commenced after a brief delay for track cleaning, which was needed due to gravel spread at the second Lesmo. Hamilton emerged as the fastest, setting a time less than a tenth of a second quicker than Verstappen and Norris.
The top eight positions were occupied by drivers from the leading four teams, with Albon and Hulkenberg clinching the final spots in Q3. Alonso was the first to be knocked out, missing the cut by just 10 thousandths of a second behind Hulkenberg, while Ricciardo followed closely, just 68 thousandths off. Magnussen, Gasly, and Ocon filled the remaining positions in the elimination zone.
There were many surprises, but the final race will give the best answer we can expect. Many believe that McLaren will take the lead this time as well, and put an end to this race with a victory. Norris and Piastri are motivated to do great things.
Q3
Norris continued in Q3 with the same motivation, ready to prove that he will be one of the main candidates for victory in this race.
Lando Norris started the final session with a lap just 35 thousandths faster than Piastri. Behind the McLaren drivers were Russell and Hamilton, followed by Sainz and Leclerc, and then Perez and Verstappen.
In his final lap, Norris, who was not entirely satisfied with his performance, improved his time, while the Ferrari drivers swapped positions, moving ahead of Hamilton. Verstappen also improved but only managed to move ahead of Perez, with Albon narrowly beating Hulkenberg by four hundredths.
Although Red Bull showed a small improvement, it seems that it is not enough for them to win this time. Many believe that the Austrian team will be far ahead of their rivals, but Verstappen has many times convinced us of the forecasts, showing that he is a driver who can make a breakthrough at any moment and achieve a positive result.
An interesting race awaits us in an hour. We expect surprises, but also a great race.
English (US)