Key events
The last Frenchman to take pole at Monza was Jean Alesi, 29 years ago. Alesi was driving for Benetton, the Enstone-based team that would ultimately become Alpine. The 62-year-old is back at Monza as a guest for the weekend.
Elsewhere in Ferrari/motor sport news … quite the story from the China GT:
British racing driver Ollie Millroy told Loek Hartog he owes him his life after his quick-thinking rival pulled him from a burning car after a huge crash in the first race of the China GT on Saturday.
The incident happened 20 minutes into the Shanghai race when his Ferrari was struck heavily from the side after a collision between two other cars causing it to burst into flames.
The race was red-flagged but, with no safety marshalls having been able to immediately respond, Dutch driver Hartog stopped his car and made an attempt to rescue Millroy from the driver’s side. Having hauled off part of a door, he grabbed a fire extinguisher from a nearby official, doused the flames as best he could and then courageously pulled his stricken rival from the opposite side of the wreck.
Millroy was helped to the side of the track before being taken to hospital, where he is receiving treatment for multiple fractures and a bruised lung. “I owe my life to you,” the 35-year-old Millroy wrote on Instagram. “Loek Hartog stopped instantly with no flag marshals or fire crews in sight, and risked his own life to get me out of the car. I don’t remember anything between 30 seconds before the crash and 1 hour after it, but I will remember his incredible act of bravery for the rest of my life.
“One day I will tell our three kids this story and Loek will be the biggest superhero in history in their eyes too. I’m laying here tonight with 5 broken ribs, broken collar bone, broken hand and finger and a bruised lung, but it could have been much worse. Thank you Loek.”
Here are the latest championship standings:
Drivers’ standings
After Dutch GP and Monaco appeal adjustments
1 Kimi Antonelli 🇮🇹 Mercedes 242pts
2 George Russell 🇬🇧 Mercedes 183
3 Lewis Hamilton 🇬🇧 Ferrari 183
4 Lando Norris 🇬🇧 McLaren 159
5 Charles Leclerc 🇲🇨 Ferrari 155
6 Max Verstappen 🇳🇱 Red Bull 112
7 Oscar Piastri 🇦🇺 McLaren 106
8 Isack Hadjar 🇫🇷 Red Bull 71
9 Liam Lawson 🇳🇿 Racing Bulls 51
10 Pierre Gasly 🇫🇷 Alpine 35
11 Arvid Lindblad 🇬🇧 Racing Bulls 25
12 Franco Colapinto 🇦🇷 Alpine 19
13 Oliver Bearman 🇬🇧 Haas 18
14 Gabriel Bortoleto 🇧🇷 Audi 10
15 Nico Hülkenberg 🇩🇪 Audi 6
16 Carlos Sainz 🇪🇸 Williams 6
17 Alexander Albon 🇹🇭 Williams 5
18 Esteban Ocon 🇫🇷 Haas 3
19 Fernando Alonso 🇪🇸 Aston Martin 3
Yet to score:
Lance Stroll 🇨🇦 Aston Martin
Valtteri Bottas 🇫🇮 Cadillac
Sergio Pérez 🇲🇽 Cadillac
Yuki Tsunoda 🇯🇵 Racing Bulls
Constructors’ standings
After Dutch GP and Monaco appeal adjustments
1 Mercedes 🇩🇪 425pts
2 Ferrari 🇮🇹 338
3 McLaren 🇬🇧 265
4 Red Bull 🇦🇹 189
5 Racing Bulls 🇮🇹 70
6 Alpine 🇫🇷 54
7 Haas 🇺🇸 21
8 Audi 🇩🇪 16
9 Williams 🇬🇧 11
10 Aston Martin 🇬🇧 3
11 Cadillac 🇺🇸 0
Oscar Piastri’s three-place grid penalty for impeding Liam Lawson in qualifying means, it will be an all-red second row as Leclerc and Hamilton have been pushed up to third and fourth respectively (from fourth and fifth). Here’s what Hamilton had to say about his team’s disappointing showing on Saturday:
Preamble
What an intriguing race we have today. In shock events on Saturday, Pierre Gasly claimed his first Formula One pole position at the 190th time of asking.
Monza is, of course, such a storied venue and only around 10 miles from Gasly’s adopted home in Milan, this will be such a special race for him, but the Alpine driver will be under pressure from the off. It should be noted, though, that Gasly’s only F1 victory came at this track six years ago.
Mercedes made an error that day that cost Lewis Hamilton the victory, with the Brit given a penalty for illegally entering the pit lane. Mercedes and an Englishman were again pipped by Gasly on Saturday in qualifying, with George Russell edged out to second place on the grid, six-hundredths of a second behind the Frenchman. Mercedes’ other driver, the championship leader Kimi Antonelli, will start in 20th having taken a full set of new engine components. But it’s a quick, track and both Mercedes and Antonelli will fancy their chances of flying through the field towards the podium.
A preamble on the Italian Grand Prix would not be complete without a mention of Ferrari. Their will be a raucous home crowd for The Prancing Horse and this is a huge opportunity for Hamilton to close the gap on Antonelli at the top of the standings: the seven-time world champion is trails Antonelli by 59 points with 11 races to come and warned Ferrari that the light of at end of tunnel is “getting dimmer”.
It should be a good’un.
Lights out: 2pm BST.
Italian F1 GP qualifying results
1 Pierre Gasly 🇫🇷 Alpine 1:21.876
2 George Russell 🇬🇧 Mercedes 1:21.846
†3 Oscar Piastri 🇦🇺 McLaren 1:21.966
4 Charles Leclerc 🇲🇨 Ferrari 1:22.004
5 Lewis Hamilton 🇬🇧 Ferrari 1:22.011
6 Max Verstappen 🇳🇱 Red Bull 1:22.070
*7 Kimi Antonelli 🇮🇹 Mercedes 1:22.093
8 Franco Colapinto 🇦🇷 Alpine 1:22.220
9 Lando Norris 🇬🇧 McLaren 1:22.256
10 Arvid Lindblad 🇬🇧 Racing Bulls 1:22.286
Q2 eliminations
11 Gabriel Bortoleto 🇧🇷 Audi 1:22.517
12 Oliver Bearman 🇬🇧 Haas 1:22.756
13 Nico Hülkenberg 🇩🇪 Audi 1:22.779
*††14 Liam Lawson 🇫🇷 Red Bull 1:22.821
15 Carlos Sainz 🇪🇸 Williams 1:23.453
16 Esteban Ocon 🇫🇷 Haas 1:23.454
Q1 eliminations
17 Yuki Tsunoda 🇯🇵 Racing Bulls 1:23.755
*18 Alexander Albon 🇹🇭 Williams 1:24.356
19 Valtteri Bottas 🇫🇮 Cadillac 1:24.364
20 Sergio Pérez 🇲🇽 Cadillac 1:24.595
††21 Fernando Alonso 🇪🇸 Aston Martin 1:25.150
22 Lance Stroll 🇨🇦 Aston Martin 1:25.22
† Piastri given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Lawson. *Antonelli, Lawson and Albon all relegated to the back of the grid for taking new power unit elements. ††Alonso and Lawson starting from the pit lane because of modifications under parc fermé.
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