Lewis Hamilton broke the record for Formula 1’s fastest ever lap as he claimed pole for the Italian Grand Prix.
The six-time world champion first beat Kimi Raikkonen’s 2018 benchmark of 1m19.1s in Q2, although Valtteri Bottas would breach the 1m19s barrier in that same segment.
But then in Q3, Hamilton found just enough extra to beat his Mercedes teammate, setting a 1m18.887s to finish 0.069s ahead of the Finn.
This was the first qualifying session where teams were limited to a single engine mode which they will then use in the race too, and it was thought this change might curtail the German manufacturer’s single-lap advantage.
Instead, Mercedes were eight-tenths clear of the field with Carlos Sainz moving upto third late on for McLaren, just 0.025s ahead of Sergio Perez in fourth.
If anything it was Red Bull who lost more than anyone from the new engine restrictions as Max Verstappen finished nine-tenths off pole in fifth, with Alex Albon a further three-tenths behind in ninth.
Lando Norris was sixth, while Daniel Ricciardo, who had high hopes of a podium at Monza, could only manage seventh ahead of Lance Stroll.
Pierre Gasly once again was a strong performer making Q3 in the AlphaTauri but could do no better than 10th.
Outside the top 10, Ferrari’s woes were on full display as Charles Leclerc could only manage 13th. While traffic problems contributed to Sebastian Vettel failing to make it out of Q1 in 17th, behind Kimi Raikkonen and both Haas cars.
At the back, Williams’ fears over their draggy cars proved true as George Russell and Nicholas Latifi brought up the field.
Though there was a repeat of some of the traffic issues from last year, as drivers battled for a slipstream, there was no case of drivers missing out on lap times as happened last year.
Indeed, the final laps of Q3 were done well before the chequered flag as all teams played it safe.
But with a lap at an average speed of just over 164mph, it is Hamilton on pole for the 94th time at the Temple of Speed.
Full results from qualifying can be seen below:
