Raikkonen leads Ferrari one-two at Monza with fastest lap in history

Ferrari locked out the front row at the Italian Grand Prix, with Kimi Raikkonen pipping Sebastian Vettel to pole.

Published : Sep 01, 2018 20:58 IST

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
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Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

Kimi Raikkonen posted the fastest lap in Formula One history to lead a Ferrari one-two at the Italian Grand Prix.

To the delight of a partisan crowd at the home circuit of the Scuderia, Raikkonen produced a lap of one minute, 19.119 seconds - averaging 163.8mph - to snatch top spot from team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel topped the time sheets in both Q1 and Q2 but it was championship leader Lewis Hamilton who set the early pace in the top-10 shoot-out.

The German, who trails the Mercedes driver by 17 points following his win at Spa last time out, thought he had done enough to clinch pole in the dying seconds of the session, only for Raikkonen to pip him at the last.

"Yes!" came Vettel's message over team radio, only for his team to deliver the bad news. "We'll speak after," was his next message.

For Raikkonen, who surpassed a lap set by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2004 to secure his new fastest-lap record, it is a first pole since Monaco last year and a first at Monza since 2006.

Valtteri Bottas, who suffered a somewhat embarrassing spin at the entry to the pit lane in Q2, recovered to qualify fourth in a Mercedes second-row lockout, ahead of Max Verstappen and Romain Grosjean.

Carlos Sainz, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly also made it into the top 10, as did Lance Stroll, having put his Williams on the front row at this circuit in 2017.

There was disappointment for Racing Point Force India's Sergio Perez, who followed up last weekend's fifth-place finish by being eliminated in Q1, while Haas' Kevin Magnussen missed out on Q3 after going wheel-to-wheel with Fernando Alonso through the chicane.

Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg will start from the back of the grid after receiving engine penalties and played only a limited part in qualifying, going out in Q2.

 

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:19.199secs
2. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 1:19.280
3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:19.294
4. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 1:19.656
5. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:20.615
6. Romain Grosjean (Haas) 1:20.936
7. Carlos Sainz (Renault) 1:21.041
8. Esteban Ocon (Racing Point Force India) 1:21.099
9. Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) 1:21.350
10. Lance Stroll (Williams) 1:21.627

 

 

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