Max qualifies fifth fastest for the Italian Grand Prix: 'Tried everything'

Published on 05 September 2020 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen finished fifth fastest after qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix. The Dutchman’s fastest time was a 1:19.795 on the track at Monza, good enough for the third row. The ban on the ‘party mode’ was not noticeable at Mercedes as the German squad took the entire front row with a gap of eight tenths to the rest of the field. Lewis Hamilton came out on top, albeit with a bare minimum. Carlos Sainz and Sergio Pérez will be starting from the third and fourth spot respectively.

“It’s just not a good weekend for us”, says a disappointed Max after qualifying. “I tried everything with the car: every kind of downforce level, drastically changing the balance, but in the end you are still doing the same lap time. This goes to show that the balance of the car is just not good enough. It’s too easy to say that we are lacking power, that’s no excuse.”

A good slipstream from his team mate did not help much either: “From Q2 onwards I took the lead on the first run, then Alex took the lead on the second run”, the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-driver disclosed. “We did the same in Q3, but everybody was kind of running in a train, so in the end it didn’t matter.”

The team has their work cut out: “We started off the season thinking that we would be fighting with Mercedes, and now you are here in Monza behind a McLaren and a Racing Point. That’s just not good. This year if we drive with less downforce, the car still remains sensitive at the back and that's an issue at this moment”, says Verstappen.

Max ends with a preview of tomorrow’s race, in which he thinks he still has enough chances to finish third: “I think so. It’s all close to one another so I think we can fight for third. Mercedes is on a different level though”, the Dutchman concludes.

The weather conditions are once more excellent at the start of qualifying. Kevin Magnussen is the first driver to head out on track and get a timed lap. Max Verstappen does a 1:20.520 on his first timed lap on the softs. While Hamilton dominates the time sheet after the first few runs with a 1:19.539.

Just like last year it is once again a chaotic qualifying. In the dying seconds of the first part of qualifying the battle for the oh so important slip stream on this track is in full swing. We see a handful of drivers, very close to each other start their final run. The push and pull does not lead to any improvement of the lap times. At the end of the first part of qualifying the following drivers are forced to leave the stage: Romain Grosjean, Sebastian Vettel, Antonio Giovinazzi, George Russell and Nicholas Latifi. Verstappen makes it to Q2 safely with a sixth fastest time.

Max clocks, in his first flying lap of the second part of qualifying, a 1:19.780, which earns him the fifth spot. The gap to the front runner, Lewis Hamilton, is at that moment almost seven tenths. Bottas (+0.325) and Pérez (+0.626) round out the top three behind the Briton.

With a little over three minutes left on the clock, the drivers, including Verstappen, head back out on track to make sure they get a spot in the top ten. The Dutchman fails to improve his time but retains the fifth position and is through by a safe margin to the third and final part of qualifying. Daniil Kvyat, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc, Kimi Räikkönen and Kevin Magnussen fail to make the cut and form the second group of dropouts.

Valtteri Bottas opens Q3 with a 1:19.121. Team mate Lewis Hamilton betters that by half a tenth as he takes the provisional pole from him. Max does a 1:19.807 on his first flying lap which puts him fourth fastest, behind Sergio Pérez’ Racing Point. Alexander Albon’s lap time is deleted due to the track limits at Turn 11.

Vertappen manages to better his time in his final run to a 1:19.795, but unfortunately it is not good enough to get the better of Sergio Pérez. The Dutchman drops back to fifth when the flag drops as Carlos Sainz pulls off an unbelievable lap and manages to take his McLaren to the third fastest time. Lewis Hamilton gets the better of his team mate by seven hundredths of a second and takes pole with a 1:18.887. Behind Verstappen, Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo, Lance Stroll, Alexander Albon and Pierre Gasly round out the top ten.

Italian GP contest: Win the grey Max Verstappen cap!

Results qualifying Italy: