Valtteri Bottas, barely days after his announcement of the exit from Mercedes, raced in Monza to become the second king of speed in F1. He also managed to oust his own teammate Lewis Hamilton.
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But behind the classy Mercedes duo there was chaos, the top 10 almost managed to reach the last Q3 lap time of the third-placed Verstappen. So in the possibly interesting 30 minutes on Saturday night, let’s take a look at how the starting grid will line up.
Top 10 for the F1 sprint race
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As already mentioned, Bottas is on the front row alongside his team-mate Hamilton, which means that Mercedes has locked out the front row. The Finn will not collect the engine start penalty over the sprint as the session falls into the qualifying category rather than a race.
Behind the duo will be Verstappen, who struggled all Friday night to keep up with the fast black Mercedes.
Next to the Dutchman will be Norris, who missed the start in P3 by 0.023 seconds. Daniel Ricciardo starts from P5 alongside Pierre Gasly, who is starting the race from P6 for the sixth time this season.
Formula 1 F1 – Italian Grand Prix – Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy – September 10, 2021 Ferraris Charles Leclerc and Ferraris Carlos Sainz Jr. during the REUTERS / Jennifer Lorenzini qualifying
The fourth row goes to the Ferrari drivers, with Carlos Sainz starting ahead of Charles Leclerc, who struggled with engine braking problems during qualifying.
Sergio Perez will start from P9 after finishing another disappointing qualifying. The last place in the top 10 starting grid ultimately goes to Antonio Giovinazzi, who has been on fire since the Dutch GP.
Rest of the grid for the sprint
Aston Martin duo Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll will lock the sixth row ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon. Both teams looked solid in FP1; In the following session, however, their pace was not enough to give them a top 10 start for the sprint in Monza.
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Behind is George Russell, who after the show in Spa and Zandvoort could not get another strong result from qualifying. At the Briton’s side will be his Williams team-mate Nicholas Latifi, followed by Yuki Tsunoda, whose qualifying curse just won’t let him go.
Formula 1 F1 – Italian Grand Prix – Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy – September 10, 2021 AlphaTauris Yuki Tsunoda with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and drivers during the REUTERS / Jennifer Lorenzini qualifying
Mick Schumacher starts from P18 in front of Alfa Romeo’s reserve driver Robert Kubica and his Haas team-mate Nikita Mazepin.
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Overall, the starting grid is set for a possibly ecstatic sprint session in the Temple of Speed. 30 minutes of constant wheel-to-wheel battle are on the agenda, but who will ultimately take pole position for the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday?
View history: What are sprint races and where are they held?
The post What is the starting grid for the F1 Sprint Qualifying? Will Bottas’ motor penalty be imposed in Monza? first appeared on monter-une-startup.
